Son-in-law acquitted

Press, 24 August 1988, Page 14

Son-in-law acquitted

PA Napier A Waipukurau man was found not guilty of threatening to kill his mother-in-law in the District Court at Napier. The jury took 15 minutes to reach a verdict and Darryl Roland Gaf-fey-Mansfield, aged 25, unemployed, was discharged. Gaffey-Mansfield had denied the charge that, on June 30 this year, he had telephoned his mother-in-law, Mrs Jullian Burke, and said he was going to kill her and her family. Constable Bruce Kitto

told the' Court he mediated in an argument between Gaffey-Mansfield and Mrs Burke bn June 9. It was a heated argument in which the defendant said Mrs Burke’s family was nothing but trouble, and he was going to “get the family and get Mrs Burke.” Mrs Burke told the court she received a telephone call from GaffeyMansfield at 5.35 the next morning during which he said he was going to kill her. Crown prosecutor, Mr Geoff Rea, said there were a good deal of

family problems and it as clear the argument arose because Mrs Burke was concerned for her daughter. Defence counsel, Mr Bruce Gilmour, said the jury had to ask itself why, if the accused rang Mrs Burke at 5.30 a.m., he had not made the threats when he had spoken to her 17 hours earlier. Judge Tucker said the jury had to be sure the words were said, they were heard by Mrs Burke, they were intended' to threaten her and the words themselves constituted a threat.