THREE MONTHS' CRIME.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 189, 11 August 1919, Page 6

THREE MONTHS' CRIME.

SUPREME COURT SESSION. ONE UNUSUAL CHARGE. The criminal session at the Auckland •Supreme. -Court opened this morning before his Honor .Mr. .Justice Chapman. The following were empanelled in the Grand Jury:—Messrs. ('. F. Bennett (foreman), J. L. Blomlield, E. A. Brown, Chas. Brown, A. H. Chicle, P. __ Colebrook, Wm. Collins, Geo. Court, C. H. Dalton, It. .1. Entrican, Joseph Eraser, A. E. Gilford, VV. I*. Carlton Hay, A. ilewson, .Ino. Jackson, J. F. Kenderdine, •J. .1. Kingston, Geo. McMillan, A. 11. Peel, and Wm. Thompson. CASK OF UNUSUAL I_.TERF.ST. In his charge to the Grand Jury has Honor stated there were fourteen, or possibly lifteeu, cases to come hefore them, which disclosed offences of a very vii ried description. On the whole the CO-CS were not indicative of any alarming slate of crime in the district. Some of the offences were of a very had character, other- were not so serious. One of the serious cases which would come I liefore the jury was one in which a man was charged with bringing about tlie death of his child, a boy, with minor counts of ill-treatment. The case was of very great importance, bccntise tlie whole of the public was naturally very greatly interested in a matter of the. sort. Judging by the evidence the boyl was a well-behaved boy in the ordinary l way, but had developed a habit which required immediate medical attention. That attention was not given. Instead of taking n boy to the doctor, tho father took it on himself to treat the habit as an offence, and to punish the child by plunging the boy into cold water in nil weathers. There was no doubt it. was done with considerable ;hari-hness; indeed, the boy was put under witter. The ultimate result was j that the boy ran away, tie had nowhere to go and hid in some shedn at his home, dodging from one shed to another ,as his father searched for him. Tlie result was that he was out for four or live day- in bitterly cold weather, with nothing to eai and iiiMifliciently clad, remaining out in fear that his father would pur_ue the course of punirihment mentioned. The result of that was that tlie little fellow became dirty, and his feet sor.'. bruised and cracked, and into these cracks must have got the deadly microbe which produced tetanus, because, though the little fellow improved generally in the hospital, he developed tetanus and died. If there wa_ a connection of cause and effect between an unlawful act in the treatment of the boy and his death, that justified putting the parent on hi_ trial for manslaughter. There were other count- in tlie indictment of ill-treating the child, and the Court would lind ut least ample grounds for seeing it was only fair and right, in the interest of children and the public, that this man should be put on his trial. The jury would also have before it a en. c of indecent assault against a girl, which was very peculiar. W'erp it not for tlie man', own account of what he had done, there would have been no ofTcnce disclosed, but according to his account he participated in an act which was not intentionally indecent on the part of the child, but may have been intentionally indecent on his part. Hi* Honor procee led to comment on the other chargea in the calendar, stating that they were of the ordinary character of crimes that customarily came before tlie Court.