EXTRAORDINARY CASE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2411, 17 March 1915, Page 6

EXTRAORDINARY CASE

HERMANN FORGERY CHARGES AN EPILEPTIC'S ACT• (Rec. March 16, 10.5 p.m.) Sydney, March ie. .At the trial of Joseph Earle Her* mann on three counts of forging and uttering promissory notes involving £17,39 J., Hermaim made a lengthy statement. Eleven years ago, he said, ho had been sand-bagged at Cape Town, • and later had been kicked on the head by a horse. Since then lie had suffered from recurrent fits, which wore very frequent last year. When the attacks . were coming on he felt that nothing' was too big to undertake. Nothing, mattered after fits. His was . blotted out. After hearing the evidence '■ he was horror-stricken to find that he had committed acts of which ha was unaware. He had no more knowledge of discounting bills 'Jirui of the members of the jury. Hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of bills passed through his hands, and often in the rush of business lie signed them without examining them. Ho had no need of money. If he were responsible for the bills, ai was alleged, it was the act of a maniac, he added. Everything was gone. It was a horrible stain and disgrace. It was most extraordinary, and yet not extraordinary when he considered the effect of those fits. Had he wanted to make money he could have cleared out. There waß plenty of opportunity. • . , Mrs. Hermann and a number of doctors deposed to Hermann's delusions while under epileptio seizures.