FALSE DECLARATION

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 993, 9 June 1930, Page 16

FALSE DECLARATION

MARRIED AGAINST FATHER’S CONSENT MAN FINED £ls “Notwithstanding the fact that her father refused his consent to the marriage, the man married the girl to protect her. In the circumstances, I cannot take a severe view of the case.” Mr. Justice Smith, in the Supreme Court today, made this comment in fining James Alfred Allan £ls, and ordering Mary Ann Charlotte Allan to come up for sentence if called upon in six months, for making a false declaration under the Marriage Act. The couple's ages were 35 and 18 respectively. Mr. Stevens said that the male prisoner, who was a motor mechanic in a northern town, was in constant employment, and had always given every satisfaction. The girl had previously borne an unblemished character, counsel said. In pleading for leniency, counsel said that Allan would make every effort to retrieve his mistake. In issuing a warning against flaunting of the law in this way, his Honour pointed out that where the parents refused consent to a marriage, application for this authority could be made to the Supreme Court. The male prisoner was allowed one month in which to pay the fine, with the alternative of serving three months’ imprisonment.