 The trial date was set back to 5 May 1887 to accommodate the "West Australian", to the evident delight of its competitor, the "Daily News".Rather than being heard before a jury as is usual for a libel case, the case was heard by Chief Justice Onslow and Justice Stone, sitting "in banco", and went for a little over a month.Many witnesses testified as to the basic truth of Gribble's allegations, and the Chief Justice, summing up, was apparently about to decide for the plaintiff, when he astounded the audience by finding for the newspaper, saying that Gribble had shown little restraint in presenting hearsay knowledge as fact.