Defence of insanity raised on charge of attempted murder

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33094, 8 December 1972, Page 3

Defence of insanity raised on charge of attempted murder

A defence of insanity has been raised in the trial of Michael Ewan McKenzie, aged 17, an apprentice carpenter, in the Supreme Court on alternative charges of attempted murder of a police constable, Vincent Paul Nolan, at Ashburton on September 15, and wounding Constable Nolan with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The defence closed its case late yesterday and the prosecution will call psychiatric evidence in rebuttal today. Mr Justice Roper is presiding over the trial, which began on Wednesday. Mr N. W. Williamson appears for the Crown and Mr R. G. Sinclair, of Ashburton, for McKenzie, who has pleaded not guilty to both charges. Constable Nolan, aged 27, married, said that on September 15 he was speaking on the telephone in the Ashburton police station when the accused, carrying a doublebarrelled shotgun, came in and stood at the counter.

“After finishing the ’phone call, I turned and took a step towards the watch house counter. In those few seconds the accused lifted the barrel of the shotgun over the counter and pointed it at me,” witness said. ACCUSED RAN OUT

’’The next second, I heard a blast and felt pain in the left side of my chest. I knew I had been shot. The accused

ran out of the station. I managed to sit on « chair and call Christchurch on the police radio. I also dialled 111 on the ’phone to the hospital.

“At no stage did the accused say anything to me, and I can’t recall having said anything to him. I was about 4ft from the gun when it went off,” witness said. To Mr Sinclair, witness said that at the time he did not know the accused’s name, but knew that the accused was a local youth. The accused had not been swaying. There was nothing unusual about a person coming into the police station with a firearm—and witness had no warning that the accused was going to fire. The accused had not knocked or bumped the gun before it was fired. John Alexander McKenzie, a linotypist, a brother of the accused, identified a doublebarrelled shotgun as his property. He said that it was normally kept in the wardrobe of the accused’s bedroom.

On the evening of September 15, witness said, he was at home watching television when he heard that a policeman had been shot. The matter was discussed by the ilyWitness went out into the hut and examined his shotgun. One of the barrels had been fired. Witness asked the accused, who was in bed, if he had shot the policeman and accused replied: “No.” His mother came in and told him to leave the accused alone. To Mr Sinclair, witness said that he got on well with

the accused who was “a good boy.” There were several guns about the house, the accused owning two of them. Witness was fond of shooting, and accused went shooting regularly. MOTHER’S EVIDENCE Mary Sheehan, the mother of the accused, said that about 6.30 p.m. on September 15 the accused walked into town. She next saw him about 10.10 p.m. when he came into the kitchen where she was ironing. He spoke to her briefly and told her that he was going out again to McCormick’s place. Accused went into the sleep-out for a short time.

While watching television about 10.55 p.m. the kitchen door burst open and a youth Paul Gibson, came in, asking if accused was home. “I wasn’t aware at that time that Michael (accused) had returned,” witness said. “I stood outside his bedroom, and discovered Michael standing at the bedroom door beside me. Paul then said: ‘Christ, Mike, I thought you had shot a cop’.” Witness went back to the lounge. About 11.40 p.m. news came over the air that a policeman had been shot. When returning from putting out milk bottles, witness discussed with John McKenzie Paul Gibson’s “strange behaviour.” Later, witness found John in accused’s room, and told John “to leave it until the morning.” The next morning, accused came into the kitchen fully dressed, and said when asked that he had to go out to see someone.

“When he looked at me I could see he was under a strain, and seemed very upset,” witness said. When witness questioned accused, his reply was something like: "It’s too terrible. I can’t.” Accused went out of the house and walked towards the police station. ASLEEP ON ROAD

To Mr Sinclair, witness said the accused got on well with other members of the family and her husband. The accused was a member of the Deerstalkers’ Association and had had a firearm licence since he was 16. He found academic subjects at school difficult but was good at metalwork and things he did with his hands. There was no vicious streak in accused.

