GAOL FOR CRUEL FATHER

Taranaki Daily News, 10 July 1929, Page 3

GAOL FOR CRUEL FATHER

CHILDREN LEFT TO STARVE. NINE DAYS WITHOUT MEAL. Whangarei, July 7. Wilful cruelty to two of his children resulted in Iliaia Tai being sentenced to three months’ imprisonment by Mr. G. N. Morris, S.M., in the Police Court. Tai was charged under the Child. Welfare Act with wilful ill-treatment so as to cause unnecessary suffering to his two children, a girl aged 13 years and her brother a year younger. Evidence was given that while Tai went to attend a hui of welcome to Ratana he left the children without food or co ering at Mataraua. The police discovered the children wandering in the bush, their only covering being a blanket. Except for scraps they could pick up, the children were starved during the nine days the parents were absent. The boy was chewing an uncooked leg of pork. Both children were suffering from burns about the body and were in urgent need of medical attention. Tai admitted the children had experienced a hard time, but pleaded as an excuse that their maintenance was a heavy burden. He was convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, and the children were placed under the care of the child welfare officer.