GAOL FOE BIGAMIST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18548, 5 November 1923, Page 9

GAOL FOE BIGAMIST.

TWELVE MONTHS' SENTENCE. SECOND "WIFE'S" APPEAL. PLEA FOR LENIENCY. [BT TELEGRAPH. —OWN" CORRESPONDENT.] ■WELLINGTON. Saturday. Charles Edward William Phillips, who was convicted of bigamy last Tuesday, appeared before Mr. Justice Reed at the Supreme Court to-day for sentence. Mi*. V. Smith said that ho had been instructed by tho prisoner's second v:fe to address the Court on his behalf. His client felt that, if possible, tho utmost leniency should bo extended to Phillips, who had been a good husband and father. Tho second wifo did not feel vindictive in any way. Mr. Justico Reed: Phillips frankly told her that ho Lad reason to believe that his first wife was alive, but that he would get her in any case. No doubt the woman was very fond of the accused, but he (His Honor) felt it to be his duty to pass a sentence as a warning to men who came from the Old Country and married New Zealand women under false pretences. Mr. Smith: Certainly you have to consider the public viewpoint, tir, but 1 would again like to point cut that this woman has come forward of her own accord in order to state thr she bears no ill-will toward the man. There is one point to consider, sir, and that is that as long as the man is incarcerated, the woman will have the chilli en to care for. Mr. C. A. L. Tre;idwcll, on behalf of the accused, urged that ilips could not be regarded as a man who had deliberately led a woman astray. Phillips was an industrious man, and was as model a husband and a father as could be desired. He had been careless on account of his ignoranco. The second wife had overlooked the wrong that had been done to her. His Honor said that bigamy was a crime that varied in the point of view of gravity. Had it not been for the recommendation of the jury for mercy, and tho fact that the wife would suffer from his long detention, he would have passed a longer sentence than that which ho intend to pass. The accused had wilfully made false statements, and it was his duty to protect the public against men who were likely to marry women under false pretences. Taking into consideration all the facts the least he could do was to pass a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment.