EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

Shannon News, 7 October 1924, Page 2

EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

destruction of. property. young girl, RETURNED to home , INVERCARGILL, Sept. 25. In the Juvenile Court yesterday inom'ing, before Mr J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M.; a, giil 15 years of age was charged with destroying clothing, harness and sundry articles, the property 01 .Murray Townley, of Wyndham, to the extent of £3O 12s 6d, between May 21 and September 21, to the extent of £3 7s 0d on September 21, and with damaging by fire property to the value of £l6 on . August 1. For the police, Senior-Sergeant Scandreft said that the girl had been placed in service with Murray Townlev, of Wyndham, by the 'Educational authorities, and at first was well be- . haved and tidy. ■ After some time she wanted to be allow.ed to ride on the children’s pony and was refused. The property was destroyed from that date, commencing with the 1 destruction oi a bridle and whip 1. which she cut up with a knife, and from that time on she destroyed clothing belonging to vhp father mother and children by cutting it up" with a knife or scissors, or burning it in the range. When new clothing was bought, it had been treated similarly, -until matters reached such a stage that the children had no clothes.to weay. The amount of £l6 on August 1 was damage* done by fire, when she had siet fire to the children’s bed and wardrobe. She also chopped up the silver spoons in the house with a tomahawk and cut a watch into four pieces. Other watches were destroyed by tearing the backs off, and a quantity of articles' were buried in the Mimihau .River. A quantity of. Jeyes Fluid had been poured hi the butter churns. A statement admitting all the charges had been taken from the girl at Invercargill. “The girl has shown great cunning and deceitfulness in preventing .suspicion from her for so long," said, the Senior-Sergeant, “and after committing the acts she would rush to the parents with the destroyed article and blame one of the children. One of them bad been thrashed very severely lor this reason, and had suffered so much from grief at being blamed for the mischief, and from the effects of the thrashings, that he had to be sent to the hospital. It almost makes one’s blood boil that a girl of fifteen should stand by and see children flogged ior acts they did not commit - and* I think this is the most dreadful case I have ever had anything to do with." . For th§ Education Department, Miss Wallace said the girl had been placed in the situation from the Industrial School, and beyond the fact that she was! known to be untruthful, witness had always had a good report of her. She had been- medically examined, and in the opinion of the doctor, may have suffered a mental lapse. In witness* opinion this must have been the Senior-Sergeant: I don’t think so. The acts .extended over a period of four months. ' His Worship ordered the chud to be returned jo' the Caversham Industrial School. • ■' -- 1 •