Some time ago, accused had been convicted on a driving charge, fined $3O, and his licence cancelled for a year. He had also been fined $5 in the Children’s Court for discharging a firearm in the Winthmore plantation. His attitude to the police was quite good and he had remarked that Sergeant J. R. Wheeler was "a good chap.” When accused remained out late at night, witness would discuss the matter with him. “I fear drink in the hands of a lot of lively youngsters, and I considered the crowd he was going with was immature and rather irresponsible,” witness said. Once, when witness had gone looking for accused, she had found a small car with another lad pulled up at the gate. Accused had got out, rolled up in the middle of the road, and had gone to sleep. Witness had said: “Michael, get up off the road and get inside before the milkman drives over you.” This had been about 3.45 a.m. “At the sound of my voice he leapt up, and just stared at me, then rushed inside and got

into bed. He didn’t appear to have been drinking. He ran up the seven steps and got inside long before I did. He went inside as if all the devils were after him. I spoke to him about it next day — he couldn’t remember me speaking to him the night before,” witness said. ACCUSED’S STATEMENT Sergeant J. R. Wheeler gave evidence that about 9.30 a.m. on September 16 accused had asked to speak to him at the Ashburton police station. Accused had said: “I shot the policeman last night, Jack. I am the one you’re looking for, but I don’t know why I done it.”

To Mr Sinclair, witness said that accused was not on the list of about 12 suspects interviewed by the police after the shooting. When accused spoke to witness he was upset, and had asked about the constable’s condition.

All files handled by Constable Nolan in the three months before the incident had been inspected. It had been found there was no connection between the constable and the accused. In a statement made to Detective Sergeant J. G. Scott, accused described events on the evening of September 15. When returning from Rakaia in McCormick’s car, accused jokingly said that he might shoot a policeman. Those in the car just laughed at him. He was just about laughing himself because he was not serious.

After going into his bedroom, accused grabbed four shotgun cartridges. “Everything was going through my mind at this stage,” accused said. “One minute I would think of going round to the police station with the cartridges and the gun, and the next minute I would wonder ‘what the hell am I doing.’ ”

Accused said he took the shotgun because he had decided to go to the police station. He thought that he pulled the shotgun to pieces to carry it. “As I was going up Kermode Street, I put the shotgun together and put a Cartridge in it ... I put two cartridges in it, and cocked it as I walked along the street.

“I opened the door and walked in, holding the shotgun in one hand with the barrel pointing to the floor.

. . . The constable asked me what I wanted. I just lifted the shotgun up over the top of the counter and just looked at him. I didn’t speak to him. I didn’t know what I was going to do. The next thing I pulled the trigger on the shotgun. “I was looking at the constable. Then he just hit the floor. I dunno why I done it. When he fell, I panicked and ran out the door and took off. I held the shotgun in one hand and just ran like hell,” the statement said.

Accused said he put the shotgun back under the bed without cleaning the barrel. He put three cartridges back in the belt and because he was “feeling crook” went to bed.

“This morning when I woke up, I thought that I had killed a policeman at the police station last night. I kept thinking: ‘What have I done that for.’ I decided that I would come round to the police station and have a talk to Sergeant Wheeler,” the statement said. To Mr Sinclair, witness said that accused had made

a full, explicit, and truthful statement. Accused had been very upset and at times was in tears. DEFENCE CASE Opening the defence case, Mr Sinclair said that no attempt would be made to dispute the facts, or to minimise the seriousness of accused’s action. “I cannot overstate his concern about what he did and the repentant state of mind which he has been in ever since he came to the realisation of what he had done,” Mr Sinclair said. The prosecution had failed to prove, he submitted, that accused’s action had been an act of bravado and that he had been provoked into it by the laughter and derision of others after he made an impulsive remark. The defence would raise the question of the insanity of the accused, Mr Sinclair said. The accused was a boy of 17 who had never been in any serious trouble, was good in the home, and was a regular churchgoer. Accused had done something very strange, outside the pattern of his usual behaviour. His actions had not been those of a normal person of his age and background.

“You don’t have to be an expert to conclude that there was a strong flavour of instability in accused’s behaviour on the evening of September 15,” Mr Sinclair said. “A senior psychiatrist will say that the accused, when he committed the offence, had no appreciation of what he was doing.” Dr W. D. Wilson, a consultant psychiatrist, of Timaru, gave evidence that he examined accused at Sunnyside Hospital on October 7, at Addington Prison on October 21, and on three occasions since then. While on remand, accused had been exhaustively examined at Sunnyside Hospital by psychiatrists employed by the Crown, and witness had been given full facilities to examine the reports and records.

“Accused has performed a battery of psychological tests which measured his intelligence, stability, and underlying personality. These tests have revealed very high scores on the schizophrenia rating, but I did not rely on these tests exclusively,” Dr Wilson said. Accused had described changes in his feelings in the three or four weeks before the shooting. Accused had told witness that he had not enjoyed the company of his friends or his drinking. He had thought about hanging himself, and had set off to hitch-hike to the West Coast, but had slept one night under a hedge and then returned home.

’‘Accused has no explanation for this behaviour and the shooting. In my view, his condition is that of schizophrenia,” witness said.