SERIOUS CHARGE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 86, 21 January 1938, Page 3

SERIOUS CHARGE

ALLEGED ATTEMPTED MURDER.

YOUNG WOMAN IN A CAR.

(Per Press Association ) DUNEDIN, January 20

Charged with attempted murder and attempted suicide on Saddle Hill, near Mosgiel, on the night of November 29, Wilfred Richard John Curry, aged 31, appeared before Mr H, W. .Bundle, S.M., in the Police Court to-day. After the hearing of the evidence of 13 witnesses, including that of the woman said to have been the victyn of an attack, the accused, who pleaded not guilty and reserved his defence, was committed to the Supreme Court for trial. One of the witnesses called by the prosecution, Alexander Arthur Lawson, a mill-hand, living at Mosgiel, said that he was riding his motor-cycle from Dunedin to Mosgiel on the night of November 29 when, about halfway up the Dunedin side of Saddle Hill he noticed a small car on the road, £i > saw a girl running down the hill and waving her arms, indicating him to stop. He could see blood on her face, and he stopped; his cycle a few yards away from the car. A man rushed at himhe had a bar with which he was going to hit the witness. Piaising his right arm to shield his head, the witness received a blow on the forearm. He then ran in the di rod ion the girl had taken. The man followed and the witness heard the sound of a shot. r l he witness tripped and fell and the accused passed him. Further shots were fired, and what he took to he a bullet thudded into a bank behind him.

Help Arrives. He ran back to his motor-cycle, intending to go for help. He tried to stop two cars, but they passed on. A third car stopped and the occupant helped the girl into the vehicle. They and the witness went to the Mosgiel Police Station and then on to a doctor. Evidence was given by the young woman, who sakl she met the accused on the afternoon of November 29 last, when lie offered to take her pictures. She met the accused at (.30 p.m. by arrangement. The accused was driving a car which the witness thought he owned. Previously the accused had asked her if she. could drive a car, to which she replied that she could a little, blit not very , well. When the witness found they . were not going to the pictures, she asked the accused to stop while she telephoned to her home. Curry replied that it would be all right, as they would not be long. . They went to the Main South Road and the pair changed seats, so that the witness could have a driving lesson. At Henley bottles of lemonade were procured and these were drunk in the ear. The witness then made an unsuccessful attempt to turn the car, whereupon the accused took his place in the driver’s seat. After going a little further south, the car was being turned . when the engine stalled, and the accused suggested they should walk back to Henley, as he did not think the car would go.

Car Stopped. Eventualy, the witness continued the car was started again and, coming down a hill, it was speeding so much that the witness asked to be allowed to drive. This she did, but as a result ol something the accused said the witness stopped. Curry then got into the back of the car. fie seemed a little agitated. The witness reached over the back of the front seat to retrieve her purse and gloves, which were in the ' back of the car. She then felt a blow on the back of her head, followed by a second one, and as she could see another blow coming she lifted her left arm and warded it off. She then endeavoured to leave the car, but was stopped. However, she pulled away and stepped out at the other side and seeing a light, from a motor-cycle she stepped into the, middle of the road to .'Hail it. , . The accused was then approaching, the witness said, so she ran down the hill. She saw the accused striking at the rider of the motor-cycle. The accused then ran towards the witness, who heard some shots and, felt a pricking. sensation in her left arm. she thought there were about five or six shots. As she could hear the accuseu running behind her, she thought the best thing to do would be to fade, so she ran behind a bush. Two persons ran by and when she attempted to get up she could hardly walk. She struggled to the motor-cyclist and s «erng two cars approaching, she tried to stop them, but both passed by. A thud ca stopped, the driver of which took, to the Mosgiel police and then ‘ doctor. She was afterwards admitted to a private hospital. She still suffered from the effects of the attack.

Further Charge. Evidence was also taken about a charge of assault under arms with intent to rob, and on this charge also the accused was committed for trial, this charge related to an alleged oflei.ee at the Botanic Gardens on November Jo, when, according to the evidence ol Edward TTobertson, a labourer, a man approached him, and, pointing a. revolver at him, ordered linn to empty his pockets. The witness said he intended, to take a torch from his pocket so that lie could see the man’s face, but he heard the click of a revolver hammer so he passed the torch to the man who stepped back and threw the torch at the witness, who rushed away and complained to the police.