DISTRICT COURT.
_ * Wednesday, August 25th, 1880. (Before His Honor Judge Weston.) The Court having been opened, the names of the jurors were called over, and John Sutler, the only absentee, was fined &%. His Honor very considerately released from service our reporter, who had been summoned upon the jury. Mr South, the Crown Prosecutor, presented indictments in the cases of Eegina v, Allen and Helen M'lnnis, Eegina v. Sarah Ann M'lnnis, and Kegioa v. Brandt. His Honor said he desired to make a few remarks in reference to the last mentioned case. The Crown Prosecutor bad handed him (his Honor) a copy of fbe Inangahua Herald, of a few days ago which contained a letter from a Lyell correspondent, commenting in a very improper manner upon the case of Eegina v. lirandi. Any person with the leasfc^ idea of propriety must know that such comments were simply outrageous. Whomever the writer of the letter was, he was evidently possessed of some little ability, and his object evidently was to create a feeling of sympathy on behalf of the accusfd Brandt, wbo stands indicted by the Crown. He repeated that the publication of such comments during the pendency of a trial was the very height of impropriety, andvhe felt certain that the proprietors of the paper could never have seen it before it was inserted. What cculd have been the motive of the writer but to creat sympathy amongst those who were to try the ca>e. and that was against every principle of right and justice between man and man, and I hope that as long as I am in the district I shall never see anything or the kind again. CONCEALMENT OF BIBTH. Allen and Helen M'lnnis were arraigned jointly and separately upon a charge of unlawfully endeavoring to conceal the dead body of a male child, by bnrving it in the earth. The prisoners, who were defended by Mr Guinness pleaded " Not Guilty." Mr South prosecuted on behalf of tbc Crown. Mr Taplev wns cl-.osr-n foreman. The Cr-'wn Pr s^n'or opened t!>p a\*« for the Crown, and l.rit-fly recapitulata!
the facts upon which the charge was laid. He then called the following evidence :— Charles Langton Neville : I am a Sergeant of Police, stationed at Eeefton. I know both accused. On the* 3rd July last. 1 went to Allen M'lnnis' house, at Black's Point, but saw no one there. Met Mrs M'lnnis iii the street, and asked her to tell her husband that I wanted to see him. On the following morning the prisouer came into the police station, I told him that rumors were current that his daughter had been confined, and if so, where was the child. After a pause of a second or so, he admitted that, his daughter had been confined on the 30th June. I asked him where the child was, and he said it was buried in the shed on his premises ; he stated that to his knowledge his daughter had been sleeping with her mother that night, and that during the night he head a cry, and Mrs M'lnnis came to him to bis room »nd request his assistance to bring in their daughter from the hen house, as she had been confined ; he went out and saw their daughter lying on the floor and a newly born baby by her side; they carried her into the house, and he then went back for the baby which he found dead. This was a voluntary statement. We then went to prisoner's house at Black's PoiDt, and entered a covered shed on his premises. The closet and fowl-house are under the same roof. The male prisoner then commenced digging the ground with his hands. He went about a couple of feet, and he had some little difficulty in dig* gin" on account of ti;e hardness of the sail. He brought to light the body of a child ; it wa3 entirely naked ; not wrapped in anything, and was placed face downwards. Prisoner sail it bad been his intention to run a partition across the shed so that nobody could see that a burial bad taken place. He admitted that he had buried the body, and said that he was very excited at the time. He handed me the body, and I conveyed it to the morgue, and the post mortem was made. Wben he gave me the dead body he did not say whose body it was. The male prisoner siid the child was his daughter's; this was in the station. He said that the child bad been kept in the house for about two days before it was buried in the shed. Subs quently saw the female prisoner, and she said she would tell me exactly what her husband had told me, and then immediately con> rected herself and said she would tell me the truth ; she mainly corroborated her husband's evidence. She said that on the 29ih her daughter feeling unwell had slept in her (female prisoner) bed. At an early hour in the morning she missed her daughter who had been sleep-ng on the inside. She next heard a cry from the neighborhood of the water- closel ; she got up and went to the spot, and found her daughter