CORONER'S COURT Boy killed when he fell down cliff

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33777, 25 February 1975, Page 19

CORONER'S COURT Boy killed when he fell down cliff

An 11-year-old boy who fell over a 60ft bank on to the grassed top of the Worsleys Road waler reservoir on November 27 died from severe head injuries suffered in the fall, the Christchurch district Coroner (Mr E. B. E. Taylor) found yesterday.

He was Paul Terence Wingham, of 27 Leistrelia Road, Hoon Hay. David Keith Rycroft. aged 12, said that he, Wingham and two other boys went to Worsleys Road on the evening of November 27. i They left their bicycles at the bottom of the hill, I climbed fences and went up (the hili above the reservoir.

' When they got near the top of the hill Wingham ran ahead and then “ducked (down.” As they had been up there several times before they did not think he would have gone near the edge of the cliff.

j They later found him lying at ; the bottom of the cliff. The i witness said he felt foi Paul’s pulse but it was not beating. iThey then ran for a doctor. I Constable E. E. Donnelly said I that the boys had been inside (the fence surrounding the ' reservoir. There were several signs erected reading “Keep Out—Dangerous Area.” Since the accident a safety fence had been erected between the top of the reservoir and the top of the bank.

Parents of children living In the area would be wise to warn their children not to play in the ' area because it was dangerous, I said Constable Donnelly. | The Coroner said he had I looked at the area and he

thought the Christchurch Cit> Council hod taken cxvfx IIU- I 1 < ble step to protect anyone from danger. TWO WOMEN KILLED A car which ran off the road near the top of Porters Pass and tell 30U yards down a cliff was the cause of a passenger, Rachael Hatgen. aged 70. dying from multiple fractures at the scene oi the accident, and the driver. Sheila Ward, aged 30. dying from gross head injuries in Christchui< h Hospital ' I > next day. the Coroner found. Constable P M Deazley. ot llornbx. said that the accident occurred Ikm east ot the top ot Porters Pass about middax on December 8. The cat had plunged over a steep cliff By the time he arrived two young girls had been taken to hospital A helicopter arrived from Wigram at 2.15 p.m. but Mrs Hargen died before she could be placed in it. Mrs Ward was taken to hospital in the helicopter but she died the next day. Constable Deazlex said it appeared that the brakes of the ear. a 1962 Jaguar had failed. Mrs Ward had attempted to stop , it by driving into the bank but i 1 it had hit a rocky outcrop and bounced off. across the road and down the cliff When tested afterwards the brake pedal of the ear went to the floor. CAR HIT POLE The Coroner found that Robert ;.John Wilson, aged 19. died in Travis Road on November 28 , The cause of death was multiple : injuries suffered when the car I he was driving left the road and j hit a pole. Stephen Charles Simpson, a fitter and turner, said that MN Wilson had passed him at a fairly high speed just before the accident and the rear of his car had spun and the car went out of control. Constable M. J. Nield said the 1 car was split in two bx the im pact with the pole The front of the car was found 55ft awax from the rear of the car. which was against the pole. BURNED IN BATH Roy Gabites. aged 56. died at Princess Margaret Hospital on ' November 20, the cause of death I being bronchial pneumonia, carcinomatosis and burns, the l

Charles Andrew t avandc i November 18. the cause ot death went out of control when he ua* Road CAR HIT TREE Heremaia. aged 23. died on N.»\ cause of death wa> multiple Albert Partridge aged 85 a oi? o/ about December Th* cause of death was asphyxia due to cai bon-monoxide poisoning PERITONITIS William Henry Fenton, aged 54 (died in Christchurch Hospital <»•< i December The cause of death Bridgette Anne Clark, aged 44. died at Christchurch on Novem ber 26 The cause of death wa> nortriptyline poisoning Paul William Beck aged C2 was found to have died al Christ I church on October 17. havin. committed suicide The cause ot !death was a gunshot wound t<i I the head. Andrew Willis, aged 51. die<l at Christchurch having com ! mitted suicide The cause < • death was carbon-monoxid< poisoning.