THE MOUAT CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20598, 24 June 1930, Page 12

THE MOUAT CASE.

NOT TO BE REOPENED.

FAILURE OF PETITION.

Executive council decision

A petition in the. interests of Frederick Peter Mouat, who was convicted in Chris'church in 1925 of tho manslaughter of his wife, Ellen Mouat, and who is now serving a sentence of 17 years' imprisonment in Mount Eden prison, has failed to satisfy tho Executive Council that it should recommend any variation of Mouat's sentence, or tlio reopening of the case. Advice to this effect was received yesterday by prisoner's solicitor, Mr. K. 15. N. Matthews. Considerable interest was attached to tho trial. Evidence for tho Grown stated that on the night of February 19, 1925, or the following morning, Mrs. Mouat disappeared from her home at 10, Bcckford Road, Christchurcli. It was alleged that between 10 p.m. and tho following morning Mount and his wife quarrelled and that Mouat, cither by accident or design, killed his wife and then dismembered her body and destroyed it by burning. The jury failed to agree, and another' trial resulted in a. verdict of manslaughter. z Grounds ol Petition. The petition, which was lodged last. » December, prayed " that tho Governor-General.in-Couneil may bo graciously pleased to exerciso the Royal prerogative and order the quashing of the conviction, pardon tho petitioner, or appoint a commission with full powers to grant relief as may bo just." Broadly, tho grounds of (ho petition were that strong public feeling was sroused after petitioner's first trial, and that the. atmosphere was prejudicial to his case and that tho evidence of witnesses was not fully explored. Evidence that Mrs. Mouat had been seen after her supposed murder was stressed and expert opinion was tendered regarding tho difficulty of disposing of a body in the tire at Mouat's disposal. Tho decision of tho Executive Council •was conveyed to Mr. Matthews in a letter from Sir Thomas Sidey, Attorney-General, on behalf of the Minister of Justice. He stated that tho representations made in the petition and the evidence in support of it had been gone into fully. Reports had been obtained from tho SolicitorGeneral, tho Crown Prosecutor in Christchurch and tho Commissioner of Police. Following careful consideration of the matter, ho was unable to recommend the Governor-General-in-Council to accede to tho prayer of tho petition, and the Executive Council had decided not to make any recommendation. Reasons For Refusal. Staling it was unusual to givo reasons for a refusal:' the'Attorney-General said nn exception would be made of tho present case. The letter stated: "So far as the argument against the sufficiency of the evidence adduced at the trial is concerned, it is to be noted that any insufficiency might have been made the subject of an application to the Court of Appeal for a new trial under Section 446 of tho Crimes Act, 1908. Counsel for tho prisoner no doubt considered the making of such an application, and, after fully ■weighing the whole of the circumstances, decided not to make it. So far as tlio evidence adduced is open to criticism it was very minutely and fully examined by the counsel for tho accused at the trial. Among other things, the difficulties' in the way of disposing of the body by fire were fully stressed, and, therefore, the affidavit by Professor F. P. ,Worley breaks no new ground.

" As far as tho evidence of Messrs. Holland and Hunter, as to their having feen Mrs. Mouat alive after the date of ber alleged death, is concerned the statements of these two witnesses were in the possession of tho police and were made available to the counsel for tho accused at the trial He decided that the evidence was worthless, and did not desire them called.

" The identity of the woman who called at a boot shop has been established. It was not Mrs. Mouat. Mr. Williams' identification is quite unsatisfactory, and in any caso it is contradicted by that of another witness who saw the visitor." Referring to the evidence of other witnesses who were supposed to have seen Mrs. Mouat after her alleged death, the, letter gave reasons why this evidence was of no value.

Commenting upon the action of tho Executive Council, Mr. Matthews said Mouat had been acquainted of tho result, and further steps on his behalf would lie taken.