WOMAN’S DEATH IN ACCIDENT

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27307, 25 March 1954, Page 9

WOMAN’S DEATH IN ACCIDENT

Van Driver To Stand Trial

INTOXICATION charge Brian Terence Daley, aged 31, a bag maker, pleaded not guilty in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday to a charge that on February 12 while in a state of intoxication he was in charge of a motor-van, and by an act or omission caused the death of Ethel Sewell. Mr F. F. Reid, S.M.. committed Daley to the Supreme Court for trial, and allowed him bail of £5O and one surety of £l5O on condition that he reports to the police twice a week. Sub-Inspector J. C. Fletcher conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr H. S. Thomas appeared for Daley. An inquest into the death of Ethel Sewell was held in conjunction with the hearing of the charge, and the Magistrate, as Coroner, returned a verdict that she died from hemorrhage from a rupture of the liver accidentally sustained when .the motor-van in which she was a passenger and which was driven by Daley, struck a power pole. Mr H. W. Hunter appeared at the inquest for Jean Wootton, another passenger in the van. and for the relatives of Ethel Sewell. Dr. Phyllis Muriel Brass, giving evidence, said she examined Ethel Sewell in the Christchurch Public Hospital on February 12. She was suffering from multiple injuries and extreme shock and died almost immediately. Heard Cries Dr. T. A. Milroy said he was driving along Fendalton road about midnight when he heard cries behind him on the road. He saw a woman in a semiprone position in the gutter. A vehicle, travelling at a considerable speed in relation to his own speed, had passed him at the Fendalton riad railway crossing. He thought it was a fawn coloured van. After he heard the cries he stopped his car and went back, said witness. The young woman in the gutter was gravely injured. He saw the van further down the road, but after he had finished examining the young woman the van had gone. There were people about, and he asked them to summon an ambulance and the police. He saw another young woman who had been injured and also two or three young men who had been involved in the accident. He was unable to say anything about the sobriety of the young men, for he saw them in the ambulance just before they were taken away. To Mr Thomas. Dr. Milroy said the young men were unco-operative, but that might have been due to shock. Dr. C. T. B. Pearson, a pathologist, said he carried out a post-mortem examination on the body of Ethel Sewell, and in his opinion death was due to hemorrhage from a rupture of the liver.

Norman Patrick Alcorn, Government analyst in Christchurch, said he examined specimens from the body of Ethel Sewell. The alcohol content of the blood was 0.10 per cent, and of the urine o.l£> per cent. Jean Rose Wootton, a hotel waitress, aged 19, said she and Ethel Sewell were both employed at the Shades Hotel before February 12. On February 11 they finished work at 8 p.m. and met some young men who were introduced to witness as Brian, lan and Norman. They went to the Grand Hotel and had a few drinks. Six bottles of beer were purchased and put in the van. They all drove away in the van, Brian Daley being the driver. Witness and Ethel Sewell were seated by the driver. They decided to go to North Beach and pick up another girl. It was then agreed to go for a drive in the country, but witness did not know in which direction they went. She remembered that they stopped at the West Melton Hotel and the Yaldhurst Hotel.

While they were out for the drive they drank some of the beer they had bought in Christchurch, said witness. Along Fendalton road their speed was fairly fast. Brian Daley, who was driving, had had drink but was not drunk. He had had a few beers but was not paralytic. Ethel Sewell told Daley his speed was too fast when they were going over the railway crossing and asked him to slow down. Daley did not seem to understand what she said.

