BROKE HER SILENCE TO TELL A DIFFERENT STORY

NZ Truth, Issue 1263, 13 February 1930, Page 3

BROKE HER SILENCE TO TELL A DIFFERENT STORY

CHILD CHARGED WITH PERJURY

Young Girl's Emphatic Denials Regarded by Magistrate As Untruthful

SENSATIONAL TURN IN CRIMINAL CASE ■ A- , ■ ■ . . '■.'., .-..•..■ ■ '". . • „ '■

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative)

I 'An unusual story of clandestine meetings between a young married man and a girl of fifteen years, culminating m | i a sensational climax with the girl sent before a children's court on a charge of perjury, surrounds the dismissal by Mr. E. D. | I Mosley, s;M,,.of a serious charge against Arthur Albert Kerridge, aged 30, of Pavitt Street, Richmond, who was form- j 1 eriy employed by the White Diamond Taxi Service. ■■'/■ . . • . J I '■ The girl, whp came, from the country to take a domestic's position m a seaside home at North Beach, Christchurcn, | 1 was the chief police witness m the charge against, Kerridge, and it was through her telling the court a different story from § | that which she allegedly told her employer, a detective; and a child welfare worker concerning her relationship with the ac- | j cused, that the charge against him was dismissed. . .■; ■ : ' | itmmmmnmmmmmmimmimmmmm „,«i^

IN the course of her story the girl told of' several meetings with Kerridge, but throughout the proceedings' she maintained an immovable denial that anything had happened between them. ," The case took a sensational turn when the magistrate, after hearing the evidence of. the doctor, who examined the girl subsequent to her meetings with Kerridge;- dismissed the charge and directed "the police to charge the girl with perjury. The girl, a heavily-built type, whose appearance suggested ■ that she was much older than she ■ actually , is, told her story with a great deal of hesitancy, and the chief-detective had a good deal of trouble m eliciting the facts from her. At the commencement of her - evidence she nervously, declined the magistrate's invitation'; to sit down, and never raised her eyes, \ which were shaded by the broad" brim of a pink crinoline hat. v ■ The girl; alleged that m Sep■tember last she. went into domestic service, at , a home at . North Brighton, and continued to work there until January when she returned to live with her parents. She had Friday: afternoons and Sunday's off, and these she usually spent with friends. at -Riccarton. One Friday night, early m December, she said, she was waiting for a North Beach tram *m Cathedral Square. Kerridge,, who was a White Diamond i-■ ■ ■ ■

taxi-driver, spoke to her. She cquld ; not remember what he said, but as ■ a result of the conversation she got into i his' cab and drove off to North^Beach. At that time Kerriflge was an' absolute stranger to her. She said that they did not go straight home, but stayed on Beach Road. They were both sitting m the front seat. . ' , ' ' ' The girl stubbornly declined to answer further questions', as to subsequent proceedings, but eventually she was persuaded to write it down. \ - "He put his arm around me -arid kissed me," the chief-detective read out, adding that there was not "much wrong with that. , Chief -detective Carroll.:: Dfcl anything else happen? — No.' ■'. . . Are you sure? — Yea. „■•••■'.;''-.■■ - "I want you to tell the truth. '[ ;have " been nice 'and, kind and -patient with you," raid the chiefdetective, but the 'girl persisted with her denial. that anything had occurred on that night. She continued her story to: the effect that Kerridsre had driven her home after that on several occasions,., their meetings always being by arrangement. ; : . T■ . Chief- detective: On these other occasions when he drove you home did anything take . place.? — No. He only kissed me. [ The girl went on to tell of her return to the city on December 27 from a visit to her parents. She arrived m the

morning' and stayed until seven o'clock m the evening .with her friends at Riccarton. That night she met Kerridge m the Square, and together they drove to North Beach m Kerridge's taxi. . At this stage the. girl again adopted an attitude of silence, when questioned by the chief -detective. She was again handed the paper and pencil, which she at first refused, but later took .it from the court orderly, and stood m the box with bowed head. Further requests by : the chiefdetective to .Induce the girl to , speak were of no avail, and when warned by the magistrate that she must hot be obstinate, 6he whispered m an almost inaudible voice that she and Kerridge' spent , the night m the back seat of his car. She insisted that ,tJaeir association was quite an innocent one. In answer to the magistrate the girl said that both her parents were alive and that her mother was m. courtThe chief -detective: Do you mean to say that you stayed out ali night m the car?— Tes. The girl was warned by the magistrate <5f the serious nature of the oath, and was reminded that the court only wished to do what was right by her and the whole' community. , , "It is your duty: to. be open .and square about it Now tell us the truth," urged the magistrate. Unmoved, the girl ■ maintained her denial and asserted that the sojourn

m the car was perfectly innocent. She stated that after staying out all night she returned to her employer's home at 10 o'clock the next morning. Asked by the magistrate if she had wrongfully associated with any man, the girl's answer was emphatic. ' , "I refuse to answer," she replied. The Magistrate: But you must answer it, or ' I will remand you \n custody until you do. I will adjourn the court for ten minutes and you can talk it over with your mother. When the court resumed the girl's ! mother was asked to leave the court room by the magistrate, and the girl again went into the box. ' ; Chief-detective: Do you still refuse to answer? — No. \ * . . Has any, man wrongfully associated with you?— No. • . If the doctor says otherwise, will you still deny.it?— Yes. The Chief-detective: Did' Kerridge tell you what to say ] when you went in?— No. Did you have any conversation with your mother to-day as to what you should say m court? — No. . The case took a dramatic turn at this stage, when the magistrate, ordered the girl to stand down and asked for Dr. Hunt to give his evidence. "I am not going to. have the court of justice perverted m this way," said the. magistrate, addressing the girl. ,"You understand that you are m a

serious position, and, if necessary, you will go up for perjury. I am going to deal with you. You are bringing it on yourself." The girl remained remarkably calm throughout this castigation, and took a seat m the legal benches while Dr. Edwin W. Hunt stated that on January 23 the girl had been brought . by her mother to be examined. The doctor outlined the results of his examination, and gave the magistrate his opinion. j The girl was then recalled and had i her evidence read over to her. She declared that it was correct and carried out the customary formality m signing it. "On the evidence I have 1 realise that the charge cannot stand," said the chief-detective; "but as she is a girl of only 15 years, I contend that staying out all night m a car with a man, and the kissing, constitute an indecent assault." The magistrate said that he could not concur with that view, and he would dismiss the charge without prej judice. That would not prevent the police from bringing, the accused up again. ' '•■■■• i The Magistrate: This girl cannot be i allowed to go into the box and swear falsely as she has done. On the face of the evidence of the doctor, she has committed perjury. She has evidently been prompted by somebody; who it is I cannot say. As far as the girl is concerned I direct the police to charge her with perjury and bring her before the Children's Court. ; After hearing evidence when the girl appeared m the Children's Court, Mr. H. 'P. Lawvy, S.M., decided that the case could be met by placing the girl under supervision. He ordered accordingly supervision to be exercised for a period of three yeari.