DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 March 1921, Page 4

DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED.

LIFE SENTENCE FOR MATTHEWS. SENT TO ORDINARY PRISON. By Telegraph.—Press Association Christchurch, March 5. At a meeting of the Executive Council held at Christchurch' this morning it was decided that the death sentence on Matthews shall be commuted to imprisonment for life. The meeting was attended by his Excellency the GovernorGeneral and the Hons. E. P. Lee and W. No-sworthy. The following statement was made after the meeting by Mr Lee:—Commutation of the sentence does not cast any reflection on the verdict of the jury. In all these, cases the Crown has to decide whether the prerogative of mercy shall be exercised, and in this particular case, after consideration of medical reports, the family history and the low mentality of the convicted man, the Governor-General, on the advice of the Executive Council commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life. Christchurch, Last Night. The (Minister of Justice thinks Matthews will go completely insane and die in a comparatively few years. Matthews will not be treated as a lunatic, and will be sent to an ordinary prison. From the beginning Matthews never realised the consequences of his act. It did not necessarily follow that he would ever be released; he was a man who should .never be let loose on society. ' /