Boy Acquitted On Murder Charge

Chronicle (Levin), 22 November 1949, Page 5

Boy Acquitted On Murder Charge

Re68ivi& Tu.84Hky,„9.kb U.Hi LONDON, Nov. 21. WilhHUt fdtiririg), k ||®it the Old Bailey today racquitted 12-year-old George Edward Crick on a charge of hayiftg .hiurdered four-yedr-dlti StMllby Vietrclf Qrraves.by piiSHirig - Him inbd d fivef: Drick had hiadd history by beihg tHfe firSt chiid to be trifed oh a cajiitai chargi. ^m\iM ■ COUhsel fof the bdy Said it was impossibie to know whether thd bdy wdS pUSlidd ihtd the ' water deli'berateiy or adci'derltally; Cridk, thergfore, must be acquitted: He did not eall any e^derice for the defence. The Judge told • the jury; in summihg up, that Crick had not reached the age whereat the law of Ehgland considere'd that he could distinguish between good and evil. . Crick was not put in the barred dock, He would. have been too spialLto see over it. He sat in a c'hair below ,it. He bit his. nails as little Jj.ll fitchener told the court How she. had seen him riding, a bike with .Graves pri the handle bars and how later she weht with a detective arid identified Crick ahiohg other school boys. Gonviiicing Liai*. Then a ■detective, in evidence, Said that . Crick Was "most cdnVincing with his TjHng ahd Very bladsibie." Chief Detective Ihsbebtor (Grreen gave another versjon of Crick'S "romancing." He toid hoW Crick had said that he pushed G-raves agaiiist a tree, which Graves ''missed, dnti fell into the river/' and how Crick had run hdrrie ahd scared therh. Click heatd his coUnSel, Mr. John Maude, K.C., deseribe hiih as "jUst a little English bpy who seems alniost uneohscibus of what is happenihg," but Mr. Maude went on to describe him also as "an artful art'd imaginative little liar." As Crick tried to get a drawing pin out of the sole Of his %shoe, Mr. Maude 'added: "HoWever, George Crick is the touchstone of the heritage of English law, of which we are proud. It is the fcouchstone of whether our system works and whether its principles are carried out." Crick listened closely as Mr, Justice Cassels summed up and recalled to the jury how Graves' body had been taken from the ; river a few days after his disappearance and how doctors could find no marks to confirm Cnck's story of having hit Graves With a piece of wood until "streams of red stiiff gushed doWn his face." First Out Of Court. A few minutes later Crick heard the Judge ten him, aYou are free." Crick diyed qiiickly for a brown ■ paper bag and lemdhade bottle under his chair, and was first out of the courtroom.