by Linda Venn
Click here for a list of key characters in this story
A Local Mystery – We will never know who the bandit was
On January 8th 1932, Police Magistrate Geoffrey A. Cameron had committed Charles Henry Edmonds to stand trial in the first sittings of the Supreme Court for the year, scheduled to take place on 8th February. The case was handed to the Crown Prosecutor, Mr. T. P. Quinn, to prosecute in the Supreme Court. I have found only two small notices, one in the Townsville Daily Bulletin and the other in the Brisbane Courier, both published on Saturday 30th January 1932, that give us the ending to this tale.
So, what does this mean for Charlie Edmonds? A “No True Bill” is more properly known as nolle prosequi, the legal term for the Crown Prosecutor deciding not to proceed any further with the indictment. The decision not to proceed any further can be made by the prosecution at almost any stage of the trial, but particularly if the defence is successful on a voir dire (pre-trial application).
There are two possibilities here – either George Roberts was successful in convincing the Crown Prosecutor that the chances of securing a guilty verdict from a jury did not warrant proceeding further, or the Crown Prosecutor came to that conclusion himself upon review of the evidence.
For Charles Henry Edmonds, this meant the charges were dropped. Did he do it? Was there more than one bandit? We will probably never know.
Charges against Edmonds for the Mt. Spec hold-up apparently constituted his first ever brush with the law. Was it his last? Now, that’s another story………