RONALD TRUES REPRIEVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1922, Page 5

RONALD TRUES REPRIEVE.

HOME SECRETARY CRITICISED. CONTRAST -WITH JACOBI. LONDON, June 11. Some of the newspapers angrily comment upon the reprieve of Ronald True, who was sentenced to death for murdering a woman in her flat, after .Taoobi, the 18-year-old pantry boy. was hanged for thu murder of Lady WUte in a London hotel, after the jury had recommended him for mercy. Letters are pouring into newspaper offices protesting- that Jacobi, a pwor. ) friendless lad, was hanged, while True, the son of a rich, titled, and influential mother, whose name was not disclosed, becomes the guest, of the nation at liroadmoor, where he will be allowed to ■• jilay cricket nnd billiards. It is also ' pointed out that no money was spared for True's defence, and that tiie ques- I' tion of his sanity, according <o legal definition, was fully argued at the trial. The "Daily Express" states that Mr. ■ K. Phortt's error of judgment in repriev- ' ing True renders him unfit to be Home ' Secretary. It adds that crimes of vio- ' lence are increasing to a terrifying ! extent, and society is entitled to be [ safeguarded. The '"Daily Chronicle," defending Mr. Shortl. suggests that True's insanity developed since the death sentence was | passed. It also declares that Mr. Shortt had no other alternative than to appoint a committee of medical experts to examine True. The}" inquired, not whether True was legally insane when he committed tlie crime but whether he is now medically insane.— (A. and X.Z. Cable.)