INQUEST VERDICT WITHHELD

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27563, 21 January 1955, Page 12

INQUEST VERDICT WITHHELD

Reporters Excluded From Court

WOMAN’S DEATH IN BONFIRE

(New Zealand Press Association) WANGANUI, January 20 w T^„D^ St . r ‘. C i Coroner at Marton (Mr w. Meads? this morning ordered two newspaper reporters from an inquest into the death of Mrs Joan Isobelle Brougham Ellis. Mrs Ellis died on November 8, when a runaway car swept her into a bonfire which was a delayed Guy Fawkes celebration held at Heaton Park, near Marton, for the Huntly School. Later, the Coroner refused to give the reporters his-finding, or indicate what evidence was given at this mornings proceedings. In an interview this afternoon, the Coroner said he would not alter his decision to have closed inquests in future. A reporter of the “Wanganui Chronicle arrived shortly after this morning’s proceedings opened, and a policeman turned to him, asking, “Are you the press?” The policeman then asked the Coroner whether the newspapers should be excluded. The Coroner indicated that they were excluded. Almost immediately after the first reporter had left the courtroom a “Wanganui Herald” reporter entered and was beckoned to counsel’s table by a solicitor, Mr F. Easther, who said: “Mr Meads has excluded the press.” • The reporter replied that he would leave it to the Coroner to order him from the room. Sergeant W. J. Brown then saw the reporter and said: “Oh, the press has been excluded.” He appealed to the Coroner, who nodded his agreement to the reporter. Both reporters subsequently interviewed the Coroner, and he then said: “From now on all inquests I handle will be held behind closed doors.” In reply to a request for a reason for his excluding the reporters from the inquest this morning, the Coroner said: “You fellows never play the game at any part of it. You like to dig up the gruesome stuff and hurt the people concerned. I am not going to give anv verdict to the pres in the future. I have instructed the police to that effect. Other Coroners agree with me.” At this point the Coroner refused to continue and again stated that he had nothing to say to the reporters. Exhaustive evidence was heard beJpf®.the Magistrate (Mr S. S. Preston, SJn.) when a manslaughter charge Was brought in December as a sequel to the accident which resulted in the death of Mrs Ellis. The charge was dismissed.

MARTON RULING CONDEMNED

FORMER MAGISTRATE’S COMMENT

LAW SOCIETY PRESIDENT DEFENDS PRESS

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 20. “This is one of those unfortunate utterances which are made by judicial officers, fortunately very rarely,” said the Mayor of Auckland (Mr J. H. Luxfof#, tonight, when he commented on the Marton Coroner’s exclusion of the press from an inquest. It was to be hoped that, in the interests of administering justice, the Coroner concerned would reconsider his dictum, said Mr Luxford, and “apply the age-old rule which has worked so wonderfully well—that all judicial inquiries should be open to the public, unless exclusion is necessary for the sake of decency or public safety.” Mr Luxford, who is a former Stipendiary Magistrate, said that in the 25 years when he had presided over courts of summary jurisdiction, he had excluded the press on one occasion only. This concerned the prosecution of an editor for publishing a statement in breach of the war regulations. Evidence of the disposition of troops in the Pacific had been involved, and had it leaked out to the enemy, lives might have been jeopardised. The Auckland Coroner (Mr A. Addison) said an essential of the section of tile act covering attendance at inquests was that the proceedings should be open to the public. There was a proviso covering exclusion for the of justice, decency or order, but he had never found occasion to invoke this proviso. Inquests on suicides were covered by another section in the act, but there again he had not found it neces“ry to exclude the press, and would] think very seriously about it before [ doing so, said Mr Addison. The president of the New Zealand Secret <Mr T. P. Cleary) said that he could not comment on the Marton Coroner’s actions, but he that in his experience of court practice, it could not be truly said of the press that “you fellows never play the game at any part of it *° dig up gruesome stuff and hurt the people concerned.”

NO COMMENT BY MINISTER

(New Zealand. Press Association) WELLINGTON. January 20. The Minister of Justice (Mr J. R. Marshall) declined tonight to comment J® to®, action of the Marton Coroner W. Meads) in excluding reporters from an inquest into the death of Mrs Joan Isobelle Brougham Ellis.