FATAL THRASHING

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 May 1928, Page 12

FATAL THRASHING

MAORI CHILD’S DEATH.

(Per Press Association.)

NEW PLYMOUTH, May 30. Charged with the manslaughter of a child by striking her unlawfully, Arapera Kaiora Hadfield, aged about 37 years, the wife of the Rev. Kahi Hadfield, of Waitara, was to-day committed for trial to the Supreme Court. She pleaded not guilty. The accused, who is a full-blooded Maori, was allowed bail in a personal surety of £ 150, and another of a similar amount. The dead child was Pirihira Tomuri, aged 101 years, who was adopted by the Hadfields. On the. morning of Sunday, May 20, the child was punished by Mrs Hadfield for misdemeanour. The child appeared to be all right about lunch time, but at 7.40 p.m. the doctor was called in. On his arrival, the girl was dead. An inquest was held in conjunction with the trial in the Lower Court, and at the conclusion, the Coroner (Mr R. W. Tait, S.M.) announced that the verdict was: That the cause of death was shock, in consequence of the thrashing administered by Arapera Hadfield. The medical evidence was that the body and limbs of the child were cov-' ered practically all over with bruises, and that, in many places, the skin was broken, and had bled. The child s death was due to syncope, following In a statement to the police, the accused said that the child had swcrn at her. She had intended the punishment she gave to be severe, but not so severe as it proved. She had used a broken tennis racquet to administer the punishment, holding onto the loose strings and striking the child with the handle.