The Argus, Sat 29 Nov 1856 1
LAW REPORTS.
———o———
SUPREME COURT.
CRIMINAL SESSIONS.
FRIDAY, 28TH NOVEMBER, 1856.
(Before his Honor Mr Justice Molesworth).
In the course of the day, in reply to the application of learned counsel, his Honor, after consulting the jury panel, said that he should sit on Monday to dispose of the criminal business, as there were witnesses waiting in Melbourne at great inconvenience and expense, and it would be on all accounts desirable to get through the remainder of the business as early as possible.
A PROPER PERSON FOR THE HULKS.
John Byrne [aka John Burne], aged 30, of most repulsive aspect and a absconder from Hobart Town, was found guilty on two separate informations, one charging an attempt to commit an unnatural offence, and the second charging an attempt to commit a rape. It appeared that on the occasion of the first of these crimes, he drew a knife and threatened the life of the prosecuting witnesses, and subsequently threatened to charge him with robbery. The evidence of the principal witness in each case was fully corroborated. The offences were committed at Mount Egerton gold fields; one in the afternoon, and the other on the night of the 23rd October last.
Sentence—Two years imprisonment with hard labor, and one years imprisonment with hard labor, the latter sentence to commence at the expiration of the first.
1 The Argus, Sat 29 Nov 1856, p. 7.