The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 6 Jun 1889 1
MAITLAND QUARTER SESSIONS.
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His Honor Mr District-Court Judge McFarland will take the business at the ensuing sitting of the Maitland Quarter Sessions which begins at East Maitland on Monday. Following is the list of cases for trial:—
Walter William Squires, horse stealing.
Cecilia Ross, attempting to commit suicide.
Harry Howard, larceny.
Charley Assam, indecent assault.
Thomas Stapleton and — Dorcas, prison breaking.
William Chick, forgery.
James Newman, maliciously wounding.
James Foreman, attempting to discharge loaded arms.
John Mudge and another, assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Thomas Singleton, carnally knowing his daughter, a girl under the age of sixteen years.
Thomas Bolton, attempting to commit suicide.
William Butler, maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Richard Behr, larceny.
William Sharp, breaking and entering and stealing.
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The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Tue 11 Jun 1889 2
MAITLAND QUARTER SESSIONS.
Yesterday the business of this court was entered upon at the court-house, East Maitland, before his Honor Mr District Court Judge McFarland. Mr W Dudding, JP, of Singleton, represented the sheriff. Mr WH Coffey prosecuted for the Crown. The other barristers present were– Messrs Jas Moriarty, W Blacket, and AB Shand.
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Following are the remaining cases for trial:
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Charley Assam, indecent assault.
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The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 13 Jun 1889 3
MAITLAND QUARTER SESSIONS.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12.
(Before his Honor Mr District Court Judge McFarland.)
The Court re-opened at ten o’clock.
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INDECENT ASSAULT.
Charley [aka Charlie] Assam was arraigned on the charge that he, on the 23rd April last, at Wollombi, indecently did assault Herbert Stapleford [aka Herbert Staphford], a male person.
Mr Thompson watched the case on behalf of the accused, who pleaded not guilty.
The evidence was of a very filthy and disgusting nature. Accused, a Hindoo, carrying on business as a hawker, was camped in a hut immediately outside the township of Wollombi, with one David Graham, a travelling watchmaker, towards the end of April last. The victim of the alleged assault is aged under four years—three years and ten months. The child was adjudged by his Honor to be too young to be examined on oath, and therefore it would be improper to receive his testimony. It seemed that the child, who was crying, made a complaint to his mother, who found evidences upon him showing that he had been interfered with. The mother saw her boy leave the gateway leading from the house which Assam occupied, and Graham saw the child at the hut. Accused told Graham that a certain accusation had been made against him, and suspected that the police would be after him. He entreated Graham to say that he (Assam) was not out of that tent. Graham declined to tell a lie for him or anyone else, and said, “You dirty brute, if I had a revolver with me, and came across in such an act I would shoot you.” Accused was interrogated by Senior-constable Mayo, who said, “Where there any children here this morning.” Assam at once exclaimed, “I done no dirty tricks, Mister.” The child was examined by Dr [Arthur Lee] Bapty, who found that he had been tampered with, and he did not think it possible that the injuries were the result of an accident. The boy identified the accused as the man who had assaulted him on the occasion of the fellow’s arrest. After the depositions had been taken at the police court and the accused placed in the cell, he said “This is my luck; he hit me with a big stick and I hit him.”
Mr Thompson submitted that a reasonable explanation of the injuries sustained by the boy was that the accused and the little fellow were romping and the latter fell upon a piece of stick, and the injuries were the result of an accident in innocent play.
His Honor summed up, directing attention to the circumstances in detail, by reading the evidence of the several witnesses.
The jury retired at half-past 12 o’clock. At twenty-three minutes past 1 they returned into court with a verdict of guilty. Prisoner was sentenced to be imprisoned with hard labour in Maitland Gaol for three years.
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Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, Thu 13 Jun 1889 4
MAITLAND QUARTER SESSIONS.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12.
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(Before Mr District Court Judge McFarland.)
Mr WH Coffey prosecuted on behalf of the Crown.
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A DISGUSTING OFFENCE.
Charles Assam, a native of Burmah, [sic] was arraigned upon a charge of indecently assaulting a little boy named Herbert Stapleford, on April 26th last, at Wollombi.
Mr Thompson defended the accused, who pleaded not guilty.
Francis Antonio, a native of Madras, acted as interpreter.
The Crown Prosecutor, in opening the case, stated that the evidence was of an exceedingly disgusting character, and, as the child was only four and a half years old it was a question for His Honor to decide whether his statement would be received or not. Still, certain things had come to light which showed that the prisoner, a Hindoo hawker of goods, had taken the little boy to the bank of a creek, and the boy afterwards identified him as the man who had hurt him.
