CHARGE AGAINST A PUBLIC SERVANT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3160, 11 August 1917, Page 8

CHARGE AGAINST A PUBLIC SERVANT

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE

JURY PAILS TO AGREE

His Honour Mr. Justice Hoskin'g presided over the criminal sessions of the Supreme Court yesterday. V. R. Meredith; of the Crown Law ■ ne. appeared as prosecutor." Herbert Eaton Radcliffe, a Public Servant, was charged with having on September 2G stolen .£l5O, and, on September 30 a further sum of £35 Is. 10d., both sums being the property of the New Zealand Government. Mr. T. M. ""■'filord defended.

Case for tho Crown. Mr. Meredith said that till recently Radcliffe was chief clerk of the Mines Department, _ and in that capacity had both a deposit and an imprest account. These were in his name, and he was entitled to draw cheques and operate upon them. 'Phe imprest account was for the paying out of more or le;s small amounts which had to be paid with a certain dispatch. The deposit account was moro or less in the nature of a suspense account. Moneys which were the properly of the Government would be paid into the public account, but moneys received by the Department on behalf of somebody else would go into the deposit account. In this case there was a settlement by the Government Insurance Department of an accident claim in connection with two employees of the Mines Department. The - Insurance Department paid to; the Mines Department £i~5 os. 3d. in two amounts, one of .£l2O 18s. lOd. and one of £3U Is. sd„ which were received by Radcliffe. Radcliffe paid the money into his deposit account at the bank. As the .Mines Department had settled with its own "mployces, the money when paid to the Mines Department had not to go to tho men. hut was the property of the Government. Tho money, when Radcliffe received it, should have gone into the Public Account, and it was at this stage that tho alleeed fraud occurred. On September 29, Radcliffe transferred ,£289 18s. sd. of the £475 to the Public Account. The balance of the JM7S he drew in two cliennes, one, dated September 26, for •£l5O. and one, dated September 30, for £35 Is. lOd. Those two cheques were cashed, and were nowhere accounted for. Witnesses who gave evidence to the above effect were called for the Crown.

' Disease and Secret Drinking.. Mr. Wilford said that the case was unquestionably a sad one. Radcliffe was a man who had served the State well and faithfully until he had risen to the highest position he could occupy as a clerk in the department, and had enjoyed the confidence of all with whom he had come in contact. Six years ago ho was considered to ho a coming man. Ho was a quiet, unostentatious man, never away from home at night, in no way a {rambler, but a "home-bird" altogether. It had been a great shock to all who know Tiim to hear that his honesty had ever been questioned. The case had appeared such an extraordinary one that counsel had looked for some extraordinary solution. The Crown had made its case out, he could not deny, but when it had • heard the defence, the Court would say the case was unique, and ho hoped His Honour would direct the jury that Radcliffe must be acquitted. If ailyono at the Government Buildings, where Radcliffe worked, wero asked whether the latter drank, tho reply would bo "No." But drink was not the defence; it was only part of tho defence. Accused for the last six or seven years had been a secret drinekr. Mrs. Radcliffe would give evidence as to thnt. From about 8 to 10 every night Eadcliffo 6oaked in whisky, and at 10 o'clock went to bed drunk. About 3 a.m. ho would get up for more whisky, and then go back to again. Before breakfast ho had his last performance for the day, and he did not touch drink at all from, nine till five. His Honour: Surely you cannot suggest that that is an excuse for crime? Mr. Wilford: "No, sir. ' I know quite well it is not. But what led him to drink? He did not know he was suffering from a disease, which ho had. I have here to-day medical men (Drs. Gilmer, Robertson, and Mason), and the Inspector of Mines ,for New Zealand (Mr. Prank Reid), who will tell yon something which furnishes a defencee in this case. Radcliffe was suffering from what tho doctors call pyorrhoea nlveolaris. I am going to contend that a man who for years has been suffering from such a disease, and is forced to alcohol because it is the only correctivo, cannot havoaguilty intention. Not through tho drink alone, but through the disease which induced the. drink, Radcliffe was a man who worked and walked automatically, and carried on his business as in a dream. He was worth .£3OOO wlien he stole tho JJ2OO, and the ,£2OO bail'., fixed for his appearance in Court he found simply by writing a chequo drawn on his account at the bank. He had no need of money. He had no extravagant tastes. He had an excellent salary, a homo, and a family." Counsel' would claim that when he committed his offence Radcliffe had no criminal intention, and was incapable of forming one. Ono of the witnesses for the defence. Dr. Mason, described pyorrhoea alveolaris as a condition of septic poisoning emanating from tho gums. Pus exuded from the sockets of the teeth and caused toxaemia. The disease would produco a very form of indigestion. Among the, other witnesses was tho wife of the accused.

His Honour's Summing Up. His Honour, in summing up, observed, that it had been suggested that the disease had considerable bearing upon the question of intent; but when ono camo to consider the medical evidence, it seemed to fall very far short of what the Court was led to expect from the opening address of counsel for tho defence. Counsel for tho defenco had stated that accused committed the offonces as in a dream. If juries ■ encouraged defences which consisted in saying that acts were done in a dream, there would bo a vast increase in dreams. Ono fnct tho jury would havo to considor from tho point of view of tho accused: the case was not one of a man who was hard up and in want of money. This fact certainly made it more difficult to account for tho act, and it was put by counsel as indicating tho condition of Radclill'e's mind. Tho jury retired at .1.15 p.m., and at 8.10 p.m. reported a disagreement. His Honour ordered a new trial for Thursday next, and accused was released on bnil.