The Sydney Morning Herald, Mon 27 Aug 1883 1
POLICE
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CENTRAL POLICE COURT.
On Saturday the bench in the Charge Court was occupied by Mr G O’M Clarke, SM.
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Edward Osman, a mute, aged 15 years, found soliciting alms in King-street, was ordered to be sent on board the Vernon. The lad was formerly an inmate of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and latterly had been wandering about the streets begging. One occasion he was brought before Mr Dillon and charged with the offence, but that gentleman declined to send him to gaol, thinking it was better that endeavours should be made to secure his admission into some charitable institution. Difficulty was experienced in doing this, and the lad was in the care of the police for a considerable time. Eventually he was admitted to an institution in one of the suburbs, but he declined to stay there. The lad has most remarkable rat-like features, and although intelligent, is rather a pitable object, and complaints were repeatedly made by the public to the police against his presence in the streets. His offence is not a grave one. His father was at sea, and his mother, it is said, is not inclined to support him. The magistrate, therefore, thought it was better for him to be on board the Vernon than to be running about unprotected.
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WATER POLICE COURT.
Mr Addison, SM, disposed of the business in the Charge Court on Saturday, and Mr Marsh, SM, sat in the Summons Court.
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John B O’Sullivan [aka John B Sullivan], labourer, was charged with indecent behaviour on the Union Steamship Company’s Wharf. He was ordered to be imprisoned for six months, with hard labour.
1 The Sydney Morning Herald, Mon 27 Aug 1883, p. 5. Emphasis added.