lying upon the floor in an unconscious state, and a newlysborn child by her side ; she then obtained her husband's assistance, and brought the girl in, and that she (female prisoner) then retired for the child ; she said she had no idea that her daughter was pregnant. She said that she (female prisoner) was a practised mid-wife, and was in the habit of going out nursisg. She further said that she was the mother of eLven chil dren. She said that she had been pros* cribing for her daughter for dropsy, as it was a family complaint. I am sure about the dropsy ; she said thai she was aware that the child had been "put away." She said that the child was dead when she first saw it, but subsequently she stated in Court that the umbilical cord bad been cat. On the morning of the Ist July I had a conversation outside the CourtN house with the male prisoner, but be did not then mention anything about the con* finement. During my inquiries I found that nobody in the neighborhood seemed to know anything about the birth ; I went to the Point on the 3rd of July, but could get no information. I siw the female prisoner on that day at Black's Point and spoke to her, but she did not mention the matter of the birth. 1 handed to Dr. Thorpe the body of the child dug up by the male prisoner. Cross examined : First heard of the case on the night of the Ist July, and went up to Black's Point. Tlib information was conveyed tome by a letter unsigned. I went up to the Point, but could not obtain anything definite ; I did not go to prisoner's house on that occasion. First went to prisoner's house on the 3rd in< stant, in the evening. It was dark and raining very hard ; I met the female prisoner in the street ; she was not excited ; she is not an exciteable sort. I was never inlroduced to the female prisoner. When the male prisoner came to the station I asked him to sit down, and I then told him about the rumor. He did net first mention the subject of the birtb; it was I who first opened theques tion. After I told him of the nature of the rumour he paused for an instant, and then admitted that it was trne. Do not recollect his saying that he -4iad come down purposely to inform me of the matter. Have no recollection of his say--1 ing that it was owing to excitement that he had delayed coming down to inform ' me of h ; 8 daughter's confinement. Prisoners have, so far as I know, occupied ' a respectable position. When the male prisoner first came to me he appeared to 1 be suffering mentally. Have not dastroyed the anonymous letter. Inquired of a tiut'tber nf persons at Black' 1 * Pom! ■ c .tirer; in v; t-ha matter, but couM g"t i neihiiit,' di-fo^te. When nr ; s<>ner came.
to the station to me I told him it would be necessary for me to get the baby ; he wanted me to wait till the eveuing, but I said no; am certain that prisoner did not ask me to go to his house, I gave him clearly to understand that I intended to go up for the body at once; prisoner did not want me to go up then, he wanted me to leave it till the evening ; may have told him that if I waited till evening the body might be missing ; showed prisoner the anonymous letter, and he said he did not know the handwriting. Prisoner never said that he did not wish to conceal anything; told prisoner that he was to blame for not having come down to me earlier ; he never said that he had not come down on account of excitement. When we went to Black's L'omt 1 went up the back* street, and prisoner went up (he front street, so as not to attract atten» tion. I got on the terrace close by the house, and directly I saw the male prisoner crossing the yard in the direction of the shed I went over and entered, and found him on his knees just commencing to scoop up the ground. He had to dig down about 2 feet, and it occupied ten or 12 minutes. The soil appeared as if it had been trodden down. Believe that prisoner did say something about the number of days to elapse before a birth had to be re<>istered. Re-examined : Could never have discovered the body unless it had been pointed out to me. By his Honor: The grave would be about seven or eight feet away from the water of Murray Creek, which is a mountain torrent. Cannot say whether the creek has overflowed, and carried away its banks, but think it very likely. Henry Stanley Thorpe : I am a duly qualified medical practitioner residing at Iteefton. On the 4 h July last, I went to Black's Point to examine prisoners' daughter. I made an examination, and found that she had been recently delivered of a child. Subsequently made a post mortem upon the body of a male child handed to me by Sergeant Neville. The body was fully developed and covered with dirt ; it was newly born, and had breathed. The child had died from neg* lect and exposure ; the umbilical cord was cut but not tied. On the 17ih April I was called on by the female prisoner to consult upon the daughter's case. Slip said her daughter had not been weli. I refused to prescribe. Subsequently the female prisoner admitted to me that her daughter had been confined. Nicbol Eamsay : I am at hotelkeeper at Black's Point. I know the prisoners, they live near my place. On the morning of the 2nd July, I went to the house and saw the female prisoner ; saw the daughter, Sarah Ann, she was in bed. Ou the afternoon of the same day saw Mrs M'lnnis, and told her there was a scandalous report going about concerning her daughter, and she said they could not prevent people from talking. I did not tell her what the report was, bat said she ought to try to get it cleared away ; she said lime would prove it. Cross-examined : I know the premises occupied by the prisoners. It is substantially fenced. There is a shed near the creek. John Prentice : I am a miner, and hotelkeeper, at Crushington. Recollect Saturday, 3rd July, had a conversation with the female prisoner on that dale. Asked her how her daughter was, and she said she would be all right in a few days, and only had the whooping cough. I asked her whether it would not be better to call in the doctor and have her examined, as there was an ugly rumour current at the time. She did not tell me that day that her daughter had been confined. By Mr Guinnrss * I did not ask her whether her daughter had been confined. Henry Lucas : I am Eegistrar of births, deaths, and marriages, at Reefton. The male prisoner came to me before the inquest was held in reference to register* ing a birth. I think s eps had been taken to hold an inquest before the prisoner came to me. I did not register the birth as I suggested to him the advisability of waiting till the inquest was over. I was aware at the time that the male prisoner came to me that the police had taken action in the matter. Cross-examined : At this time no charge had been preferred against the accused. I think accused ceme to me on Monday, sth July, the first s'tting of the inquest was held on the 7th July, and adjourned till the 14 h. Sergeant Neville, recalled : The in* quest upon the body of the child was held on the 7th July, and adjourned. Cross»examined : The information was taken out later that day. This closed the case for the prosecution, and Mr Guinness stated that it w<is not the intention of the defence to call any evidence, and proceeded to sum up. on behalf of the defence. He said that the case for the prosecution rested solely upon the evidence of Sergeant Neville, and however correct his memory might he it; was impossible for him to come into '^Court and relate accurately the nature of the conversations held by him with the accused — firstly, because he (the sergeant) had conversed with many persons 00 the same subject, ao'cl secondly, because his position as a police officer would riaiuva'ly, though jdftjijteHtionally, ip»d him to sutipress n.ll such facs as wove unfVvorat/Iu to the case for the ! Crowii, ll is did not impute that th I
sergeant would intentionally distort the evidence, but his testimony as an officer to hum down crime wns rationally open to that suspicion. The real facts of the case were thnt the accused were so excited when the unfortunate affair took place that for some days they were so unsettled in mind that they did not know wlat they were doing. His Honor summed up exhaustively. He said it was a melancholy spectacle to see two persons in the decline of life placed in such a deplorable position. J^o person could view the»r situation with grea'er anxiety than he did himself; but having in view the oaths by which they (the jury) were bound, and the gravity of fhe charged laid, they should be careful not to allow themselves to be carried away by sentiment. If upon the evidence they should come to the conclusion that the prisoners were guilty of the crime charged, it would be a bounden duty to return a verdict accordingly, and leave the rest to the merciful consideration of the Court. The jury then retired, and after a short absence returned with a verdict of Gu'lty, with a strong recommendation to mercy. His Honor mterafed a formerly expressed doubt as to the guilt, relatively, of the female prisoner, and sentenced her to one day's imprisonment. The roa'e prisoner to three months' imprisonment in Hokitika gaol, with hard labor.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/IT18800827.2.5
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Inangahua Times, Volume II, 27 August 1880, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,580DISTRICT COURT. Inangahua Times, Volume II, 27 August 1880, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.