David Graham, a travelling watch repairer, deposed that the accused had stayed in the same hut as him during the three days preceding the alleged outrage. On the evening of April 26th the prisoner told him that he had been accused by the mother of the child with the crime he was now charged with, and seemed very frightened that the police were after him. He tried hard to induce the witness to say that he had never left the hut that morning, but this witness indignantly refused to do, saying that if he had a gun he would have shot the brute. Two boys had that morning brought a bundle of radishes to the hut and gave them to the accused. That was at half-past 9 in the morning, and the prisoner went away after them, and he saw him no more until noon, when he wanted witness to swear that he had not left the hut.
Amelia Stapleford, mother of the child, gave evidence as to the state of her little boy when he came home about 10 o’clock. He was only out of her sight for some 15 minutes. When he came home he was crying bitterly, and his clothes were disarranged. Blood was found on him, and he was severely injured. The evidence of the mother from this point was disgusting, and totally unfit for publication. The boy would be four years old in August, not four and a-half years as stated in the indictment.
Constable Mays, stationed at Wollombi, deposed that he had arrested the prisoner, on the information of Mrs Stapleton, in his hut, which was only some seventy yards from Stapleton’s house. The accused, when locked up, said “This is just my luck.”
Dr Rapty [aka Dr Bapty] stated that he had examined the child on the same day as the alleged crime took place. The evidence went to show that the child was in a fearful state.
The boy was then brought before the court, but being under the age of four years, his Honor would not permit him to take the oath or give evidence.
This closed the case for the prosecution.
Mr Thompson, counsel for the prisoner, then addressed the jury, taking as his line of defence that the accused had seen the boy fall down on a stick and hurt himself, and had then examined him before accompanying him home. Counsel ridiculed the idea that a full grown adult could commit such a crime on a child of such tender years.
His Honor then addressed the jury, detailing at length several circumstances which pointed to the prisoner’s guilt, such as his leaving the hut and going after the child; the state of the child when it arrived home, and the desire on the part of the accused for the witness Graham to say that he had not left the hut that morning. The prisoner had also said to the policeman when he first saw him, “I have done no dirty tricks,” and this was said even before he was supposed to know anything about the information. The little boy had recognised the prisoner, when his mother charged him with the offence, as the man who had hurt him. The usual advice as to doubts was then given to the jury by His Honor.
The jury, after nearly and hour’s deliberation, returned a verdict of “guilty.”
The accused, through the interpreter, stated that he had refused the mother of the child the loan of £2, and that was why she brought the charge.
Sentenced to three years’ hard labour in Maitland gaol.
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The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 20 Jun 1889 5
LOCAL NEWS.
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Departure of Prisoners.—Yesterday afternoon the men Squires, Howard, Bryson, Assam, and Gallaghan, who were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment at the Maitland Quarter Sessions last week by his Honor Mr District Court Judge McFarland, were forwarded by train to Sydney, thence to Parramatta, to undergo separate treatment.
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Charley Assam, Gaol photo sheet 6
![SRNSW: NRS2327, [3/5985], Maitland Gaol photographic description book, 1875-1922, No. 684, p. 199, R5129.](../../images/trials/1889-Assam-5985-gaol-photo-684.jpg "SRNSW: NRS2327, [3/5985], Maitland Gaol photographic description book, 1875-1922, No. 684, p. 199, R5129.") |
Gaol Photo Sheet - Transcribed Details
No. 684
Date when Portrait was taken: 6th June 1889
Name: Charley Assam
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Native place: India Year of birth: 1861 Arrived Ship: Kazan I Hind Trade or occupation Religion: Mohammedan Education, degree of: Nil Height: 5' 5½" Weight On committal: – Colour of hair: Black Colour of eyes: Brown Marks or special features |
Where and when tried: Maitland Q.S. Offence: Indecent Assault Sentence: 3 years HL Remarks: |
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(No. of previous Portrait ... ) PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS |
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| Where and When | Offence. | Sentence | |||
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None Recorded |
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1 The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 6 Jun 1889, p. 4. Emphasis added.
2 The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Tue 11 Jun 1889, p. 4.
3 The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 13 Jun 1889, p. 4. Emphasis added.
4 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, Thu 13 Jun 1889, p. 7. Emphasis added.
5 The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, Thu 20 Jun 1889, p. 5. Emphasis added.
6 SRNSW: NRS2327, [3/5985], Maitland Gaol photographic description book, 1875-1922, No. 684, p. 199, R5129.