Murder appeal dismissed

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 15

Murder appeal dismissed

PA Wellington A Southland | youth found guilty of the [murder of his mother ‘and the manslaughter of ( his younger sister has!had his appeal against the (murder conviction dismissed) Gareth George! Irving, aged 15, appealed! against his conviction pn the ground that the verdict of murder was inconsistent with the manslaughter verdict, and so the murder verdict should be set aside. The Court of Appeal ruled last Friday 'thbt the verdicts, considered together, were perhapfe surprising but could njot be seen as unreasonable. Irving was found (guilty by a jury in the i High Court at Invercargill of ,

shooting his mother and sister, aged nine, on a farm at Waimatua on December 13, 1986. The evidence was that Irving shot his mother and then the girl. Delivering the court’s judgment, Mr Justice Somers said the jury must have found that Irving killed his mother by shooting her with murderous intent. It seemed likely that the jury was simply left in doubt about Irving’s state of mind when he shot his sister without any apparent reason.; He said the jury may have thought that shooting his mother produced a reaction in Irving devoid of conscious murderous , intent.