BABY MURDERED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 128, 2 June 1939, Page 8

BABY MURDERED.

POLICE ALLEGATION.

MOTHER SENT FOR TRIAL

« SHOCKINGLY NEGLECTED."

ADELAIDE, May 30. A niothr-r was committed for trial charged with having murdered her nine-month-old son. She i* Mr*. Evelyn Meynell, 21, of Knoxville. She appeared in the Coroner's Court. Dr. Donald Julius Summer, of Linden Park, told the deputy-coroner, Mr. MoCaiin. Mrs. Meynell called on him last week and said calmly that she had murdered hi* infant, John William. "I asked her why die had done it. lie said.' "and she *aid r-he could not bear to see the child suffering any lonjrer." Mr. McCann said ho would i=end the paper* on to the Crown. k<> that acti.m could be taken a-ain.-t the father, (Jeolgc Edwin Meynell. for neglect. " Shocking lieglect." '•Circumstance.- which should never have existed have been revealed to-day." said Mr. McCann. '•This ninomonth-old child was shockingly nejrlected lor some weeks before his death. He had a fractured thigh, and m> attempt was made to pet medical advice. This injury was most noticeable, and the parent* could , not have failed t>> set that something was radically wronjj. "Xo explanation appears to be available of such callous conduct. It is perfectly obvious that the ulcers on the child's body should have been treated. The father, who was employed by a doctor, should have seen that they were given attention. The papers will be sent to the Crown, and action will doubtless be taken by the proper authorities." With Wardress. During the inquest Mrs. Meynell sat between her husband and a wardress. Dr. Sunnier said that when he asked Mrs. Maynell why she had killed the child, she replied: — "The baby has beep continuously sick since his return from Mareeba. and my husband has been put off another halfday from work.' . When ho asked her why she hud not sent for him. she said: "We could not afford medical treatment. - ' •■Then she told me she had not told her husband what she had done because she was afraid of what lie might say and f!o," Dr. Sumner stated. "She said. 'If you had not been in when I called I intended to commit suicide.' :, " Dead Some Hours." "We went into the front room of the house, and I saw the child lying in a pram. It, was clothed, and covered with a blanket. "It was cold and rigid, and appeared to have been dead some hours. There I were sores on various parts of its body. I and bruises round the rijrht eye. I asked her how >he did it. She said. 'I can't remember.' Later she said. "I attempted to strangle the child.' Shu told me she had to go out and pay the rent, and that before >he left the baby was still breathing. When she got back she hoped it would be all right." Had Been 111. Dr. Sumner said he had known the Meynells since 1 'Xi~, and had attended Mrs. Meynell before and at the birth of her two children. She had difliculty in feeding the first child, and had been ill before and after the birth of the second. The combined strain of caring for two sickly children, lack of money, and insufficient food were factors which must be taken into consideration.

Constable Chambers described an interview with Meynell and Mrs. Meynell at Dr. Simmer's surgery. He asked Mrs. Meynell why she had not reported the death of the baby. She replied, "If I had, the undertaker would have buried it, and I wanted to have it with me so that I could have a peep at it now and then."'