STORY FAILS TO CONVINCE MAGISTRATE

NZ Truth, Issue 1174, 31 May 1928, Page 9

STORY FAILS TO CONVINCE MAGISTRATE

Confused Witness

Did She Propose?

Girl's Incoherent Evidence Against Gordon Sutherland Leaves Strange Paternity Riddle Unsolved SCATHING INDICTMENT OF UNKNOWN BLACKGUARD'S DECEIT (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) To appear before the court m circumstances of mistaken identity might happen once m a lifetime, but seldom twice. This, however, has been the experience of Gordon Sutherland, of Dunedin, whose two appearances have been marked by extraordinary circumstances. 6 : O '■ : O

THE first occasion was when he was charged with fighting m a public place, while more recently he successfully defended a charge of being the father of an illegitimate child. This case was most distressing. The complainant, a poorly-dressed, young girl, was m the box for two hours, giving a story which was full of inaccuracies and inconsistencies. Her weakness of intellect was so apparent that Magistrate Bundle expressed himself very forcibly on the behavior of the unknown blackguard who had taken advantage of her mental condition. The attention of Senior- sergeant v Quartermain was focussed on a number of young men m the body of the court when he informed the bench that the details of the case were scarcely edifying to them. Lawyer White: "1 don't think so, your worship. There is not much m it. Merely a question of identity." The magistrate, therefore, ordered that only witnesses had to leave the court. The complainant, Jessie "Wright, told her story incoherently and several times had to be corrected. She said she was the mother of a child born at Red Roofs on February 21, and committed to the care of the State on March 17. She had met Gordon Sutherland at the Queen's Pictures. in May, 1927, and

was satisfied beyond doubt that he was the father of her child. They had met on two consecutive Saturday nights and gone to Kensington Oval, one of the city's playgrounds,, near the tramwaysheds, where misconduct took place. They were on a seat behind the hedge separating the oval from the public footpath . On both occasions Sutherland had seen her oft! on the 10.35 p.m. train to Abbotsford. About a month later, Sutherland visited her home. They went for a walk to Fairfleld, where he again misconducted himself. On a later occasion, after they had spent the evening at the recreation ground, Sutherland asked her to spend the night with him at his sister's place m King Street, but she refused. When told of her condition, Sutherland, said witness, negotiated for a wedding, inquiring: "How much it would cost to put the wedding over?" In the course of a lengthy crossexamination, the girl became terribly confused. To Lawyer White: "I met . Sutherland m May. I went to the doctor In May and he told me I had been m a certain condition for four months." Counsel: "Yes, that is a nice bit of arithmetic!" The Magistrate: "But it could not have been m May." Witness: "Well, It must have been m June." The Senior-sergeant: "The girl's mentality is not high, sir." Counsel: "Nevertheless, she said it Avas m May, your 'worship." The Magistrate: "But that is obviously incorrect." Counsel (to witness): 'You swear positively that Sutherland

is the only man with whom you have had relations? — Yes. What about Toby? — I don't know any fellow named Toby. Haven't you a relation of that name? Yes. Didn't you tell Sutherland that you could not resist Toby, because he was so big and strong? — No, Is he not a big, strong man? — I don't know. I have never been out with him. In the course of further cross-ex-amination, the girl stated that she left piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiii

the oval at 10 p.m. with Sutherland, walked to his home over two miles away, had supper and then walked back to the station, a distance of over a mile, catching ' the 10.35 p.m. train for home at Abbotsford. Counsel: "You say you were not-al-lowed out much at nights? Why were you allowed out on two consecutive Saturday nights with the defendant?" Witness: "After I was with him the first night, I found I was m a certain condition and told my mother. She said that as I was already m that coniiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiii;iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiiuiiiiiniiiiiiiimiiiro

dition, it did not make any difference and I might just as well go out and enjoy mj'self." The girl made the further startling announcement that she tried to resist Sutherland while they were at the oval and that she screamed for help for ten minutes. Counsel; But you were sitting quite near to the road? Surely someone must have heard you? — Well, I called for help. The girl's mother, m the course of her evidence, stated that Sutherland had agreed to marry the girl. She denied that she had given the girl permission to go out with Sutherland after she found she was m a certain condition. She admitted that she had tried to induce Sutherland to marry her daughter and that he had repeatedly denied paternity. Lawyer White, m outlining: his case for the defence, related an amazing coincidence regarding the identity of Sutherland. Defendant had informed him, he said, that when the girl had first approached him about marrying her, she told him that the man responsible for her condition had been injured m a football match and had been unable to ride his bicycle back to town; Counsel sent Sutherland. to make inquiries at the hospital and he found that a man named Sutherland, also

living m South Dunedin, had been admitted to hospital m May suffering from injuries received while playing football. "I do not suggest that he is the father of the child, but there is no doubt," counsel observed, "that the girl saw where a man of that ' name had been admitted, and upon making inquiries from some social worker or somebody of that sort, and mentioning the name Sutherland, suspicion would immediately fall on the notorious Gordon Sutherland." Defendant denied the girl's charges. The mother had promised him the house and furniture if he married the girl, but he refused. He had returned from Tokonui as soon as he heard of the charge — and it was then that he had first met the girl. She pestered him. He later met her m Dunedin, when she asked him to marry her. He admitted that he had subsequently taken her to the Wentworth tea-rooms, to "see what it would take to put the wedding over" and "to find out what the spread would cost." In dismissing the complaint, the magistrate commented strongly on the conduct of some unknown blackguard who had taken advantage of the girl's weakness of intellect. It was impossible to make a coherent case front the girl's evidence. It ■was clear that the suggestion of marriage had come from the mother. In view of the highly unsatisfactory nature of the girl's evidence, the complaint would be dismissed. "This is a most unfortunate' case," added the magistrate, "and I hope sufficient evidence will be brought before the court to show who is the father of the child." HMntiutiiiiiiiiiittiinuiHiitiiiniiuniiiiitiiHiitiiniiniTnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHniiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiintfiiiinniHi)