ATTACK WITH AXE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23858, 12 July 1939, Page 12

ATTACK WITH AXE

WOMAN’S HEAD GASHED CONDITION FAIRLY SERIOUS HUSBAND CHARGED WITH ASSAULT (Per United Press Association) DARGAVILLE, July 11. Violently attacked with an axe at her home at Te Kopuru, seven miles from Dargaville, this morning, a married woman received severe gashes on the head which necessitated her immediate removal to the Northern Wairoa Hospital at Te Kopuru. The victim was Beryl Hazel Winters, aged 41, and her condition is regarded as fairly serious. She has five separate injuries on the scalp, four of which appear to have been inflicted with a sharp instrument.

The police later arrested the woman’s husband, Harold Winters, on a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm. Mr and Mrs Winters occupy a house in Walker’s terrace at Te Kopuru. It is alleged that the couple quarrelled and that the husband assaulted his wife with an axe. Whether anyone witnessed the incident is not known, but it is understood that Mr E. Warmington was the first to discover what had occurred. He informed the police at Dargaville and then notified neighbours, who proceeded to the house and took care of Winters until the arrival of the police.

The police recovered a bloodstained axe lying on the verandah, and they also recovered a heavy stick lying on the ground which, it is alleged, was also used in conjunction with the axe to inflict the injuries. There is a young family living at home with their parents, but they did not witness the assault as they were attending school. It is understood that the arrested man has not enjoyed good health recently.