BURIED WIFE ON HIS FARM

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1930, Page 9

BURIED WIFE ON HIS FARM

BREACH OF CEMETERIES ACT

HOBSONVILLE AJAN CQNVICTED. FIRST CASE OF KIND IN. DOMINION By Telegraph.—Press Association. k Auckland, Last Night. ... Causing the burial, of his wife in.a place other than a cemetery was .the . extraordinary charge preferred against John Edward Lucketts, Hobsonville, a farmer who appeared. before Mr. Woodward, S.M., in the Auckland Police Court to-day." Luckens pleaded guilty. ' Mr. Hubble, who appeared for the Health said the offence was unusual. As far as he knew it was thje first charge of its kind brought in the Dominion. The charge was brought under the Cemeteries Act of 1908 and offenders were liable to .a fine not exceeding £5O. Defendant’s wife died towards the end of October and Wits buried on the farm at Hobsonville. There were' two cemeteries within easy reach, one at Hobsonville, the other at Swanson. Each cemetery Whs a little more than ’a mile away. ■ There had been some discussion about setting apart a portion of the farm as a burial ground for the Rationalists’ Association, said Mr. Hubble. When defendant’s wife died he interviewed Dr. Cheeson, of''the Health Department, who pointed out that the body could not be buried on the farm. In spite of that instruction the woman was not buried in a cemetery. " _ Defendant’s explanation was that he had interviewed a man who was prominent in the Rationalists’ Association and understood that his action would be all right. Mr. Hubble said that in view of the safety of the ..public health burials should be controlled and it was a serious matter for a ihan to bury his wife as Luckens had. Defendant in evidence said that when he was;, interviewing. Dr. Chesson the doctor seemed to treat, the-whole thing ’as a - joke.' t Mr.'Hubble: I think you should stick to the facts of the case and not attack an officer who is not here.

“I think the breach has been committed in ignorance/’ said Mr. Woodward. Defendant was convicted and discharged. . ' - • ■ ■ ■!'