INDECENT DOCUMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19927, 21 April 1928, Page 13

INDECENT DOCUMENTS.

SUGGESTION OF FLOGGING. PENALTY OF £lO IMPOSED. "How any man could write such a conglomeration of filth as was placed in these letters is absolutely beyond all comprehension," said Chief-Detective Hammond in the Police Court yesterday, when Frank Joseph Brand, aged 30 (Mr. Singer), admitted theree charges of posting indecent documents to young women. "I have never seen anything quite like these letters," said Mr. Singer. "No normal man would write them. I do not think this man js a criminal in the ordinary sense of the term." Counsel added that accused had recently been involved in an accident and medical certificates showed he had partially lost his memory and his hearing. Accused's contract of employment was to expire in about a week, and he intended to leave the country. In the circumstances, it was suggested leniency should be extended. The Magistrate: A good flogging is the most satisfactory way to deal with the case. "Wo are dealing with a sexual pervert, and a flogging in such cases is, so to speak, 'called in,' " said Mr. Singer. "The latest authorities believe, and probably rightly so, that a flogging is no penalty for an offender of this kind." The magistrate said in the circumstances he would impose a fine of £lO on one charge and convict and order accused to come up for sentence in three months on the other two. The case was a difficult one, and the medical certificates shower' accused was not normal.