A Heartless Scoundrel.

Hastings Standard, Issue 480, 19 November 1897, Page 4

A Heartless Scoundrel.

A young man named Francis William Ferris was charged in the Wanganui Magistrate's Court last week with abducting a young girl from her parents at Mangaweka. The accused about six months ago drew some attention to himself by publicly denying in a Mangaweka paper that he was a married man and offering a reward of £-50 to any person who could prove to the contrary. His wife turned up and claimed the reward. From the evidence adduced at the hearing it appears (says the Herald) that accused made the acquaintance of a young girl, aged 16, residing with her parents at Mangaweka, and kept company with her for six or seven months, under the pretext that he was a single man and intended marrying her. The parents discovered Ferris's statements to be false (after the insertion of the advertisement above referred to), and he was politely given his walking ticket. Recently, however, he resumed correspondence with the girl, and arranged to come with her to Wanganui. He supplied her with her necessary funds, and she arrived in town last Monday, being joined by accused the following day. In the meantime the girl's mother had followed her to Wanganui, and took steps to have Ferris arrested. Ferris was found guilty of abduction, and in sentencing him Mr Nortbcroft, S.M., remarked that they had here a married man, who pleaded that he was very good to the family of the girl. A man who eoukl seduce a young girl only a little over 16 deserved extreme punishment. When they looked at the facts, they could only say he was a most villainous schemer. H 6 started by giving the girl money to take care of for him so as to gain her confidence, and when he had secured that he seduced her. Accused knew he was a married man with a family of five or six children, and yet he denied it and told the girl he marry her. To his Worship's mind there was no punishment he could award that would be sufficient. He was sorry that the statute only permitted him to give accused 12 months' hard labor, but if he had it in his power he would order him to be flogged. A married man who could take away a young girl from her parents' home was a villian of the very worst type. Flogging was the°only punishment that he merited, and he regretted that he had not the power to inflict it. It was a great mistake that such power was not given Stipendiary Magistrates in cases of this sort. Accused would be sentenced to 12 months' hard labor.