Blast victim still waiting

Press, 25 January 1979, Page 23

Blast victim still waiting

NZPA Sydney Colin Nicholls, the New Zealand-born wine waiter badly injured in an explosion outside the Sydney Hilton Hotel last February, has again made front-page news in Sydney.

The “Daily Mirror" newspaper has carried a report that said Mr Nicholls, now 25, was still waiting for compensation because of a legal stalemate. .

The explosion occurred during the Commonwealth Heads of Government regional meeting taking place at the Hilton. Among those staying in the hotel at the time was the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) who later visited Mr Nicholls in hospital.

Two garbage collectors and a policeman were killed in the blast. The bomb is believed to have been placed in a streetside rubbish bin and exploded when compacted in a rubbish truck.

Mr Nicholls, who came from Napier, spent six weeks in hospital and was off work for six months. The report says he now works as a cashier at the hotel, and that a decision on worker’s compensation is still being worked out by his solicitors and the Hilton insurers. Once a decision is reached, he is expected to be offered an additional ex gratia payment of up to $4OOO by the New South Wales Government.