Mother found guilty of manslaughter

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 5

Mother found guilty of manslaughter

PA Wellington Pamela Hinerangi Arnold, aged 28, has been acquitted by a jury in the High Court at Wellington of murder but found guilty of ‘ manslaughter. Arnold, a housewife, had denied a change of the murder of her son, Peter George Arnold, aged two, on September 8 last year. Mr Justice Greig remanded her to November 23 for a report and sentence. It was Arnold’s second

trial The Court of Appeal quashed the verdict at the first trial and ordered a retrial on the ground of fresh evidence. Summing up, his Honour said that defence counsel, Mr Michael Bungay, had put to the jury on Arnold’s behalf her acceptance and admission that she did stab her child and that at least she must be guilty of manslaughter. The choice for the jury was between murder or manslaughter. The Crown had to prove that Arnold intended to kill her son. There had to be recklessness, if not a deliberate intention to kill. His Honour said that it was clear Arnold was dissociated. He said it was not a case of insanity, nor was it a case of behaviour or effect on the mind which turned a person into some kind of robot.

“I have to say to you that we do not have in this country a defence in law of diminished responsibility,” his Honour said. “We have a law about total nonresponsibility, that is to say insanity and so on. But apart from that, you have an intention — you are able to have an intention and to carry it out and are responsible for it.”