Gwenda Rowe’s life threatened — Court told

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 2

Gwenda Rowe’s life threatened — Court told

PA Hamilton | Raymond Hutchison — the man who abducted Gwenda Rowe — has threatened the lives of the little girl and her mother since his arrest, the Supreme Court at Hamilton heard yesterday. Hutchison, handcuffed to a police officer, was appearing before Mr Justice Bisson for sentencing, after pleading guilty to abducting the girl from a social welfare home in Hamilton in September. Counsel, (Mr R. Wilson) asked for a further remand for psychiatric and probation reports. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr R. V. Jamieson) said that the Crown did not object to

| the remand but objected to I the remand at Tokanui as I Hutchison was a security risk. “He has made it known to the authorities he will escape if he can. He has threatened the lives of Mrs Rowe and the girl he abducted, and has been playing up in custody,” siad Mr Jamieson. There are no maximum security arrangements at Tokanui and Mr Jamieson asked for a remand to Waikeria with reports to be made by the hospital.

His Honour said that it would be better if Hutchison was remanded to Waikeria, but with the full facilities of interviews with doctors at Tokanui to be made available. Hutchison was remanded for a further two weeks so that the report could be compiled.

Hutchison abducted Gwenda from a Hamilton social welfare home on September 24 and was arrested 11 days later in Mokau, after eluding a widespread police hunt involving more than 50 men. An earlier lower court hearing was told by Gwenda’s natural father that Hutchison loved her “like a daughter.”

In a statement to the police, Hutchison had said he did not know what he intended to do when he abducted the girl. • “I was just worried about a poor little girl in a welfare home who should not have been there,” the statement said. “I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head. “She was a brave little girl — I love her and the two boys. I took her because she had had a raw deal.”