Guilty of Manslaughter.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 November 1924, Page 5

Guilty of Manslaughter.

AUCKLAND STABBING AFFRAY VERDICT AGAINST SHUTES. (BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, Nov. 4. A verdict of guilty of manslaughter was found against Benjamin Harris Shutes, an American seaman, who was charged with the .murder of Reginald Louis Short on the night of October 10 at the Aurora Hotel. Sentence was deferred. Mr Justice Herdman, summing up, said - provocation reduced murder to manslaughter. There was no ■' proof that accused wantonly slew a man in cold blood. What actually took place none but the accused'would ever know. If the jury accepted accused’s statement there was some justification for believing that there was provocation. If the blow was struck in a fit of passion it was manslaughter, not murder. The jury had to decide whether or not accused was in a- state of uncontrollable passion, caused by provocation by Short. It had to be remembered that he struck at the man’s leg, and that, had the knife missed the artery, there would have been no crime of murder. Referring to drunkenness, at Mr McVeagh’s request, the judge said that if the accused had been hopelessly drunk he would not have remembered next day sufficient to make a statement to the: police. Drunkenness itself was not an excuse for crime, but it affected a man’s intention.

The jury, after two and a half hours’ deliberation, returned a verdict of not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter . The prisoner was remanded for sentence'till November 12. The jury returned the following rider : “That.ln the opinion of this |Ury the facility with which drink is obtainable after hours is largely resnonsible for the crime under review.” Mr Justice - Herdman said this would be handed to the police.