BATCHELOR FOUND GUILTY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21086, 10 February 1934, Page 7

BATCHELOR FOUND GUILTY

REMANDED FOR SENTENCE

ONE CHARGE WITHDRAWN

Guilty on all counts with the exception of one withdrawn by the Crown was the verdict of the jury at the close of the case, against John Black Batchelor, private enquiry agent, which occupied the attention of the Supreme Court for two days and which was not concluded until after 10 o'clock last evening. The charges on which Batchelor was found guilty were:—Attempting to pervert the course of justice (two counts), fabricating evidence with the intention of misleading the course of justice, making a statement on oath amounting to perjury, and attempting to dissuade by threats a person from giving evidence. The charge withdrawn by the Crown wai, one of attempting to dissuade by a bribe a person from giving evidence. Batchelor was remanded for sentence to the end of the criminal session. His Honour Mr Justice Johnston presided. Mr A. T. Donnelly prosecuted for the Crown, and Mr W. E. Leicester, of Wellington, was counsel for the defence. Signing of Statement Continuing his evidence. George Dixon said that on the morning when Batchelor came to see him at his garage the accused said that if the case against him came into court several sordid details connected with the life of Mrs Dixon in institutions would come out. Witness was given the impression that the case against Batchelor was a "frame-up." Witness i mentioned these matters to Mrs Dixon | when he took her in a motor-car to , Bromley. He felt he had to get her into a proper frame of mind to sign the statement or even to see the state- j ment which he had at his house. He j was very worried about the position j of his step-son. Witness told the girl he thought the statement had been I prepared by a solicitor. Afterwards j witness met Batchelor and told him I that he had seen the girl, who had said that ber friends had told her to say that she had been bribed with £lO. Batchelor assured witness that she had not committed perjury; that the statement signed before a justice of the peace was legal, while those made to the police were not. Batchelor told witness to tell the girl that to avoid committting perjury she had only to cry when in the witness-box.

To Mr Leicester witness said that when Batchelor first came to him he told him that Campbell went to Mrs Dixon to secure a confession of an earlier incident. Witness would not have been a party to getting the girl to sign the statement if he had thought it was not true. She did not deny its truth at any time and said when she signed it that she understood everything in it. Witness did not use any threats. Mr Leicester: Would it be fair to you to say that you used your own methods to induce the girl to sign the statement and that they were not Batchelor's?— Yes.

Witness said that Mrs 'Dixon had told him that if she got her maintenance there would be no charge against Batchelor. Batchelor had no knowledge of the £lO paid to Mrs Dixon. Witness's step-son had attempted to commit suicide after the divorce proceedings but before there was any trouble about Batchelor.

I Mr Leicester renewed his objection | to the admissibility of evidence by i Mrs Dixon concerning what occurred ■ between her and her uncle, George I Dixon, at Bromley. He maintained j that the grounds of his objection had : been strengthened by the evidence of i Dixon, who had stated that lie had | personal reasons for wishing Mrs j Dixon to sign the statement and that i he used his own methods and not i Batchelor's. j His Honour said that he would adj mit the evidence and would note the I objection 1 | Mrs'Dixon Recalled Ethel Isobel Dixon, recalled by the Crown, said that when in the motorcar with Mr George Dixon at Bromlev, they discussed Batchelor's case. He told witness what would be in the newspapers if the case went through the court. Dixon told witness that if she signed the statement she would get the maintenance money; otherwise she would not have it. When she got back to Mr Dixon's house she was introduced to Mrs Batchelor, whose name was said to be Johnson or Jameson. Witness was told that she must say in evidence that she was out in a motor-car earlier in ; the evening on May 26. This was not j true. Witness was instructed, after i she received the £lO. not to show it j to the police or anyone. Witness , asked Dixon for the papers on the j next day as they were incorrect, but \ he told her that they had gone to the j court. She was told that no one could j act anything from her if she cried i in the witness-box. Dr. A. C. McKiliop, in charge of j the Sunnyside Mental Hospital, said that Mrs Dixon was a patient at the institution for a short period in 1930. She was slightly deficient mentally, but was eventually transferred to the Templeton farm, where her behaviour was good and from which she was eventually discharged. Harry Clement Harley, justice of the peace, said that on November 28 , a man and a woman came to his house j and, in witness's presence, the latter | signed a statement. She said that | she had read it and understood it. | Allan Shand, labourer, of St. James iircet, Linwopd, said he knew Mrs Dixon. On the evening of November 23 he was with Mrs Dixon. She arrived in a car while witness was at the front gate. He obtained from her ; the £lO note. ! Incident in Taxi i James Henry Duncan Campbell, a | i labourer, of Hornby, said that he had done one or two jobs for Batchelor. On May 26 Batchelor approached him about another job, namely to go out i:i a taxi with Mrs Dixon. He was to get on intimate terms with her if possible and he was to stop the car on the way out so that Batchelor and another man could find them in the taxi. Batchelor mentioned a letter from the woman's husband. A man named Smith was to be Batchelor s accomplice. At 7.30 in the evening the accused came to witness's house with two women and Smith in a car. They went to the "corner of Cashcl and Madras streets, where the accused went over what he had mentioned in the afternoon. Batchelor said that the woman would want a "spot." The car went away and a taxi, driven by | the witness English, was summoned. Witness, having been given a bottle of whisky and a glass, drove to Lichfield street, where, under the name of Williams, he was to say he was a friend of Mrs Dixon's husband and to take her to Islington in the taxi. She agreed to do so. Witness stopped the taxi on the Main South road, just over the Sockburn railway crossing, and produced the whisky. Mrs Dixon refused the drink, but the driver had ! one. Witness was about to have a drink when the door was opened by Batchelor and Smith. Batchelor said something about "this being fine carry- , ings-on for a married man," and said he had been watching Mrs Dixoh for some time. The driver left the car ( after locking the gears. Mrs Dixon was surprised by the appearance of , the men and said that she was going to see her husband. Batchelor said , she could see him in town. Witness and Mrs Dixon eventually went to the office of the accused in Chancery lane where they met Batchelor, Dixon, and 1 Smith. Witness still maintained the : pose of a workmate of Dixon. After i discussion Batchelor told Mrs Dixon < that if she signed the paper he had r made out there would be no pub- t licity and that it was the only way t of keeping Campbell out of the matter, c Mrs Dixon was told that there would c

