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.
[1] Upon her release, Carrick contacted the Burns and spent time with her three-year-old son, although she had stated that she was experiencing financial hardship and could not pay maintenance for her child.
On 11 December, he was found amidst potatoes in the Burns family garden at 31 Clifton Street with his head battered in.
[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.