‘Pregnant’ woman abducted baby

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33672, 23 October 1974, Page 14

‘Pregnant ’ woman abducted baby

(Neto Zealand Press Association') NAPIER. A 20-year-old Haumoana woman was released on probation for two years by Mr W. K. L. Dougal, S.M., in the Napier Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of abduction a baby from its pram outside the Social Welfare office in Napier on September 16.

The woman, whose name was suppressed, admitted taking the infant, which was left unattended. Sergeant N. G. F. Berntsen said the woman was living with an older man who was under the impression that she was pregnant. His parents had given them baby clothing and a bassinet for the “expected” child. On September 16 the woman went shopping in Napier and saw two prams outside the Social Welfare offices. She lifted three-month-old F

Rebecca McKenzie, placed' her over her shoulder, and covered the infant with her coat as she walked to her car. The woman then drove to. Haumoana, where she changed the infant’s clothing. In the early evening the woman, who had become alarmed by newspaper reports, put the child on the front seat of her car and near Whakatu placed the baby 18in off the side of a tar-sealed road. Although it was wrapped in a shawl, the baby would probably have died had it not been found, said Sergeant Berntsen. The baby was found by chance at 8 p.m., when the temperature had dropped to 6deg. The Magistrate said medical reports showed that the woman was legally sane at the time but deeply unbalanced. The normal sentence would have meant a substantial term in prison or an institution, he said.