RAZOR SLASHING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17918, 24 October 1932, Page 11

RAZOR SLASHING

-o>~ BAD CASE IN SYDNEY GIRL DISFIGURED FOR LIFEt/L j viaTl fC. }.. r<- .<!'»•* SYDNEY, Oct. 17. There lias been an epidemic of razorslashing of late, and the courts have expressed their determination to put down with extreme severity this atrocious fonp of crime. Uiitorunately a razor blade can bo very easily procured and hidden, and some of the, more dangerous women in Sydney’s underworld have, apparently taken to secreting these horrible, . implements where Browning’s and Rossetti’s Spanish or Italian heroines carried their knives—in their garters. The other night a hapless derelict was badly cut about by one of these subterranean furies; —at least, the state of his lace necessitated some 30 stitches—all through an argument over a taxi fare! But the most tragic case of razorslashing that has come before the court recently was of quite a different character. . A youn man was charged with having severely injured a girl with a razor., and.,a piteous story was unfolded to the judge. The girl stated that they were engaged to be married, but .having .no money they, had, “jumped the rattler”— boarded ; the train from Glen limes to Sydney, and then from Penrith to Mount Victoria. Camping out in the bush and wandering about together, both of therm seem to have become, desperate, and when the girl was found calling for help and streaming with -blood, she charged the man with attacking her. He had attempted to cut his own throat, and in court she declared that the whole affair was an accident. But her attempts to shield the man were futile and he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. The girl, who had been pretty, required 40. stitches in her.face and is now disfigured for - life. But when .sentence was pronounced, she brpke into a violent hysterical outburst, declaiming her love for the man, and insisting that they musts f-not, take him away. The man offered to marry her. at once, but justice was inexorable and so this miserable tragedy reached its only, possible conclusion. . j, ■