DAUGHTER THRASHED

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21304, 24 December 1940, Page 7

DAUGHTER THRASHED

MAN BEFORE COURT ADMITTED BEING SEVERE (By Telmrrann.—Soecrat to Time?) CHRISTCHURCH, Monday A man who thrashed his daughter in a fowl-run at the back of his home until the child bore weals ail over the arms, the body and legs, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court before Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M. The man’s name was suppressed. Chief-Detective W. K. Dunlop, who prosecuted, said that the accused was a married man, and the child, who was six years old, had a stepmother. Sergeant Mclntosh said that, when he received a complaint, he visited the defendant at his residence. The defendant made a statement in which he said that the girl had a habit of coming home late from school. On one occasion he had thrashed the child before with a strap in order to correct her for coming home 15te. That had been the only previous occasion. The defendant said that on this latest occasion, the child was sent on a message and did not return for two hours. The girl had been chastised before for coming home late, and so he took her to a shed in the backyard, out of hearing of a younger child, and thrashed her. Severity Admitted The defendant admitted that he had been severe in his strapping. The Child Welfare Officer said that she visited the child three days after the offence, and found her body black and blue on the hips, with weals on the body and legs and even on the arms. The witness was asked by the defendant if the child seemed happy at home. Witness: Yes. The father and the girl bore friendly relations. The girl was well cared for. Similar evidence was given by Sergeant Mclntosh. The magistrate then pointed out that there was a difference between cruelty to the child and a thrashing which was justified as a correction to the child but was over-emphasised. The defendant was ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within six months. The defendant: Would you suppress my name, sir? The magistrate: Are you sure that nothing more of this sort will happen? The defendant: Yes. The magistrate made an order for suppression.