YOUTH FOR TRIAL ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29250, 7 July 1960, Page 10

YOUTH FOR TRIAL ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

1 A youth; aged 18, died shortly after he received a shotgun blast ait close range when another youth, who had just returned from duck shooting, presented a gun at him and pulled the trigger as he thought the gun was not loaded, it was stated in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. John Arthur Campbell, aged 20, a floor sander, pleaded not guilty to a charge that on May 10 by discharging a double barelled shotgun at John Winston Blampied he killed him, and thereby committed manslaughter. Campbell was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court by Messrs H. T. Fuller and W. A. Calwell, Justices of the Peace. Campbell was represented by Mr ■B. J. Drake and Senior Sergeant G. M. Cleary prosecuted. Dr. C. T. B. Pearson, a pathologist, said Blampied had received injuries to the lower part of the trunk and other injuries. The injuries suggested that Blampied had his left side half turned towards the shotgun which was held horizontally, or very slightly on an upward angle. He estimated that the shot had been fired within 6ft of the body. Duck-Shooting Trip

Garnet Maxwell Campbell, aged 19, a floor sander, said he shared a flat with Blampied and Robin Leech at 556 Barbadoes street. On the morning of May 10 he and his brother arranged to go duck shooting after work. They went to an area near Whites Bridge on the Waimakariri river in a van.

said Garnet Campbell. They stayed about half an hour. His brother then unloaded his shotgun and went to get the van. His brother's shotgun was of a different make from his own, but was very similar.

“While I was waiting for my brother to return with the van I heard some shots up the river so I kept my gun loaded because I thought I might get a shot,” Garnet Campbell said. . When they arrived back at the flat. Garnet Campbell said, he picked up the decoys and boots and his brother took his shotgun. To the best of his knowledge the safety catch was on unless it had been moved when the gun was bumped. When the shotgun was broken after ejecting shells the safety catch went on automatically. Before the gun could be fired the safety catch had to be pushed forward. '

“My brother walked up to the back door and' I heard Blambied ask: ‘Did you get any ducks?’ and my brother replied: ‘No, we never fired a shot" and then he said: ‘ls there any "tea?’ “I heard a shot and Blampied screaming. I rushed inside and I saw Blampied holding his side, sinking to' the floor in the confer of the room. He was doubled up’ in the kitchen diagonally opposite the door. I went over to him and asked fixm if he was conscious and he said yes. “My brother said: ‘Why did you have the gun loaded?’ I replied that it was too late to worry about that now.’’ said Gar; net Campbell. He ran to telephone the ambulance. His brother was waiting at the gate when he returned.

Garnet Campell said he picked up the gun, which was broken. The cartridge had been ejected. IHe picked up two spent cartridges and placed them in his pocket. He had only heard one shot. He asked his brother what happened to the other shot, and he said it Had gone into the wall somewhere.

Later he found a mutilated basket containing apples in a corner by the range. Blampied was a salesman employed by J. Ballantyne and Co., Ltd. His parents lived in Invercargill. To Mr Drake, Garnet Campbell said his brother and Blampied were on good terms and there was no animosity between them. He had never given his brother any indication that the gun was loaded. He would normally have unloaded the gun, but it apparently slipped his mind. Police Evidence Sergeant James Stewart Cromie, a ballistics expert at police headquarters, Wellington, gave details of the tests he had carried out on the gun. The pressure for the Tight trigger was 81b and was 41b 12oz for the left. He considered both pressures safe. He had dropped the gun on the ground from numerous positions when it contained live ammunition but could not make it discharge. John Campbell was very distressed when he arrived at the flat, said Constable N. E. Walker. He said that he' was the person holding toe gun when the shooting took place. John Campbell told him that he

was carrying the gun in the crook of his arm with the barrel pointing ahead, said Constable Walker. He just walked into the doorway when he saw Blampied standing inside. The next thing the gun discharged. He thought he must have bumped the gun as he entered the doorway. He made a statement along these lines. On the . evening of May 28 he went with Detective-Sergeant Pine and Constable Murray to the home of John Campbell, at 88 Knowles street, Constable Walker said. They told him that they were making further inquiries about the shooting accident. The incident was reconstructed.

Detective-Sergeant Pine told John Campbell that the experts in Wellington had stated that it was impossible to discharge the gun unless the triggers were pulled. The accused’s father pointed out that the gun had discharged a second time when it was thrown on the floor. They were about to leave when Detective-Sergeant Pine informed the accused of the possibility of his being charged with an offence. The detectivesergeant put it to the accused that he had entered the room carrying the shotgun and it was possible that he was skylarking when he pulled the trigger, said Constable . Walker. John Campbell said that was not so.

John Campbell had made it quite clear to him that he thought the gun was unloaded, Constable Walker said to Mr Drake. He did not regard the gun entered as an exhibit in the Court as dangerous, because it was unloaded.

On the afternoon of May 25 John, Campbell’s father saw him and as a result of what be told him he arranged to see the accused in his office in the presence of his father, said Detective-Ser-geant F. G. Pine. John Campbell said he was fooling with the gun. He pointed it at Blampied and pressed the trigger as he thought it was Unloaded, Detective-Sergeant Pine said. At that stage he gave the accused the usual warning. The accused’s father then said that he thought he should have some legal advice as he was only 20. Statement Made On May 30 John Campbell, his solicitor and his father called at his office and the accused made the following statement:— “When I stopped the van I picked up my brother’s gun. I assumed it was unloaded as my brother had not said anything different. I walked up the path carrying the gun over my right arm and my brother followed me. “I went in through the door and saw the boy Blampied was standing just in front of the fireplace. He asked if we had got anything and I said we had not “Then I asked him if there was any extra tea and he said no and that there was only one meal. I released the safety catch and pulled the trigger. I had raised the gun while I was talking. I. do not remember saying anything more. “A shot went off after I had squeezed the trigger on one barrel. I just expected it to click like a cap gun. When the gun went off I got a hell of a shock. John Blampied reeled back and collapsed on the floor. “After the shot went off I just threw the gun down to my right and the second barrel went off. The shot from this went into the corner by the stove and hit a basket full of apples. “It was then that my brother rushed in to the room and I said: ‘Why the hell did you have it loaded?’ My brother immediately went to ring the ambulance. “I went through to the sunporch and sat on the bed and then went to the gate and waited for the ambulance. After it had gone I went down and rang the police; 1 was so flustered that I gave the address as 556 Colombo street. When the police did not arrive I realised I had made an error and I rang them again and gave the correct address. “If I had thought ‘the gun was loaded I would have removed the cartridges before I entered the flat. If I thought it had been loaded I would have removed the cartridges before returning to Christchurch. I have always been careful to unload my gun when I have finished shooting. “I did not know what would happen because of it I was scared and I gave a different statement to the police. Blampied screamed after the first shot went off and that might have drowned out the second shot I knew Blampied for about eight months and was on good terms with him. “1 cannot say why I raised the gun and pulled the trigger but if the gun had gone off with a dick I would have made some silly remark,’* the statement concluded.