WAR SERVICE AND CRIME

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 71, 24 March 1928, Page 7 (Supplement)

WAR SERVICE AND CRIME

EX-SOLDIER'S PLIGHT.

MINISTRY CRITICISED.

In ex serviceman, who was said to have become a criminal as the result of war wounds, was before the Deputy Chairman, Mr. H. VV. W. Wilberforce, at London Sessions recently. The prisoner was Harold Manning, aped 29 described as a floor-layer, and be pleaded guilty to stealing two parcels of second hand clothing from London Bridge railway station on November 3. Evidence was given that since June, 1020, Manning had been convicted of theft on a number of occasions. He 1 had also served a sentence of twelve month a' imprisonment for forging and uttering a cheque. Detective-Sergeant Oddes said that Manning was the son of a highly respected business man. He was in regular employment at the time he committed the theft. Mr. Ht. John Hutchinson, who appeared for the defence, said that in 1911 Manning enlisted in the West Kent Regiment, giving his age as 17, althoueh he was only 14 ] n 1914 he was Bent to the \\ cstern ]• ront with his regiment and in November, 1917, he received a levere slirapn 1 wound in the head. He remained in hospital for some time, but later he saw more active service in Palestine and Egypt. He was again wounded, and also contracted malarial fever. Tn 1918 he wandered away from his regiment, and being captured he waa tried by court-martial for desertion As those who tried him had no idea of anything that had happened to him mentally he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. It was not until 1920 that he returned to England, and his people at home at once noticed that he wm odd in his manner and behaviour Finally he strolled away from them one day and stole a bicycle. It was a purpo«eless theft, but he received a sentence of a month's hard labour. Soon after his release he stole a watch, and later he misappropriated two more bicycles. In 1924, through the agency of someone interested in wounded ex-service ™ B ' to ®?ase was brought to the notice of the Ministry of Pensions. A board considered the matter, and he was awarded a pension of 12/ a week. He next underwent an examination bv Sir James Purves-Stewart, and as a result iua pension was increased to 24/ a week which represented a 70 per cent disabihty allowance. Then Manning went g °i married > proceeded to commit a cheque forgery. His pun lament for this offence, meted out to a< j the ° ld Bailey, was a sentence of twelve months' hard labour. So far from prison doing him any good, it appeared to have made his condition *T° da ?» »'ter his release another board considered his case, and his pension was raised to the 80 oer cent disability scale. ahSl™ Wit £ 80 P er cent disability, said Mr. Hutchinson, "and M,n ? Btl 7 w hich has been formed to help people of this sort. Before he reotiTed injuries when serving his country, this man was a perfectly decent respectable young fellow. His must be fw t Ca !l\ 14 does 86611 unfortunate 111 • !"" man commi ts a crime all the Ministry can say to him is 'Well joo had better go to prison.'" Mr! Hutchinson said he understood the Ministry of Pensions had institutions where people who were not insane, but were on the border line, could be sent for ameliorative treatment. He suggested that there should be some inquirv aa to whether or not Manning should be •ent to such a place. Inspector end Head Operation. Woodcock, neurological inspector to the Ministry of Pensions, said he flafl arranged an examination of Manning 7 an independent neurological specialist •nd an independent surgeon. There had also been an X-ray examination. As j , re *u't of these examinations the waaion of the Ministry was that there no indication that the man should be accepted for institutional treatment. "•Ministry considered the only disability to be accepted by them was for Pension purposes, and Manning's pensionable disability was registered aooordIFfv as "Gunshot wounds received J~enrt)er, 1914." "There has been no ■ability from mental disease," said He doctor. "He has not been accepted lor any mental trouble." The Deputy Chairman: So far as his physical condition is concerned, there •tu Beem to t >e anything the matter with him, apart from his nerves and his mind 7 . P 1 "* Woodcock: Only his alleged persistent headaches, and I have no'reason t° doubt that he really has them. The deputy chairman said that the on behalf of Manning seemed 10 » that u he was receiving an 80 P®foent disability pension, this was ei f u *® r gron extravagance on the part w the Ministry, or it indicated a conition which ought to be under the control of somebody else. Dr. Woodcock said that was not his view. A man having persistent head•cn®! and so forth, as Manning had, mi «ht be very ill, but it did not necessarily follow that he ought to be under 5? n troL "It has been put to us," said •Woodcock, "that an operation might Aft this ''man a law-abiding citizen. h »J!. Ver y car€^u ' examination which made, however, we have deeded that we should not be justified in °P®J*ting on his head." Mr. St. John Hutchinson: You do not really think that the Ministry of Pension* would give a man an 80 per. cent Wability pension because he had one two old head wounds and persistent Headaches ? wv'i. Woodcock: I was not on the board j made the decision. The Ministry oes not accept this man's thieving pro- i P*nsities as a possible cause of disability, even if they did, they could no £ ®°oept him as a patient at one of their jeatment institutions, because they ust protect their other patients. The Law and Insanity. The deputy-chairman said it was cera 'nly not for him to institute an inquiry *» to how the Ministry carried out their statutory duty. .Mr. St. John Hutchinson: No, my hut it is a very serioun and terrible Potion if, when a man behaves as this behaves through wounds, there is Jjthing for it but to send him to prison. ■ Result we know of his last term Prison was that he got ten per cent Mr. Hutchinson said he fully that the law about insanity J*»ery definite. Either a person was he was not mad, but one knew gy'y well that there were many "•"•'line cases. At the present time j Provision was made by the State for th* w 'th such cases except that when e y committed crimes they were treated criminals and left to the humanity, Dri eo,,rsr > w as very great, of the aru ' the prison officials. ■«. *.T. F. Kcenan said he had known tak"" n^-^ 0r R '-" ne time, *and he had en to see Sir James Purves-

Stewart. An examination showed that there had been actual physical injury to a portion of Manning's brain. He had no doubt that the constant stealing of bicycles and other petty thefts were the result of the head wounds. The Deputy-Chairman: Can you suggest any treatment?— The only treatment is control for the rest of his life. Is it good or bad for him to be shut up in a place like prison?—lt might well lead in this case, as it has in others, to tragic circumstances. I feel bound to warn the court about that. The Deputy-Chairman, passing sentence, said it might be that the Secretary of State, after considering the whole matter, might decide to take some action, but he (Mr. Wilberforce) had only his duty to perform. "Everyone agrees that this man ought not to be at large," he added. "The question is by whom ought he to be controlled? I have been told that he ought to be controlled in some institution belonging to the Ministry of Pensions, but that is a matter for the Ministry. All I have to see is that the public is protected. The only way I have of securing that this man should not be at large is by sentencing him to a term of imprisonment, and I must therefore fulfil my duty by sentencing him to nine months' imprisonment."