| be an undefended divorce with no publicity if she signed the paper. Witness thought that they were in the i office about two hours. Some time after May 26 witness saw the admis- ; sion the girl had signed and Batchelor , informed him that a divorce petition , had been filed, without the name of the 1 1 co-respondent. Later witness went ! with Mrs Dixon to Mr Sargent's office. ; Witness later told Batchelor that he j had been questioned by Mr Sargent put the accused told him not to worry. I Witness said that if there was any : trouble he would tell the truth. Witness received 30s payment from , Latchelor for his work. Campbell Cross-Examined To Mr Leicester, witness said h<; did not ask Batchelor for any further Davment. * J Mr Leicester: The suggestion is that Batchelor plotted to accuse Mrs Dixon pf misconduct and to mislead the court Were you a party to the plot from the beginning,—l did not come into it until the afternoon of the twenty-sixth. I had no intention at the time of misleading the court. Did you understand at the beginning that Mrs Dixon was to be wrongly accused of misconduct?— No. •Witness said he did not know that Mrs Dixon was to be wrongly accused until the divorce papers were served. Mr Leicester: What woke you up to it?—My own common sense. j Mr Leicester: I see. It had been ! dormant up to then. If she was being 1 accused of misconduct with you in i the taxi she was being wrongly acj cused? —Yes. So the accusation that she misconducted herself with you was not maae either at Sockburn or at Batchelor s office?— Yes, it was made in Batchelor's office.

• In your hearing?— Yes. Was it true or untrue?—lt was untrue. Which is true then, that you*did not know she was being wrongly accused until the divorce papers were served, or that you knew she was being wrongly accused in Batchelor"s office? —I do not understand. In reply to further questions, wit- | ness said that he did not know that j Mrs Dixon was to be accused wrongly , until he got to Sockburn. Charge Withdrawn : Mr Leicester submitted thai there I was insufficent evidence on the last j three counts—attempting to dissuade Mrs Dixon by threats and by a bribe I from giving evidence, and wilfully at- ! tempting to pervert the course of j justice—for the charges to go to the i jury. All the counts were grave, but j if the decision were left to the jury j Batchelor might be the victim of injustice. Mr Donnelly said that there was ample evidence relating to the charge of attempting to dissuade Mrs Dixon by threats. It was immaterial whether they were made by him personally or by Dixon as his mouthpiece. He was prepared to abandon the charge of attempting to dissuade Mrs Dixon by a bribe, although he considered that the jury would be entitled to infer a guilty connexion. The last of the three charges depended on the evidence of the first. His Honour remarked that he had already decided that he should direct the jury regarding Dixon's position relative to the charges against Batchelor. He thought there was certainly evidence on which the jurv could come to the conclusion that Dixon acted on the instructions of the accused, although personal motives were also mixed up with the matter. His Honour held that the first and third counts should so for decision to the jury but. he would withdraw the other.

