WANTS HER BACK

NZ Truth, Issue 1305, 18 December 1930, Page 2

WANTS HER BACK

Woodcock Asks For Variation

OUT OF WORK

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Wellington Rep.) A month ago, Mr. T. B. McNeil S.M. ** ordered Bernie Woodcock to pay his beautiful young wife, Charlotte, £2 a week towards her support and 12/6 towards that of the one child of the marriage. Now, on the plea that he, is out of work and unable to keep up with the order, Woodcock, well-known Wellington athlete, has been successful m persuading. Mr. McNeil to remit the arrears and adjourn the settlement of the amount of the order until January 19 of next year. By agreement between the parties, the 12/6 weekly payment towards the upkeep of the child has been cancelled. On the previous occasion, when the order was made, Woodcock and his wife fought the legal battle with witnesses ad lib, but when the husband brought his application for a variation last week, he alone took the -witness stand, his wife remaining at the back of the court and leaving the argument to her solicitor, Mr. Percy Jackson. Mr. Stevenson looked after the application on behalf of-Woodcock. In the box, Woodcock told the Court *■ that he had been out of work for a fortnight and that at present he was quite unable to keep up with the order of £2 a week. He had asked his wife to come back to him but she had refused. He was still prepared to take her back. He considered too, that his wife was quite capable of earning money to support herself; she had been earning £2/15/- a week when he married her. Further questioned, Woodcock strenuously denied that he had .left his work m order to avoid paying the order. He had a number of prospects for employment m view but he said that he was not prepared to discuss them with Mr. Jackson. At the present time he was living with his people. After hearing Woodcock, the Magistrate remarked that he considered it would be proper to suspend the order to give the husband a chance of obtaining employment. "I do not think that the order should be suspended, sir" said Mr. Jackson. "It would only be giving an inducement to this man not to get employment. He'does not want to^pay his wife this money." j His Worship finally decided to adjourn the application for variation until January 19 and remit the arrears owing by Woodcock to the date of the hearing.