The van did not take the bend at the intersection of Wairarapa terrace and hit a culvert, said witness. The next thing she remembered was being helped up and she saw Ethel Sewell lying in the gutter. Witness suffered a fractured skull and abrasions to her back and elbows. She saw nothing on the road to cause the crash. Passengers* Evidence Norman Bruce Thomson, a labourer, said he was a passenger in the van on the night of February 11. They drove out through Harewood to the West Melton Hotel where they bought six bottles of beer and drove back towards Christchurch. He and McClure and Livingstone were sitting in the back of the van. He thought the speed along Fendalton road was quite normal. Daley slackened speed at the railway crossing and they were told to mind their heads. He did not remember the crash. The first thing he knew was his being helped out of thevan. He considered Daley was all right and he had no complaints about his driving. lan Hamilton McClure, a railways employee, another passenger in the van, said they drank about four bottles of beer on their way out to the country. He remembered that they stopped at one country hotel ancTbought some beer. He did not notice anything unusual about the speed of the van along Fendalton road. Just before the accident he heard a woman’s voice say something about a cat. He looked out and saw something that could have been a cat. He felt a bump and the van swerved violently. He then found himself on the road. Janet Graham McKay, a registered nurse, said she heard the sound of a crash and went out on to Fendalton road. She heard Miss Wootton calling for help. One young man was leaning against the fence and, thinking he was injured, she walked towards him. As she did so she heard one man of the group say: “You haven’t seen me. You don’t know me. i’ll get away.” That remark made her take the number of the van. One

man walked from the group and drove the van away. The other young men indicated to her that there was no need for assistance. Police Evidence Constable G. Moodie produced photographs he took at the scene of the accident. Constable C. Rainey produced a plan of the area in Fendalton road where the accident happened. He said the van hit a pole, then a culvert and then another pole. From the start of the tyre marks to where Ethel Sewell was found was 155 feet, and from the start of the tyre marks to where the van was said to have stopped was 201 feet.

Sergeant J. M. McDonald said he went to Fendalton road at 12.10 a.m. on February 12 and saw four men standing talking. He asked if there had been an accident. One of them said: “There hasn’t been an accident. We are all right.” Witness crossed the road to where other people were standing and he was told there had been an accident, that two girls had been injured and the van had driven off. He was handed a piece of paper with the number of the van. He went back to the first group and asked the young men if they had seen the van. Daley stepped forward and said the van was his. He went with witness to where the van was parked in Holmwood road. The left front and left rear doors of the van were missing and the left side of the van was partly torn off. There were broken beer bottles in the van. Daley said he had been driving the van, so witness arrested him for being intoxicated in charge of the van and took him to the Central Police Station where he was examined by Dr. F. L. Scott. Sergeant McDonald said that the young men who told him there toad been no accident were the young men who were involved in the accident. They gave no explanation for their story. Daley said he did not know how the accident happened. Nothing was said about a cat being on the road. He was satisfied Daley was intoxicated. Livingstone, one of the young men, was drunk and the others were under the influence of liquor. There were three full bottles of beer in the van and two glasses, in addition to the broken bottles.

Men on Footpath Sergeant A. E. K. Keown said he saw a group of four men standing talking on the footpath at the scene of the accident. All were obviously intoxicated and one was drunk. Daley was unsteady on his feet, smelt strongly of liquor, had no memory of events leading to the accident and no idea of what caused the accident. Daley said he had had seven beers, the last of them at 11.15 p.m. Sergeant Keown said he was satisfied Daley was intoxicated. Constable W. J. Bracks gave supporting evidence. Dr. F. L. Scott said he examined Daley at 12.40 a.m. on February 12. He found him unfit to drive through the consumption of alcohol. Sergeant R. T. Turnbull said he saw Daley at the Central Police Station at 12.30 a.m. on February 12 and asked .him the cause of the accident. His reply was: “You’d know as much about that as I would. I think something came on my left and I hit a pole.” Daley said he had six beers between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., but he would not say where he consumed it. When he asked Daley if he had stayed at the scene of the accident Daley said he had driven away. Witness told Daley that the girl had died and Daley said: “Why didn’t somebody tell me that before?” Sergeant Turnbull said he considered Daley to be intoxicated and not fit to be in charge of a car. Constable R. J. Knight said Daley told him he had six or seven beers between 7 p.m. and midnight and drank them in his van. Norman Grierson Bell, a • vehicle inspector employed by the Transport Department, said he examined the motor-van on February 16. It was in such a damaged condition that road tests could not be carried out. The vehicle was fairly new and, apart from the damage done in the smash, was in good conditioh. Daley was remanded by consent to appear in the Court on May 4 on a further charge that while under the influence of drink to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of a motorvehicle he drove a motor-van in Fendalton road on February 12.