SENTENCE REDUCED BY APPEAL COURT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18208, 15 July 1927, Page 5

SENTENCE REDUCED BY APPEAL COURT.

STANLEY MILLAR TO SERVE ONE YEAR’S GAOL INSTEAD OF FIVE.

Pp«ss Association. WELLINGTON. July 15. ! The .Appeal Court to day had before it three appeals from convictions at Christchurch. The first was an appeal by Stanley Millar for a reduction in the sentence imposed by Mr Justice Adams. Millar. a youth of barely twenty-one years, was found guilty of attempted rape by a jury and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour, though the jury had recommended! mercy. The circumstances were that prison- j er, together with two other youths, all ; under twenty-one, in Cathedral Square, j Christchurch, met three young girls at dusk. One of the three had known j Millar for some four months. The! other two girls went home shortly | after, but Millar’s acquaintance stayed' and drank with the youths. After; buying two bottles of wine in addition to the liquor they already had with them, they turned into a lane and there the whole party lay and slept until 11 p.m., when they were discovered dead drunk under most disreputable circumstances. Mr Justice! Adams was of opinion that Millar had j deliberately planned to get the girl i drunk and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. The Chief Justice, in giving the Court's judgment, said that such an occurrence in the land was of a disgraceful character, but that the Court had no jurisdiction to punish immorality per se. It was of the opinion that the affair was a drunken spree and all the parties concerned were entirely incapable of exercising any control over their conduct. The girl was not pressed to consume liquor and went into the lane voluntarily. The evidence did not show that Millar had premeditated to get her into a place for improper purposes. The ; Probation Officer’s report was good i and he had recommended probation j wherever possible. A Judge should j endeavour to give effect to the jury’s j recommendation, and the Court there- ; fore reduced the sentence to twelve ; months’ imprisonment with hard labour.

! Counsel for accused were Messrs C. ! | S. Thomas and A. A. M’Lachlan. A New Brighton Assault. The next case was also an appeal for the reduction of a sentence given on a charge of rape. A sentence of five vears was imposed on Francis Joseph Smith, who was found guilty of assaulting a woman on the New Brighton beach in the middle of the afternoon. The woman resisted and took shelter in a cottage, where she successfullv warded the prisoner off. The Chief Justice said that the ! Court had read the prisoner’s state- ! ment and was of opinion that the ciri cum stances were not so gross as to | warrant the heavy sentence imposed, j It was the duty of the Court to pro- , tect women,} especially in public i places, where they had every right to ! be, even if alone. Smith’s conduct i was highly wrong and the woman was i entirely respectable. There was no- ! thing to indicate improper surroundings, but being of the opinion that the sentence was nevertheless the Court reduced it to two years imprisonment with hard labour. Smith was not represented by counsel. ; “ Not Manslaughter.” ; The third case was that of Ashley George Faigan, who was found guilty of driving a motor-car without a license and while so driving, causing the death of a person whose name was not mentioned. The case came before Mr Justice Reed in Christchurch in May, 1927, and the Judge, before sentencing prisoner, reserved the question of law for the Court of Appeal. This was: “Is a person who, not being the holder of a license to drive a motor vehicle, whilst driving the said vehicle and in the course of such driving causes the death of another ipso facto guilty of man slaughter? ” j Mr Fair, K.C. (Solicitor-General) rej ferred the Court to authorities, but i the Court was of opinion that a person so causing the death of another i is not, ipso facto, guilty of manslaugh- • ter. j This answer was directed to be com- | municated to the Court so that senl tence could be passed on prisoner.