Bankrupt Taxi-Driver Owes £695

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31322, 18 March 1967, Page 14

Bankrupt Taxi-Driver Owes £695

Payments on a new house, strikes which affected his taxi business, two car accidents in the last two months, and marital difficulties were reasons for his bankruptcy given by Henry Timothy Harpur, a taxi-driver, of 17 Purchas street, at a meeting of his creditors in the office of the official assignee (Mr T. A. F. Withers) yesterday. Mr Withers said Harpur had unsecured debts of £542 ss. It was established at the meeting that he had secured debts of £6409 10s 7d. Harpur said he had a house in 38 Ebony street, on which he had a first mortgage of £2520 18s 6d outstanding, and a second mortgage of £1338. The section was bought on deferred payment from the Lands Department and £741 Ils was still owing. His taxi and taxi licence were mortgaged and there was still £1437 8s Id owing. Seven or eight years ago he had been adjudged a bankrupt before, Harpur said. He had been working as a taxidriver for the last 10 years and had owned his own licence for nearly two years. He

Nursing Graduate.—ln the list of graduates who received nursing diplomas at a ceremony at Christchurch Hospital on Thursday evening the name of M. Grogan was printed as M. Hogan. The error is regretted.

had been working 12 hours a day at Lyttelton as a taxidriver but five strikes in the last twelve months had seriously damaged the trade at Lyttelton. Another licence had been Issued at Lyttelton in the last few months and this had cut his income by one seventh. His gross weekly income was between £5O and £55 a week. In the last two months he had had two accidents in his taxi and all the unsecured debts were outstanding accounts for these repairs. When questioned by creditors be said he had not taken £3OO to £5OO with him to Auckland when he went there two days ago. He admitted that he had not kept a log of fares for the last two months but had used the money earned to buy new tyres and pay union fees. He said he had taken only £9O with him to Auckland after filing in bankruptcy, and £7O of this belonged to his wife from the sale of a refrigerator. The other £2O came from the sale of furniture. He denied that he might have got substantially more for the furniture. The creditors carried two motions: that the official assignee be given powers to sell the assets by private treaty, and sell the taxi licence for not less than £2200 and the car at valuation.