TRAGIC SEQUEL TO MOTHER'S FRENZY

NZ Truth, Issue 1190, 20 September 1928, Page 5

TRAGIC SEQUEL TO MOTHER'S FRENZY

Pitiful Story of Child Who Died After Thrashing With Handle of Tennis Racquet

MISSIONER'S WIFE A VERY FORTUNATE WOMAN

(From "N.Z. Truth's" New Plymouth Representative.) Arapera Kaiora Hadfield, wife of a Maori missioner under the aegis of the Anglican church, is fortunate that she has not to serve a term of imprisonment for the manslaughter of her little adopted daughter. Throughout the remaining years of her life she never will forget the terrible moment when, m her uncontrollable frenzy, she unmercifully thrashed the naked body of the child and brought about its death, fudge Ostler ordered her to undergo the restraining influence of two years' probation.

THE judge, during the delivery of his 1 judgment upon her, said: "The memory of the dead child . and the agony and remorse you must feel, la, m itself, the most severe punishment which you, as a mother, can undergo. • "Imprisonment Is not necessary to Impress upon you the seriousness of your crime. "The memory of that little .cruised body will for ever rise before you, to prevent your doing such a thing again." Whilst he extended a measure of sympathy towards the accused, m what was really a very unusual case,' his honor observed that (his duty was to consider the question of deterring other people from committing similar crimes. In extending the privilege of a probationary period, he had not done so without giving the question a good deal of anxious thought. It was not suggested that the prisoner had been guilty of a sustained course of cruelty. What she di.d was the outcome of an outburst of unbridled temper, caused by illhealth. Then, too, v there was her young baby to consider. To deprive the children of their mother's care and devotion was not to be lightly done, concluded the judge. Mrs. Hadfleld, a full-blooded Maori woman, went through the trial with

Child's Rudeness

head bowed and eyes suffused with tears, the tragic bearing of her a mute witness to the stress she had undergone. * " . Counsel for the defence exercised the prerogative of trial by a native jury, whose foreman was John H. Damon, native interpreter and halfbrother to Sir Maul Poxnare. Crown Prosecutor Claude Weston, m his preliminary review of the case, said that about ten years ago the prisoner, then a single woman, adopted Perihira Tomuri, a baby girl aged about six months. . ;< . Later on, she married her', present husband and bore him three children.. : The tragedy occurred, on . Sunday,: May 20, of this, year, at the home ; . of the Hadflelds m Waitara. The Rev. Kahl Hadfleld was away conducting services and there were, therefore, np witnesses of the fatal thrashing. About 9 a.m. according to Mrs. Hadfield's statement to the police, Perihira had expressed a .desire to go away with ' an elderly Maori woman who was staying with them. When told' that she .could not go until she had been washed, the, child began to swear most obscenely at her mother. / • Then, as a crowning act of r-udeness, she took off all her clothes. •'. .' ; Holding a racquet handle by the loose strings, Mrs. Hadfleld said she •had thrashed Perihira on the back of her legs and arms, then put her to bed and gave, her a glass of hot port wine. . Perihira had complained of pains m

the stomach — In about the same region as an injury she had received m a fall from a bicycle at Easter, but she went to sleep and seemed all right by dinnertime. The child then asked to see her father, saying that she wanted to tell him she had been naughty. "Mummy, I will never do it again," she said contritely. She put on her shoes and walked about till 3.30 p.m., then went back to bed. Between 4 and 5 p.m. she complained again of a stomach pain, and, at her own request, was given a, hot bath. "Mummy, my stomach! " she cried, on being lifted out of the tub. She was giddy and a few minutes later she collapsed. More hot port wine waa given her after she had been placed on the bed. The doctor was summoned, but the child died before he arrived. It was a very painful and a very sad case, said Lawyer Weston, but no one — pakeha or Maori— could be . permitted to beat a child to death. uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiMiiiiiiuiiiniiiiiii

It was not suggested for one moment that there had been intent to kill or that ill-feeling, had been shown towards the child. On the Sunday evening, said Canon Gavin, m evidence, Hadfield and he were conducting evensong m Waitara. After the service, witness received an urgent message that Hadfield was on no account to return to his home.' ; Hadfleld had by that time gone home, however. , Canon Gavin went to the Hadfleld'^ place, the door being opened by a strange woman. He was told that Hadfleld was sitting m a car outside with Dr. Barclay. He walked to where the car was standing and the doctor told him what had happened. At the canon's suggestion, the affair was reported to the police. The naked body of the child was later seen by the canon. There were marks, bruises and abrasions over the greater part of the body, particularly severe over the lower limbs and shins.

On the receipt of Instructions to bring the body to the morgue at New Plymouth, the canon went Into the house and successfully persuaded the parents to give up the body. Thereupon, Mrs. Hadfleld -wrapped it m a blanket and gave it to him. ■She either kissed it or rubbed noses, displaying great. affection. : She had previously stayed m her bedroom, sobbing bitterly. At the morgue the canon saw that the back of the child was shockingly bruised, while the shins looked as though they had been beaten to pulp. "I knew Perihira only slightly and she seemed ■■ a sweet, inoffensive, little thing," said the canon. Lawyer, I. Prichard, who conducted the defence, ascertained from Canon Gavin that Mrs. Hadfleld had a remarkable number of interests. She worked m the mission with her husband, taught m the Sunday school, looked after her infant child, two other children, Perihira and their father and kept the 'house spotlessly clean — on £ 120 a year! Probably few Maori houses were kept as well, said the canon. , There were pillow shams on the bed when he -went there on the Sunday night. ;: ■" ' Although he'knew the English translation of a word the, child was said to have used to her mother, he would

Doctor's Opinion

rather not repeat It before the women m the court. To his honor: Mrs. Hadfield, he had found, had a sweet and kindly disposition. Death was caused by shock, following a severe thrashing-, said Dr. R. L. G. Barclay. "•'.■' Cross-examined, the medico said that Mrs. Hadfleld was' nervous and run down, He had' advised her to be examined, as he thought she might need an operation^ . She had not agreed, however. Further questions were directed to shpw that Perihira had certain abnormalities and was difficult to handle, but, on the other hand, she was described .by ' Mrs. Sarah Foreman, a neighbor, as "a sweet and dear little girl." ' . '; Lawyer "Weston .did not address the' jury, but Lawyer Priohard Bpoke at some length, after which his honor summed up. ■■' It took the jury two hours to arrive at their verdict of""Gullty, with a very, very strong recommendation to mercy." After consulting Probation Officer Dineen, his honor passed sentence on Saturday. The fact that a jury of her countrymen had found her guilty, showed, he said, that members of the race were fitting themselves for the fullest responsibility and were prepared to take part m the administration of justice — one of the highest functions of citizenship. The crime was a, very rare one among the Maoris — practically unheard of,, since they were noted for their devotion to children. .