Winifred Carrick
Winifred Carrick (23 April 1892 – 1938?) was a New Zealand woman who was acquitted of child murder in February 1918, after the death of her three-year-old son Donald in December 1917. She was born (1892) and married (1919) as Mary Winifred Carrick.
Circumstances of case (December 1917)
In May 1915, Carrick tried to abandon her infant son Donald Lewis Carrick by leaving him in a hollow tree on the banks of the
Consequently, Carrick was charged with 'wilful murder' of her child and there was a resultant trial in Christchurch between December 1917 and February 1918.[4] However, Justice Chapman noted that the prosecution had provided circumstantial evidence alone for the case in question and advised the jury that if it had any doubt about Carrick's culpability for the death of her son, they should return a 'not guilty' verdict. As it happened, the jury indeed had doubts about the evidence offered and returned a not guilty verdict, and so Carrick was acquitted of 'wilful murder' of her child.[5][6]
Carrick married Charles Riley on 2 May 1919 and appears to have died in 1938.[citation needed]
See also
- Lillian Fanny Jane Hobbs, also charged with wilful murder of her child but also acquitted (1907)
- Infanticide in Nineteenth Century New Zealand
References
- ^ "Alleged Abandonment of Child" Hawera and Normanby Star: 31 May 1915
- ^ "Addington tragedy" Evening Post: 22 December 1917
- ^ "Addington Murder" Evening Post: 18 February 1918
- ^ "Child Carrick Murder" Colonist: 24 December 1917
- ^ "Not guilty" Wanganui Chronicle: 20 February 1918
- ^ Stephen Eldred-Grigg: "An 'Ordinary' Infanticide" Christchurch Press: 6 May 2006
Further reading
- Bronwyn Dalley: "Criminal Conversations: Gender and Narratives of Child Murder in Nineteenth Century New Zealand" in Caroline Dalley and Julie Montgomerie (eds) The Gendered Kiwi: Auckland: Auckland University Press: 1999.