McNeill v Whitton [1915] HCA 69; (1915) 20 CLR 573 (28 September 1915)

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

McNeill Defendant, Appellant; and Whitton (Collector of Customs for Victoria) Informant, Respondent.

H C of A

On appeal from a Court of Petty Sessions of Victoria.

28 September 1915

Griffith C.J., Gavan Duffy and Rich JJ.

Mitchell K.C. (with him Eager), for the appellant.

Starke, for the respondent.

The judgment of the Court was delivered by

Griffith C.J.

The facts as found by the magistrate were that the defendant, being in a Customs shed, hammered down with a dog-hook part of a case which was open. The magistrate found himself bound by a decision of the Supreme Court, not yet reported, to hold that what the defendant did was in point of law an interference with goods subject to the control of the Customs. We are unable to say that such an act was, as a matter of law, an interference with goods subject to the control of the Customs within the meaning of sec. 33. The conviction therefore cannot stand, and the appeal must be allowed.

Appeal allowed. Conviction quashed. Costs of the appeal and £5 5s. costs in the Court of Petty Sessions to be paid by the respondent.

Solicitors, for the appellant, Maddock, Jamieson & Lonie.

Solicitor, for the respondent, Gordon H. Castle, Crown Solicitor for the Commonwealth.