Evidence of fight before death

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33577, 4 July 1974, Page 17

Evidence of fight before death

A man charged with assaulting a workmate, who later died, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, was committed to the Supreme Court for trial after the taking of depositions in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He is John Thomas Reynolds, aged 33, a storeman (Mr A. P. C. Tipping). He was remanded on bail after pleading not guilty.

Sergeant M. Stevens said the charge arose from an incident in the Addington railway workshops on May 23, in which a Samoan, Taugauli Tuai, died after a fight. Phillip William Adcock, a railway fitter, said in evidence that on the morning of May 23 he went to the canteen and played cards during “smoko” as usual with Mr Tuai and the defendant, who “did not get on i particularly well together.”

Mr Adcock said the defendant accused Mr Tuai of cheating, and they' ex-; ; changed unfriendly words. They decided to go down-! stairs and settle the matter. Barry • Delwyn Hewson said that about 9.50 a.m. he saw two men fighting at the far end of the car park. “As I got closer I saw they were both standing up throwing punches. The Samoan went down on his knees; the other man was hitting him in the face, the shoulders, and neck.” The witness said he asked the defendant why he was hitting the man and the defendant replied that the Samoan was going to hit ■him on the head with a I rock.

The defendant was putting the boot into the man on the ground. He kicked him four or five times. “The defendant had blood on his teeth and a broken

lip. I said he had better go and get cleaned up. He stood there staring for a while at the Samoan. He was in a bad mood. I told him to go to the clinic, and he said something about notifying the boss.” “Before I left, the Samoan, he took a couple of quick breaths for five seconds, and then there was no movement in his chest,” the witness said.

Norma May Curtin, a housewife, of 44 Clarence Street, said that on the morning of May .23 she noticed two men in the car park who seemed to be having a bit of fun. When she looked over the fence a little later she saw blood on one man’s face and realised they were fighting seriously. “The white chap forced the other against a car, then pulled his arm up his back. The dark chap started to i scream for help,”, she said. “The dark man was on the : ground and the white man started to put the boot in. 1 yelled out. He didn’t look around.” She said that neither man held a weapon. Dr L. L. Treadgold, a registered pathologist, said that after conducting a post-mor-tem examination on the deceased he was of the opinion that the cause of death was myocarditis aggravated by a fight. He said the deceased had numerous cuts and abrasions bn his head, a broken rib and fractured cartilages of four ribs. The deceased’s heart was enlarged and weighted 550 grams, or about twice the normal weight of a heart. There was slight narrowing of the coronary arteries because of arteriosclerosis, he said. Messrs J. C. Cottrell and Mr C. Butler, Justices of the Peace, were on the bench.