"WHEN AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING"

NZ Truth, Issue 1174, 31 May 1928, Page 3

"WHEN AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING"

Irt Billiard Roorrl

"Fooling About "

Young Hairdresser Denies Assaulting Flapper While the Gramophone Played BUT ADMITS THAT THEY HUGGED AND KISSED

- (Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) . The young chap put it this Way.: "We were hugging and kissing each other. lam quite sure she kissed me and was agreeable to this kissing. 9 ' And the girl, she saith : "He caught hold of my arm and said if I didn't go mhe would twist it . . He carried me into the bach room ..."■■

THE substance of both these statements is to be tested by a jury

when Phillip Thomas Tucker, a young hairdresser m business partnership with his father at Papatoetoe, appears m the Supreme Court to answer a charge of committing, a grave offence against a .girl. And what is alleged to have taken place m the back bedroom of W. J. Tucker's hairdressing and billiard saloon, Papatoetoe, m the late afternoon of Sunday, May 13, brought Tucker before Magistrate Hunt m the city police court m answer to an indictable charge. A well-set-up, handsome, young man of 27, immaculately dressed and with hair meticulously waved, Tucker, represented by Lawyer Mackay, pleaded not guilty. ; • The chief witness for the police, • Phyllis Brown, a girl of sturdy physique, gave her evidence m a subdued voice and was several times instructed by his worship to speak up. ' She told the court she would be 18 next January. She resided at East Tamaki and was employed by Mrs. Hosking, of Portage Road, Papatoetoe. About 5.30 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, she arrived at Papatoetoe by bus from Epsom. When she left the bus she met a young man named Anderton. While she was talking to her companion, Tucker came up and asked if, the bus had left. This was m front of Carr's chemist shop. "We were talking for a few moments, then the three of us walked down the road and Tucker called me aside, saying: 'Here, I want you.' "He asked me the name of the young man who was with me and I told him Ted Anderton.

"He then asked me to come inside the shop, as it was raining and I had no coat; he had the key of the shop and we went inside. "We went into the billiard-room and he put a record on the gramophone. 'He then asked me if I would go into the back room and I refused. He caught hold of my arm and said if I didn't go m he would twist my arm. "I hung on to one of the billiardtables, but he got my arms behind me and carried me into the back room." Describing the back room, witness said there was no light on, but she saw two beds, on one of which she was thrown by Tucker. The girl then recounted the alleged offence, the>police exhibiting j a broken handbag which she identified as the one she had m her grasp during the alleged assault; "I got one arm free . . . and got out to the billiard-room," she said. Magistrate (to witness) : And did you sit and listen to the gramophone? — No, I was standing up. The girl stated that she was not sure whether Tucker opened the front door for her when she left and proceeded to a friend's place — Mrs. Henderson's— where she arrived about 8 o'clock. Magistrate: How long would it take you to get there from the shop? — About ten minutes on a bicycle. 1 Tucker, said the girl, walked up the road with her as far as where the road turned off by the bridge. She had complained to Mrs. Henderson that she felt sick and it was decided that she should stop there for the night; The next morning she was examined by a doctor and removed to the Auckland hospital. Magistrate: What time do you say you left the shop? — About 5.30 or a quarter to six. And if you arrived, as you say, at Henderson's about eight o'clock, you AiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniKiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiini

were m the shop, for nearly two hours — an hour and a half, at any rate?" Counsel: Did you say anything to accused about getting rid of the other' man? — No. .' , Weren't you kissing and canoodling each other for quite a long time m the billiard-room? — No. The girl added that she had wished Tucker "good-night" when she parted from him. Mrs. Minnie Ellis Whitmore Henderson said that when she arrived home about 9 p.m., Miss Brown was at her house. The girl endeavored to explain her physical condition and the state of her clothes by declaring: "This is some of Tucker's doings. He got me m a room for three minutes and "got a policeman's hold on me and I could not get away Joseph Alexander Henry William Henderson, husband of the previous witness, said the girl arrived at his house about 7.15 p.m. On account of her complaint, witness ! visited Tucker's place of work the following morning.

Greeting him, Henderson had said: "You. are just the man I want to see, Phil . . . You have got yourself into a devil of a mess now." Tucker replied: "What do you mean?" and later; when told of the girl's allegation, declared: "It's a lie!" To Lawyer Mackay, Witness said he knew a boy named Gladding. He also admitted having uttered a warning concerning the girl. In evidence, Dr. James J. Valentine, of Papatoetoe, spoke of the girl's condition when> he visited her on the morning 1 of May 14. She was extremely nervous and her condition was such that she was removed to hospital. "Considering the nature of the alleged offence," said the doctor, "it would be expected that bruises would be found — if forcible.. "She might be passive m the matter on account of the fear of being alone m the building with accused. "If she did not know what was going to happen, I would not expect her to resist so much."

. "A well-made girl of good muscular development," stated Dr. Kenneth Mc-

Kenzie, relating his examination of Miss Brown on her admission to hospital. , .. ; "There were no marks of injury of any kind on the limbs or body." Lawyer Mackay: Would you not expect to find bruises or marks if the girl had been forcibly outraged? — Yes, decidedly so. To further cross-examination, witness replied: "There were no scratches or abrasions of any kind. "In view of the circumstances of the alleged offence m this case, I cannot believe thatthis girl could have resisted to any adequate extent." In such offences, added the medical man, bruises and marks could be expected around certain portions of the girl's limbs. A written statement, made to Detective Snedden during the course of his investigations, was handed into court. It read, inter alia: "I am a married man, living apart from my wife. I am a barber by occupation and am m partnership with my father, W. J. Tucker, at Shirley Street, Papatoetoe." Tucker then detailed his meeting Miss Brown at the bus-stop, where she was m company with a young man whose name she had communicated to him after they entered into conversation. ' The girl, Tucker asserted, had told him m a low tone that she was anxious to get rid of the other man, but didn't know how. He had suggested that she accompany him into the shop, which she did. It was about 5.30 p ; m. Tucker put on the lights m the billiard -room and commenced to play the gramophone.

The first of two tunes played was "Rosy Cheeks"; the other an orchestral piece. Miss Brown then asked him: "What is that room out there?" — pointing out the bedroom. ' Tucker had informed her that it was the room m which he ; and his father "bached." • "I did not ask her to come m," the statement continued. "I went m first and she followed. "We were fooling about together iii the billiard-room before we went\in. We were, hugging and kissing each other. "I am sure she kissed me and was agreeable to the kissing. I did not force 'her into the room; I yut 'the light on m the bedroom." Tucker, then recounted what happened while he and the girl were together m the room. ■ . He denied having actually assaulted her, as she had struggled with him. Returning 1 to the billiard-room, they had waited about ten minutes because it was raining. He put on another record, which, so far as he could remember, was "When Autumn Leaves are Falling." A second tune 'was also played on the gramophone. "I let her out of the front door of the shop. ! We were there for. about five minute's. "We walked as far as Lambert's store together and I held her bicycle while she got. some parcels; which she had left at the side of the shop. "We talked there for five minutes and then she said she would have to go home. . "It was about 6.15 p.m.. I went down the road and met Eric Gladding and I spoke to him." , Tucker was released on bail of £250 and committed for trial at the next session of i^he Supreme Court.