DRINK AND CRIME.
PATHOLOGICAL ASPECT.
DENIED BY DOCTORS. A trial of a British soldier on the Rhine,, for murder, took place some time ago, in which the plea of pathological drunkenness as an insanity defemce; ,was put forward.. The soldier was sentenced to death, but the. sentence was. commuted to servitude for life.
It is understood that this was the case which was the subject of discussion at a meeting of the MedicpLegal Society in Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, London.
Several doctors declared their disbelief in such a condition as pathological drunkenness as a clinical eh* tity, and added that if such defences were accepted in this country convictions for violent crimes would become impossible.
Sir William Wilcox, who presided, said that the subject of drunkenness bristled with difficulties, and no proper definition of the term had not been given.
Sir William added : “1 find it extraordinarily difficult to distinguish between pathological drunkenness apd ordinary drunkenness. The man was not sufficiently fuddled to impair .his a’m. He shot remarkably well; he hit five times out of six, and that is more than most of us could do.”
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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5232, 27 January 1928, Page 3
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187DRINK AND CRIME. Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5232, 27 January 1928, Page 3
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