WOMAN ASSAULTED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27079, 13 May 1949, Page 4

WOMAN ASSAULTED

STRUCK ON HEAD WITH POKER YOUNG MAN CONVICTED Arising out of incidents at Waitahuna on the night of April 27 last, when the wife of a farmer was assaulted in her home, Kenneth Joseph Lowe, aged 22, a farm labourer, appeared before Mr J. D, Willis, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court | yesterday charged with assault causing actual bodily harm and with having attempted suicide. After hearing evidence and statements by the accused’s counsel, Mr G. M. Lloyd, and the probation officer, Mr E. F. Mosley, the magistrate reduced the .first charge to common assault, and the accused was admitted to probation for three years. Conditions imposed were that he should submit himself to medical treatment and that he should reside with his parents for the next six months at least. On the attempted suicide charge he was convicted and discharged. The case was conducted by Senior Sergeant J. H. Hogg. Evidence that the accused had been employed by her husband on his farm near Waitahuna for about 13 months was given by Doris Isabel Kesteven. The accused, she said, had been an excellent worker, and there had been no cause to complain about his behaviour. On Tuesday, April 22, the accused drove witness and her husband in her car to the Balclutha Hospital, where her husband remained as a patient. He also di'ove witness to the hospital on April 27, and they arrived home in the afternoon. Witness and the accused had tea together, and they sat in front of the fire until 10 o’clock,, when she made supper. Incidents Described Shortly after supper, witness said, she had received at least three blows on the head from a poker used by the accused and other blows on the arm. She was wearing a turban at the time. Witness, called out and fell on to the floor. The‘accused then dropped the poker and offered to b athe her head. The accused went into his bedroom, and witness heard the sound of a rifle bolt being worked. She went into the bedroom and saw the accused in the act of pointing the gun to his head. She seized the barrel, and; after a struggle, took possession of the gun. “ The accused then seemed to return to his normal senses,” witness continued, ” and he was ready to do anything I asked him.” She directed him to get her , car, which he did, and he drove her to a neighbouring farm. She was taken by the farmer, Mr Bartlett, to Lawrence. The accused was in the back seat, and he remained quiet. She did not say anything to provoke the accused. To Mr Lloyd, witness said the accused had been a hard worker on the farm, and had worked long hours prior to Easter. " I could not wish for a better boy in the house,” witness added. .Farmer’s Evidence Lloyd George Bartlett, a farmer, of Waitahuna, said that about 10.30 p.m. on April 27 last the accused came to his home and asked witness to take Mrs Kesteven to the doctor at Lawrence. Mrs Kesteven was also there. She had a towel around her head, and she was crying. Witness drove Mrs Kesteven and the accused to ’ Lawrence, arriving there about 11 o'clock. To Mr Lloyd, witness said he had worked with the accused on several occasions, and the accused had also visited witness’s home. The accused appeared to be a good-living man, and witness was surprised to hear of' the incidents. Victor Harris, medical practitioner, of Lawrence, gave evidence of having treated Mrs Kesteven in his surgery on April 27. She was bleeding, from wounds on the head and suffering from shock, when witness saw her. On the following day an examination revealed bruises on her head and body. Mrs Kesteven would make a complete recovery from her injuries. To the magistrate, witness said no stitching had been found necessary. Constable John Mathieson, Lawrence, said that as the result of a complaint by ' Mrs Kesteven, he had interviewed the accused at the Lawrence Hospital at 11.20 p.m. on April 27. The accused explained that he did not wish to hide anything, and admitted having assaulted Mrs Kesteven by hitting her on the head with a poker. The accused made a statement concerning the charge. Plea by Counsel

“ The accused bears an excellent character and is a good worker, and I wish I could give the court the reason for his extraordinary lapse,” Mr Lloyd said. His parents thought that possibly his action was due to overwork and overstrain. The accused had gone to work in the country because of his health, but counsel thought that a rest at home under medical supervision was necessary. In asking for probation, Mr Lloyd said he was confident that the accused would >make good. “ The accused has probably been the victim of a sudden impulse," commented the probation officer, Mr Mosley, and in the circumstances he would advise probation.

The magistrate commented that the accused’s action seemed inexplicable, as there was no provocation for the assault. No permanent injury had been caused, to Mrs Kesteven, but the* fact remained that it was a bad assault,, and the accused might have been before the court on a more serious charge. “ You will have to pull yourself together,” the magistrate said, addressing the accused, “or you will find yourself either, in gaol or in an asylum.” Polished Basketball Player Margaret Barrett, of the University basketball team, is the most polished of all the players participating in the senior competition this season. Her handling of the ball has been faultless and her sense of anticipation a marked feature of her play. This, combined with speed of movement, has found her a valuable member of her team. Miss Barrett was the only member of the University team to gain her New Zealand University blue at the recent Easter tournament. She is a student at the Physical Education School of the Otago University. Varsity Player’s Misfortune One of the most improved players in the University A Rugby pack is Derek North, who has developed into a very lively, dashing forward. It is unfortunate, therefore, that an injury received in the match against ZingariRichmond last Saturday is likely to keep him on the bank for many weeks. It is understood that North broke his cheek bone. Tradition Behind Games Melbourne’s Olympic Games in. 1956 will be the thirteenth in the modem series, which began in Athens in 1896. The modern games were born out of an idea of the sport-minded and inter-national-minded Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who in 1894 addressed a circular to amateur controlling bodies throughout the world, suggesting the revival of gaines based on the old Greek festival. A “ lot of water has passed under the bridges ” since the first modern games of 1896, and much more still since the first of the ancient Greek games were . held about 776 BC. At the old Greek games women, with the exception of the priestess. Demeter Chamyne. were forbidden to be pres - - ent on pain of being thrown headlong from the top of the Typaean Rock. Melbourne, with seven vears to build and organise, should have' ample ’opportunity to stage a festival worth while. University Athletes The New Zealand Universities athletic team, which will leave New Zealand for Sydney by the Monowai on Mav 20, will compete against Australian universities on May 28 and June 1. with the nrospect of further competition at Melbourne.