BEATEN DAY AFTER DAY

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 103, 3 May 1919, Page 9

BEATEN DAY AFTER DAY

ALLEGED ILL-TREATMENT OF A

CHILD

CASE BEFORE LOCAL COURT.

A case o£ alleged cruelty, fortunately of an uncommon type, was heard before Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon, when Violet M'Caughern, a widow, was -pharged with having ill-treated her littje boy, three years of age, during the months of January, February, March, and April. Acting Sub-Inspector Emerson represented the police, and Mr. H. F. O'Leary appeared for the defence. I)r. E. W. Smythe gave evidence to the effect that he had examined the child some little time after he had been placed in the Wellington Receiving Home, and found him to be in perfect health. There was nothing whatever the matter wrong with the child, either externally or internally. In reply to Acting SubInspector Emerson witness replied that he would not expect' to find marks of a whipping given a month ago. If a child was .tickled day after day its nervous system might be impaired, but the child showed no ill-effects from that or other causes.

Evidence was given' by Gertrude Cockerill and Fanny Raynor, church social workers; Mary Lindsay Redpath, all of whom resided at the same private hotel as the defendant, the People's Palace, and by Elizabeth Helen Goodhue, a domestic at the hotel, as to hearing the child, crying pitifully.after frequent and protracted beatings. Then the child would suddenly stop crying and break out into peals off uncontrollable laughter, caused, according to. the evidence, by the mother tickling the child to quieten him. It was stated also that the mother was in the habit of going out each evening, leaving the child alone in her room, where it frequently cried, for long periods at a time. On one occasion a boarder at the hotel took pity.on the child and took him to her room, where he remained till the mother returned. Thjgwhippings were said to be of daily occurrence, and lasted some times for four or five minutes. One witness had been so shocked by the child's screams that she had gone to the room and stopped the beating. The child was then lying huddled up on the bed, and a strap was lying beside him. Sergeant M'Lean said that he had seen the defendant about the streets at night. She had been pointed out to him as a. woman of questionable character.

In opening the case for. the defence, Mr. O'Leary referred to the evidence of Dr. Srnythe, which went to show that the child had been thoroughly well-cared for, and laid emphasis on the fact that when the child war brought into Court he had gone straight to his mother as soon as he was allowed.

The defendant admitted having slapped the child when he needed correction, but denied having beaten him unnecessarily. The child was self-willed and wanted his own way, and, moreover, was inclined to cry before he was hurt. She had never used a strap, and had never- tickled the child, who, she averred, had never had fits of laughter, though by his nature he changed quickly from one mood to another. She admitted having left the child alone in the evening on various occasions. Questioned as to her means, defendant replied that she had no occupation, but was in receipt of a pension of £2 10s per week. The little boy, a bonny little chap, is too young to give evidence in the usual way, hut lie hesitated not at ,all when asked how his mother beat him', answering—"With a strap."

The Magistrate, in reviewing the evidence, said that the action of the. mother in leaving the child alone nearly every evening was probably more selfish and callous than cruel. The1 tickling was denied, but was sworn to by one witness, and the evidence of others added weight to the statement. The child was not examined until some days after it had been placed in the Receiving Home, and it was not likely that external marks would then ,be visible. .The question was as to whether the punishment had been more severe than a reasonable person would administer in correcting the child. He did not think that a. conscientious mother who would punish a child severely for its own good, some times several times a day, would wander out each evening aud'- leave the child alone. It looked .very much as if the child had been thrashed because he was a nuisance. He could riot find that the mother had acted bona fide in correcting the child. It was quite useless to send the woman to gaol in such .a case, but the child could not be allowed to remain with her. She would be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon, on condition that she conducted herself properly and paid the cost of the prosecution.