Jury Finds Garden Not Guilty On Conspiracy Charge

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22827, 23 December 1948, Page 7

Jury Finds Garden Not Guilty On Conspiracy Charge

(9 a.m.) SYDNEY, Dec. 23. After a trial at the Darlinghurst Quarter Sessions Court lastings 31 days during which 45 witnesss were called the jury found John Smith Garden, aged 65, clerk, his son, Harcourt Garden, aged 38, radio announcer, and Raymond Parer, aged 54, commercial aviator, not guilty of conspiracy.

They were charged with having conspired with Edward Farrell, aged 60. mining engineer, to cheat Hancock and Gore, Brisbane, timber merchants, ip connection with an- alleged timber lease in New Guinea. The sum of £50.000 was mentioned in the case in which E. J. Ward, Federal Minister of External Territories, gave evidence. Before retiring the jury listened to a three-day summing up by Mr. Justice Holt in the course of which he said that if Garden had been authorised to do what he did. this would throw doubt on the whole of Ward’s evidence. If authority was not given, the statement would be an invention by Garden to discredit the Minister. Garden swore that £SOOO was handed to the Minister on December 3. 1945 and that he was directed by the Minister to take it to W. Urquhart. Both Ward and Urquhart swore that this was not so “The Crown adduces further evidence,” added the judge, “to show that it was impossible in the circumstances of that afternoon for Garden to give money to Urquhart.” He concluded his remarks with a warning to the jury that the case was not one of Ward against Garden. The jury was out for four hours. Another message states that upder t the new order made by the Home Secretary, Mr. Chuter Ede, Stanley must report to the police daily and notify any change of address. It was stated that no new deportation order against Stanley was being made and the question of whether the old on@ was to be enforced was still under corr* sideration.