Patrick and Ernest Hewitt, William Lilley, Walter Farrell and Charles Williams appeared in the Winton Court on December 30, 1905 charged with stealing 128 head of calves the property, of the Darling Downs and Western Land Company at Cork Station.
The accused had a camp and yard in the vicinity of the Cork and Brighton runs, from where they made several musters of Cork Station cattle. The unbranded calves aged 6 to 8 months, were taken from their mothers and driven back to the camp. Patrick Hewitt aged 12 years was discovered by Russell the head stockman from Cork Station, looking after the calves. Hewitt later confessed all to Sergeant Michael Brosnan.
Charles Williams one of the last men arrested, confirmed Patrick Hewitt’s statement, and Walter Farrell was brought in by Constable John Hanrahan of Diamantina Lakes Police Station.
John Farrell, father of Walter Farrell, offered Constable Joseph Doyle a bribe of £100 if the Constable would give Mr Chubb the solicitor of the accused, any information which would break down the case of cattle stealing against them. Constable Doyle did not succumb to the offer but was severely reprimanded for not reporting it immediately to Sergeant Brosnan. All of the accused except for young Patrick Hewitt, were found guilty of stealing calves and were sentenced to two years hard labour.
In recognition of their valuable services rendered in connection with the Cork Cattle Stealing Case, the Queensland National and New South Wales Banks presented Sergeant Michael Brosnan with £25, while Constables John Hanrahan, Joseph Doyle, P. Maloney, Andrew Hickson, and James Dunlea received £5 each.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
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“FROM THE VAULT – The Cork Cattle Stealing Case” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode