THE KIRIKIRI TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16621, 18 August 1917, Page 9

THE KIRIKIRI TRAGEDY.

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER.

NO SENSE OF WRONG-DOING.

BOYS FOUND NOT GUILTY.

NAT was described by the Chief Justice as one of the saddest cases in the history of the Supreme Court in the Dominion came before Sir Robert Stout at the supreme Court yesterday, when two little boys, Ernest C. Gibbons, aged seven years and four days, and Richard Reihana, aged eight years and nine months, ere charged with manslaughter. The case arose out of the death of a girl named Irene Ellen Quinn, aged live jears and eleven months, it being alleged that the boys caused her death by pushing. her into a creek, on July 19, at Kirikin, i,a r Thames. The Hon. J -V n ° , e ' Prosecuted, while Mr. Reed, lv C I\i i? k f k ' geared for Gibbons, and Mr. Hogben tor Reihana. Uoth accused, who pleaded not guilty are small for their ages. t lho ! Jlon. J. A. 'loie, in opening, expended sympathy with the parents of the deceased child and also with the two accused and their parents. However, ho said despite their tender, years, the law made the accused accountable for their action. Lno law also protected them, as it. placed the emus upon the Crown to prove that they knew their action was , \roiig lhe facts, he said, were simple. ihe deceased had failed to return from sciiuo at the usual time, and a remark passed by the accused Gibbons causing uneasiness, a search was instituted, with the result, that the little girl's clothes «ere found on the bank of the lvirikiri s team. lhe naked body was discovered next morning about hali-a-mile from the spot where the clothes were found. The l "° accused had been seen with the deceased on the bank of the stream after school.

In evidence, James H. Adams, sur-'e-oi': 1 names, said that if the children were in the paddock indicated tliev would be plainly visible from the road.* There was about J;t of water at the spot where it was alleged Irene Quinn had been put in. 1

Stanley Moore, aged eight, said he saw no two accused and deceased in a paddock alongside the creek. He saw Gibbons shake Irene Quinn. Another witness gave similar evidence, and added that 15 minutes later she saw the bovs alone.

Cross-examined, she said manv Mormons lived at lvirikiri, and they used the creek tor christening purposes" Reihana was a Mormon, and he had probably seen a number of children christened in the creek.

A sister of the accused Gibbons said that when the latter came home from school tie said: "Guess where Irene Quinn is?" it ness replied: "At school, or coming home. , Gibbons replied: "No, in the creek. Witness had often heard Reihana say ho would push Irene Quinn into the creek.

Lnder cross-examination. James W. Rennick, master of the Kopu school, said that he thought neither boy had the knowledge that his action would be more serious than would occasion a reprimand from his parents. It was the usual custom for Maoris to throw their children into the water and let them scramble out That was how the children were taught to swim. "

Olive Gibbons, mother of accnsed Gibbons, said that when questioned as to what had happened to Irene Quinn her son replied : "We were playing near the creek, when Dick Reihana said to Irene 'I am going to put you in the water." Dick took off her clothes and boots, pushed her in the water, and told her to swim.'' This closed the case for the Crown. No evidence was called for the defence.

Addressing the jury, Mr. Reed contended that tho Crown had not estab lished that the accused knew their action to be wrong. Mr. Hogben submitted that there was no evidence that deceased met her death at the hands of either or both accused. The evidence was purely circumstantial and far from complete. His Honor, in summing up, said it "was clear from their statements that both accused saw the child in the water, and that neither had made an attempt to get her out, but that wr>s not sufficient. The jury had to decide if the accused knew they were doing wrong, and he held that there was no evidence to that effect.

After a retirement of four minutes, the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty, a decision in which His Honor said he heartily concurred.