SURPRISING TURN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 731, 2 August 1929, Page 1

SURPRISING TURN

WOMAN CONFESSES AFTER DISAGREEMENT PATHETIC SCENE A surprising turn marked the conclusion in the Supreme Court yesterday of the trial of Grace Edith Darling Greenfield, a married woman, of Rangiahua, for making a fraudulent statement that she had posted a registered packet containing money. After the jury announced a disagreement after four hours’ deliberation, the woman confessed her guilt, following the ordering of a retrial. Obviously under stress of illness during the two hours she was in the dock, the woman had to be supported from time to time by the police matron. She was on the verge of collapse when the jury announced its disagreement. Within a few minutes Mr. J. J. Sullivan, on accused’s behalf, informed the court that in view of the fact that the jury had considered the case so carefully, and in view of her health, Mrs. Greenfield had instructed him to plead guilty. In granting the application, Mr. Justice Ostler stated that any further proceedings would have to be regarded as a retrial. The reading of the depositions was waived by counsel. The woman, who was the mother of 11 children, was in very bad health, he said. She had never been in trouble before. Warning accused that she was liable to two years’ imprisonment, his Honour said he did not intend sending her to gaol, as he could see she was thoroughly ill. The publicity of the trial, and the anguish and agony she had endured, brought their own punishment. Accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon, on condition that she paid the costs of the prosecution. The court witnessed a pathetic scene when the woman had to be almost carried from the room. She made an effort to address the judge, but failed.