Both Pay Penalty

NZ Truth, Issue 1238, 22 August 1929, Page 8

Both Pay Penalty

down for sentence, and he stepped out of the dock. Irene watched him go with sad- :" ness m her eyes,, but when she turned to face the charge her lone- . liness would have lent Her dignity - had slie not bent her face into her handkerchief. When she looked up she was smiling sarcastically and her eyes betrayed not n trace of interest m the. proceedings. Sitting m front and below the dock her mother wept copiously. • The trial was short and sharp. Evidence for the prosecution was overwhelming. The defence was slender. Counsel for Irene put her m the box and she swore that- the statement she had made to the police admitting breaking into the shop with "Tommy*' was a pack of audacious lies. She had thought that if she took half the blame the "man" would get a lighter sentence! All the details of the crime she was so intimate with were given her by "Tommy" when he returned to "camp." His Honor did not believe it. So Raverty tiimself climbed into the Witness-Tjox and dispassionately informed the court that, the girl had nothing to do with the theft. Then the Crown Prosecutor proceeded to trip him up. How did he manage to carry such a mass of stolen property (enough to make a pack-horse sweat) two miles to camp on -his own? The man faltered; then said he made more than one trip. His Honor: "Have you had any experiences of this sort m Australia?" Raverty: "Yes." "Living with girls m a dug-out?" "No, but I got 18 months for '* "Oh! Well?" "I got 18 months for shop -breaking." The jury was 20 minutes, m deciding that Irene was guilty, but it asked that mercy be extended on account of her age and because they were convinced she had been under the influence of Raverty. Raverty was sentenced to four years' reformative detention and the girl to three, years' Borstal.