THE ASYLUM TRAGEDY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1837, 25 August 1913, Page 8

THE ASYLUM TRAGEDY.

AT SUNNYSIDE, TWO YEARS' CAOL FOR WARDER. (By Tolograph.—Preca Association.) Christchurch, August 23. The hearing of tho charge against Joseph Martin Chapman, of striking Charles Thomas M'Mookin, an inmate of tho Sunnysido Mental Hospital, was concluded at the Supreme Court to-day. After a retirement of forty-fivo minutes the jury returned a verdict of guilty. . Mr. Donnelly asked that, in view of the good record of accused during the past nine years in which ho had served as attendant at tho mental hospital some clemency should bo shown him. Ho had come from Home, with high credentials, and, during his servico at the hospital, had not had a mark against him. His Honour said that ho would have been glad to have moderated tho sentence, but ho had to consider tho nature of the • offence, which was a most serious one. Accused had been vonvicted of a brutally savage assault on a mentally-defective pationt under his charge. His. Honour said that some of the observations and language used by accused in connection with deceased justified him in taking a strong view of the matter. Tho assault had evidently been committed by accused in a fit of passion. The evidence fell short of proof that tho conduct of accused had actually been responsible for, or had accelerated the death of this man, but it had been done under circumstances which the person under his charge had been unable to defend himself. His Honour therefore felt that he was only doing his duty in imposing the maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.