Supreme Court Negligence Denied In Damages Claim

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29853, 20 June 1962, Page 20

Supreme Court Negligence Denied In Damages Claim

A workmate of a young man wh6 suffered a severe back injury in a fall on the building site of the Hermitage. Mount Cook, in February. 1958. gave a contradictory version of the accident in rhe defence case to the young man’s claim for damages in the Supreme Court yesterday. Terence Leslie Drake, aged 24. a garage attendant (Mr B. J. McClelland, with him Mr A. D. Holland) is claiming £6OOO general damages from A. and T. Burt, Ltd., a Christchurch plumbing firm <Mr R. P. Thompson, with him Mr C. B. Atkinson • for back injuries he suffered in the fall when employed by the firm Mr Justice Macarthur was on the bench.

Mr Thompson said in his opening address that Drake had undoubtedly suffered a severe injury, but the defendant claimed the accident did not happen qui:e the way Drake described. Drake’s employer resisted the claim strenuously and said that if there was any danger—which was denied—Drake knew of it or should have known of rt. and any negligence in the matter was his. Evidence would show that instead of going up the plank on which he slipped, Drake was in fact going down, said Mr Thompson. The evidence would be that the plank rose no more than 2ft in a length of 12ft or 14ft, that it was not dangerous, and that it was not slippery. Foreman’s Account John Stevenson, aged 28. a foreman plumber, said in evidence that he was in charge of the plumbing work at the Hermitage at the time of the accident. He said most of the plack was on a 6ft high bank with only a 4ft gap to the scaffolding. To Mr McClelland, Stevenson agreed that now that he had had more experience as a foreman, he thought it w'as his responsibility to see that scaffolding used by his men was safe. He agreed that he was unsure of the figures he

had given about lengths and heights. He also agreed that it would not have taken a moment to secure the plank at each end and to nail cleats to it.

He said he did not consider that cleats and a guard rail were necessary on the plank.. The men had continued to 1 use the plank after Drake's accident. Drake had not told him he considered the the plank to be dangerous. Gavin Wallace McQueen, a pt umber working on his own account, said he was helping Drake to carry pipes on the day of the accident. Drake slipped while going down the plank, attempted to prevent a fall by throwing himself back, then moved four or five paces forward off the plank to go down on hands and knees on the ground He said he thought the plank was quite dry and quite safe

To Mr McClelland, he agreed that if his figures showing a sft rise in 13ft were right, then his description of the slope of the plank was wrong and it must have been twice as steep. Cleats “A Hazard"

Re-examined by Mr Thompson. McQueen said cleats were not necessary on the slope of the plank, and that cleats would have created a hazard. Archie Bruce Mackenzie, an orthopaedic surgeon, said he had been told that Drake's injury was caused by landing on his heels and jarring his back after an 18in fall off a plank. He said he diagnosed his trouble as an acute disc condition of an uncommon sort, caused by a jarring compression of the base of the spinal cord. In view of the good healing of "a, beautiful bone graft in a lovely position" he thought further disc trouble was unlikely. To Mr McClelland he agreed that the jarring effect would have to be caused by a fall of some kind. > The case was adjourned to today when counsel will, address the jury.

Climbers Killed. Two members of the Liverpool University Mountaineering Club fell to their deaths while climbing Scafell, Cumberland (3182 ft. yesterday.—London, June 18.