THE BAYLY CASE.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19314, 21 July 1934, Page 8

THE BAYLY CASE.

LATE INQUIRY. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. RECEIPT OF TELEGRAM. (Times Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Saturday. The following statement was made to-day by the Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. G. Cobhe, in connection with the last-minute investigation made into the Bayly case:—“At 11.35 a.m. yesterday, July 19, I received from Bavly's family solicitors at Auckland by telegram a brief precis of a statement purporting to have been made to a solicitor in Whakatane on July 15, which was apparently forwarded To Bayly’s solicitors the same day. “To whatever cause the delay of four days in advising the authorities of this statement may be attributed, it was found possible in the brief period available to have the principal parties referred to in the statement interviewed, and sufficient inquiry made by the police clearly to establish that nothing in the statement warranted any change in the decision of the Executive not to intervene in the sentence of the Court being given effect to. “ The statement referred to contained nothing more than a man’s recollection of a conversation between a group of workmen on the East Coast railway construction works said to have taken place between four and five years ago, and regarded at the time by at least one of the party as a joke. “ By one o’clock this morning, the result of the police inquiries was available to the Executive, and the latter decided that no reason justifying intervention had been established.’’

SOLICITOR EXPLAINS. AUCKLAND, Saturday. Mr. R. E. Fawcett, solicitor, said last evening that the statement from Whakatane was not addressed to his firm, Dufaur, Lusk, Biss and Fawcett, which had been acting in the interests of Bayly, but was addressed to Mr. E. H. Northcroft, senior counsel for the defence at the trial. The statement did not reach Auckland until •Wednesday and the police investigating were advised to that effect on Thursday.

“ ] cannot understand Mr. Cobhe talking about a ‘delay of four days in advising the authorities,’ if the police, who were lenl the original statement, had communicated the above facts to him," added Mr. Fawcett. “If Mi’. Cobbe had the facts from the police he would not have made the innuendo that the delay was deliberate.” Mr. Fawcett said that an urgent telegram was sent to the Minister on Thursday and to make sure he received it, the telegraph ofllce in Wellington was asked to advise the time it was delivered. The telegraph office in Wellington duly advised that the telegram was delivered at 11 a.m. on Thursday, not 11.35 a.m. as indicated in Mr. Cobbe’s statement.