Jail term for ill-treatment of girl upheld

Press, 4 August 1983, Page 4

Jail term for ill-treatment of girl upheld

PA Wellington A sentence of six months jail, followed by 12 months probation, imposed on a pregnant woman for wilfully ill-treating a girl, aged 11, has been upheld by the Court of Appeal. The court, comprising Mr Justice Cooke, Mr Justice Bisson and Sir Clifford Richmond, dismissed an appeal against both conviction and sentence. The appellant, Maria Murphy, aged 30, foster parent, had been found guilty by a jury in the District Court at Christchurch. In an oral judgment Mr Justice Cooke said that

Murphy and her husband had three children of their own and she was expecting a fourth. They had also been employed by the Social Welfare Department as foster parents of a family of four children, aged 11 to 15, and that position gave them the right to occupy, free of charge, a family home. The girl, aged 11, had been thrashed with a rolling pin causing bruising to the arms and legs and injuries to the face. An arm had been twisted behind her back with such force that the upper arm was broken. She was also made to drink oil and water, and soapy water.