t Crown Case Outlined ' ! "If this girl, as was stated in rvi- • [ elence, was afrair: of sordid details 'j coming out, her fears. jud?i:ig bv tn- \\ day's proceedings w >ve well-founded." ' 'cmarked Mr Donnelly 'n opening bis ' address to the jury. Thcv were not , j trying tlv v.rrnotcr of the girl, -:f I I that of Campbell or of Dixon, but , ! they simply hnd to decide whether j! iii the first nlaeo the girl and Carm>I bo'l were foui.c'. in a ccmprcrr.isi'-rj •j attitude in a taxi, and second, : whether the accused, bv using Dixon. i j attcrr ptcd to dissuade the giri by . | thrrpis of exposure of her past, from j giving evidence against him. KvcrvI one must have sympathy with the j girl of I<s. an orphan, a little simple i •.■.■•th a hutTy connecting her will; i various hinner and institutions Thr r\ ir'cncc showed !'\it her rclativf-s had neon after her marrinrre i in. 1932 with Dixon "Nothing can b" said in favour of Campbell," said Mr ! Donrelly. "He was equally respon- : sible with the accused for trapping j this girl and fabricating the evidence , j agaiti.st hr.r." It would be unsafe, he ! continued, to accept the testimony of : j Campbell, a man who was attached to j ! the ctaff of an enquiry agent and i i who undertook v. ork that its not-too-, ! fastidious proprietor would not touch, j i Mr Donnelly said that if the Crown i | case was proved, Batchelor was a i I trader in perjury and fabrication cf j | evidence. He and his staff had been I i on the cake for six wee!:-, and 1 ad i j not secured any evidence against the { j girl. He then decided to take a short , j cut which would enable him to get ' his money quickly and get on to i the next case. Knowing her history ! and of her slight mental deficiency, | Batchelor set a trap for her. the bait j being the fact that she hoped to see I her nusband. "Private enquiry agents i ' mostly confine their activities to , i securing evidence of misconduct that | ; has been committed or is sus- j pected to have been committed. I This is the first case as far as I know I of the misconduct being fabricated j or built up in the office of the private enquiry agent," said Mr Donnelly. The girl. Campbell, and the taxi-driver all gave evidence that the accusation was fabricated, and the only possible j answer was that Mrs Dixon had been ! caught by Batchelor in a comj.ro- | mising attitude in sonic other car at | some other time. The evidence , | established that -.'he could not have j twice been out in a cai in the evening I in question, while no evidence of it j was disclosed in Batchelor's own files, j which only corroborated the stories 1 of the witness. !

j "Foolish and Not Criminal" l\i.- Leicester said that the proof of ; the first group of charges rested al- i most solely on whether the jury be- i lieved the evidence of Mrr. Dixon and j Campbell. The jury had to decide i whether it could, in view of the! character of these witnesses and their ' demeanour in the witness-box, con-j vict Batchelor and render him liable ; to the substantial penalties that such i grave offences involved. Curiously J enough tho proof of the second set of ; charges depended on whether the jury disbelieved the witness George Dixon, :i whose evidence was such as to pre- i elude the view that Batchelor rv.tdh been guilty of dissuading Mrs Dixon i; by threat's from giving evidence. I < Counsel submitted that the charge j' that had oeen withdrawn should not* hav" been brought by the Crown in I' fairness to Batchelor. Tnc fact that 1 there were several charges naturally 1 created an atmosphere of suspicion on ■ the principle that where there was ' smoke there was fire. The charges, j however, must not be considered collectively, but each one had to be . proved up to the hilt before a conviction could be entered. Counsel ( suggested that Batchelor's actions ( throughout, however undesirable they ( mignf" have been, were foolish and not criminal. Batchelor. as a private , enc/tiiry agent, chose to use Campbell, |j disreputable as he was. to -secure nw- it dene-' thai actually amounted only to ! | proof" of earlier misconduct, which he j, believed to have taken place. T f the j | jurv had any doubt about any one « of "the first group of charges, then t it must dismiss all four, as each was t deper dent on the other. Convictions on the last two charges would be . dangerous and unsafe unless the jury I was crepared to say that the evi- . denctf of Dixon was unreliable. c Counsel's Representations i

After the jury had brought in the verdict of guilty, Mr Leicester asked that he be permitted to make representations on behalf of the accused, as he had to return to Wellington and would not be present when Batchelor was sentenced. His Honour agreed to this course after the jury had been discharged.

Counsel said that he would sketch briefly the career of the accused, as he thought it explained to some extent his mental outlook. Batchelor was trained for the legal profession. He was a brilliant student, but always confined himself to studies, taking no part in sport. It was possible that he overtaxed his mental strength. He secured highest marks in New Zealand in some subjects for his degree, and commenced practice at the age of 21. His early success seemed to have affected him adversely, for Batchelor grew careless in business and in his mental outlook. The result was that his affairs became in a state of great jmuddlement and Batchelor found himself struck off the rolls and with a deficiency in his trust account. Counsel was instructed that it was not caused by any great desire for personal gain, but in fostering some get-rich-quick schemes for his clients. "Incapable in Business" Even in the present case, said counsel, Batchelor received only £6 in all. a portion of which went to his assistants. In general he was incapable in business matters, and it was against the wish of his wife that he entered into business again after serving his sentence. He found, however, that he was like a fish out of water in manual work. It appeared that Batchelor was weak in the sense that he was unable i 1o say No to anyone l , and he was easily . I controlled by "a stronger will. Mrs I George Dixon in the first place instructed him to watch the girl, and she kept impressing on him the importance of her son securing a divorce from the girl, who had caused great trouble to his family. With the'se instructions constantly poured into his ear Batchelor may have thought that he was not taking away the character of an innocent girl when he fabricated the evidence. Batchelor was 32 years of age and had two children, aged nine and seven respectively. He had managed to set up his home again after his former trouble, and counsel concluded by expressing the hope' that his Honour would pass a sentence that j would give Batchelor the opportunity ■ of rehabilitating himself. His Honour said that he would give full attention to the representations of counsel, and also any further representations that the latter might desire to make in writing during Bafchclor's remand.