On the 29th January the prisoner was again placed on his trial for an assault upon a Lascar named Mahomet, by striking him on the eye, in Hobson's Bay on the 6th December. A second count yvas for a c o m m o n assault. T h e defence was that it yvas only a push, and not a bloyv, and the prisoner yvas convicted. H e was then brought up for judgment, and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for thefirstoffence, and two months'forthe assault. In passing sentence Judge Therry appeared to be m u c h impressed with the presumption that the prisoner must have been acting, if not by the captain's express orders, yet with his approval, for otherwise such acts as those complained of would have been prevented. S o m e other charges against the prisoner were withdrawn ; and next it yvas intimated that the Crown Prosecutor did not intend filing any bill against Captain Bauvais. This took the public m u c h by surprise, as the captain was believed to be m u c h the more culpable of the tyvo, and that Dobson had acted according to instructions. Still the public wondered and the public growled; but the Crown Prosecutor was the Grand Jury of the colony, and the oracle remained dumb. T h e prisoner, after passing three months in gaol, had the residue of the tyvo sentences remitted by the Executive, on the recommendation of the Judge. RUINED BY DISSIPATION.—20TH APRIL, 1846.
Perhaps in the records of the colony there is not a more remarkable example of the baleful effects of youthful dissipation than was disclosed by the trial of which a brief abstract is subjoined :— Amongst the recent arrivals was George Brady, a young m a n with a highly-cultivated intellect, and who had read for the Bar. H e was respectably connected, his father, Sir Nicholas Brady, having on two occasions filled the high office of Lord Mayor of Dublin, and this very year (1846) his uncle, the Right Honourable Maziere Brady, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland. With such prestige, there was a bright and promising career opening for the son, George; but he plunged into unrestrained vices, which brought him to degradation, andfinallylanded him a convicted felon in the c o m m o n gaol. H e used to stay at the boarding-house of a Mrs. Roache, and, after he exhausted whatever means he was possessed of, was not above doing occasional menial offices for the other lodgers. A M r . R. W . Sutton came to stay at the place, and Brady scraped acquaintance with him. Before long Sutton had reason to think that some person m a d e nocturnal raids on his pockets, for his money used to disappear. O n the evening of the 31st March (a race day) he returned h o m e yvith £ 4 3 in his purse, and retired to bed. T h e next morning he was awoke by some person stirring about in his room, and, on asking w h o was there, was told it was Brady, yvho was fetching in his boots. H e thought no more of the interruption until dressing, when he missed the money. Brady was suspected to be the thief, and the robbery was reported to the Chief-Constable. Brady yvas soon in the hands of the police, and a bank-note found on him was identified by Sutton. H e was brought before the Police Court, sent for trial to the Criminal Sessions, and convicted, when Judge A'Beckett sentenced him tofifteenmonths' imprisonment. After he had passed half the time in confinement the remainder was remitted by the Executive, and through the kindness of Mr. Croke (the Crown Prosecutor), the unfortunate young fellow was placed in funds sufficient to enable him to return to Dublin, and Port Phillip knew him no more. SLAYING WITH A POKER—15TH DECEMBER, 1846.
Jeremiah Connell was indicted for the murder of Edward Martin, at Buninyong, on the nth November, by striking him with a poker. T h e prisoner declared he remembered nothing whatever of the matter. There was a tavern at Buninyong known as Veitche's, and on the day of the occurrence some men yvere there noisy and drinking, yvhen a religious controversy was introduced. T h e prisoner was amongst them, and desired a quarrel with some one or other, declaring " that he would never be satisfied until he had the blood of an Orangeman on his soul." H e offered to fight several people, one of whom, named Procter, accepted the challenge, but the prisoner backed out, saying he could not think offightingwith a " paper man." A young fellow named Cameron at this threw off his coat, and, introducing himself as a " Scotchman and a Protestant," promised soon to let the prisoner see what a " paper m a n " could do.
