A FATHER'S TRIAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 May 1917, Page 5

A FATHER'S TRIAL.

!»■ ACCUSED BY BIS CHILDREN. Wanganui, Yesterday. ,At the Supreme Court yesterday, William Arthur Painton, aged 18,. an Aramoho resident, was called upon to answer a charge of incest. The accused refused the services of counsel which Mr. Justice Chapman offered to him, and conducted his own defence. Tho story of accused's eldest daughter was a painfully sad one. She was 19 years of age. She was unable to fix the paternity of her expected child. The witness had to suffer the ordeal of cross-examination Jjy her father—a cross-examination whh'h consisted'alternately of a volley of question)* and a harangue about his infirmities and misfortunes. "Why do you bring such a vile charge against me?" asked the accused, excitedly. "It's a barefaced lie! It's a standing disgrace. What do you mean?" His Honor repeatedly pointed out to the accused that he must ask questions instead of lecturing the witness. Two other daughters gaye evidence. One, aged 14, spnko with clearness and decision, and aroused the accused's wrath. "How can you talk like that?" fiercely asked accused, "Because it is true," said the girl, calmly. "It's not true! Don't tell lies!" shouted accused with vehemence. Accused also took exception to Detec-tive-Sergeant Siddells' evidence hut there was one gleam of humor in an otherwise sordid case when he asked: "Now, how is it you call my daughter 'Violet,' instead of 'Miss'?" (This with a scorn that did not wither.) "You—* married man!" Accused's address to tho jury consisted of an impartial disregard of the aspirates, and a recital of family trinls and tribulations. It was a tragic story. The mother died suddenly, some years ago, leaving a baby a few hours old, and the accused now had the responsibility of the welfare of ten children.. Since coming to Aramoho, nearly a year ago, his domestic worries had increased, the chief being, according to accused, the nocturnal visits of men to his homo. The visitors were so persistent, he said, that he had to sit up with a poker or an axe, in defence of the family hearth. For the benefit of tho Court he gave some of their names—one was a local lsnd agent, another a railway clerk. In a striking peroration the accused cast a reflection on tho local legal fraternity 'by stating that if he had means he would have employed a Wellington lawyer. Ho commented freely and unkindly on the local police force, the local lock-up, and the alleged incivility, and the Easter menu at tho Wellington gaol. Finally he dramatically held his hand lip, and called on Heaven to immediately end his earthly career if he had not told the truth whole.

Prom a maze of irrelevant matter his Honor sifted the salient points of, the ease, and briefly commented upon them. , The jury then retired, to return later [with a yerdiot of "Not guilty."