Manslaughter Charge Now One Of Murder

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 14

Manslaughter Charge Now One Of Murder

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Dec. 30. A charge of manslaughter preferred against William Potae Aspinall, aged 37, a shearing contractor, last week was changed to one of murder when he appeared on remand before Mr W. H. Carson, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington today. He had been on bail all last week, but it was not renewed. No police objection to bail was raised last week when he originally appeared, charged with unlawfully killing Henry Hokiora Dewes in Wellington, on December 23, thereby committing manslaughter. This morning the prosecutor (Mr P. W. Matheson) withdrew the manslaughter charge and pre-feri-ed a charge of murder. He opposed an application by defence counsel (Mr R. Stacey) for renewal of bail on grounds of “the seriousness of the offence.” Mr Stacey said that, although it was not usual for Courts to grant bail on murder charges,, the Court had the discretion to grant it. Under the unusual circumstances in this case where bail had already been allowed on the manslaughter charge, the defence submitted it could be reasonably renewed.

Aspinall had a completely clean record, said Mr Stacey. He was in business in a fairly big way as a contractor in the Wairarapa and there were two farmers of good repute in the Court prepared to put up substantial bail. Mr Stacey said the defence would deny any wrong whatsoever and claim Aspinall was in no way responsible for the death of Dewes.

Very briefly, the facts were that Dewes was a guest in a Wellington house rented by Aspinall. Mr Stacey said Aspinall, who was a happily married man with a young family and a good record, had been out shopping and returned home to find Dewes had been drinking excessively. He intervened to curb a display of truculence on the part of Dewes

and as a result now found hiimself in this terrible predicament. It appeared that initially Dewes had fallen back and struck the back of his head on' 'the tiles of the fireplace, said Mr Stacey. Subsequently, there were actions on the part of other people in the house which might have played some part in the affair.

Mr Staeey ’ said that Aspinall had meticulously kept the terms of the bail allowed last week and had proved himself perfectly reliable. The Magistrate said it had certainly not/ been the practice of Courts in the past to grant bail in murder charges and that would not be done today, though leave would be reserved for counsel to make, application for bail at a full-scale hearing at a later date if he wished.