‘Hopeless’ task to free trapped man

Press, 18 November 1981, Page 4

‘Hopeless’ task to free trapped man

Workers tried in vain to uncover the body of a man who was • trapped when a wall of shingle collapsed on him at Ashley Brothers shingle pit in. Johns Road on September. 29, the Coroner’s Court was told yesterday. William Peter Dow, aged 38, of Nottingham Avenue, was attempting to remove a log from the bottom of a hopper when the wall of shingle collapsed. The District Coroner (Mr N. G. Hattaway) found that Mr Dow died of traumatic asphyxia. Mr David Hiini, a special machinery operator at the pit, and Mr Dow were feeding the hopper. Dow asked

that ho more shingle be put into the hopper as he was going to run it empty to get the log out. i '. A tractor was positioned near the hopper with a rope attached which was going to be attached to the log to drag it out. . Mr Hiini said that (in his view it was too dangerous to enter the hopper as the angle of the face of shingle was. too steep and “I thought it would cave in.” / Mr Dow descended the hopper when .it was cleared and attached the rope to the log. As he was about to climb out the shingle, slide caved in'engulfing him. Mr Hiini said he jumped in

and started clawing with his hands, but the task was “hopeless?’ Other workmen dashed to the hopper to try rand free Mr Dow. The machinery was started to help clear the shingle, but the vibrator was unplugged. It was connected and the pit was cleared in 30 minutes. Mr Hiini said that Mr Dow had been reprimanded on two occasions by the plant foreman for going into the hole to free obstacles. The usual procedure was to remove the blockages from under the hopper. FALL FROM PYLON . A youth w’ho suffered flash burns before falling almost.

25 metres from a power pylon in Victoria Park on October 10 had died from head injuries, the Coroner found.

The dead youth w r as Dermott Gordon Stewart Sheehan, aged 17. Roger Tyson, aged 16. a spot welder, gave. evidence that four car-loads of young people had gone to the park that evening and parked near the pylon. They had two flagons of beer between them, and Mr Sheehan, who was “in a good mood and quite sober,” according to the witness, had walked over to the power pylon and started to climb it. “He had been climbing the

pylon for about five minutes when he yelled out to us: ‘Hey, look’," said Mr Tyson. “I looked up, and the next thing I saw was a blight flash and a loud bang,” he said.

Mr Sheehan had bounced off the. pylon as he fell.

Constable Peter John Croxson gave evidence that Mr Sheehan had climbed about 23 metres (80ft) up the pylon when he caused an arc in the high-voltage current.

Mr Sheehan had suffered severe electrical flash burns to his head, neck, arms, andtrunk, and had also suffered severe injuries when he struck the ground. . He had died in hospital two davs later. 'HIT BY BUS

A Christchurch Transport Board bus driver told the court that he had been driving through Cathedral Square "when I suddenly saw a lady looking up at me from about a metre in front of me." The Coroner found that the woman, Patricia Hunter Cook, aged 58, had died of severe head injuries after she was struck by the Heathcote bus between the Cathedral and the Bank of New Zealand building about 8.15 a.m. on July 13. The driver. Barry Daniel Smith, said that as his bus had drawn level with the back of the Bromley bus, a woman had appeared right in front of him.

She had been moving across the road toward the B.N.Z. building and looking up at the bus.

Mr Smith said he had used his footbrake and handbrake, but had no chance to avoid hitting the woman.

“She seemed to fall straight back on the road after hitting her head on the pram hooks,” said Mr Smith. He said that the woman must have moved out from the side of the road very quickly.

Constable M. W. E. Smith said there was no pedestrian crossing where the accident occurred, and it was clear that the bus driver could not be held responsible for the accident. Most, witnesses had said that the driver had stopped as quickly as possible, and had done well not to run right over the woman.

DEATH IN FIRE »’ The body qfs a woman found in a burning; house had been found to contain 238 mg Of ethyl alcohol pei - 100 ml of blood, the Court heard.

The Coroner found that the woman, Doris Edna Tomkinson, aged 62, had died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the fire in her home at 10 Winslow Street on-September 20.

/ Constable Edward Ernest Donnelly said the Fire Service had been called to the house at' 1.33 a.m. Firemen had forced their way in to find the body of a woman lying in a hallway, severely burned.

Constable Donnelly , said inquiries had established that the deceased drank quite heavily and smoked cigarettes.

A fire safety officer, Station Officer G. C. Johnston, said in his report that it was reasonable to assume that a carelessly discarded cigarette had ignited the covering of a lounge chair, and that the fire had spread

to other contents of the room. DROWNING Eleanor Elizabeth Sanford, aged 81. whose body was found floating in the' Avon River near the New Brighton Bridge on October 7. had died of drowning, the Coroner found.. The body was clad in night attire and a coat. Mrs Sanford, who lived alone in a flat in Bowhill Road, had last been seen alive at 4.40 p.m. the previous day. No note had been found 'to explain her disappearance. Constable Donnelly said that Mrs Sanford had been rescued from the Avon River once before, in January this year, but at no stage had she given any explanation of how she got in the river. MAN PINNED A man had been pinned under the wreck of his Mark IV Zephyr car after it had somersaulted through piles of mud off Dyers Road, near the Bexley tip, on August 29, the court heard.

Evidence was given that the car left skid marks 157 metres long.

The Coroner found that the driver and sole occupant, Michael Francis Biscoe, aged 32, had died from pulmonary congestion associated with multiple injuries. About 3.30 a.m., two local residents had telephoned the New Brighton police to say they had heard noises like an accident. One, Mr Bryan George, off 189 Bexley Road, said he had heard the screech of tyres, thumping noises and the sound of breaking glass, and then all had been auiet. A constable said it appeared that Biscoe had lost control on a moderate, sweeping left-hand bend. The car had run off the wrong side of the road and struck two 44-gallon drums, and rolled end-over-end after hitting one metre-high piles of mud. Skid marks 157 metres long showed that the car had been travelling at high speed — possibly more than lOOkm/h, the constable said. No witnesses to the accident were found.

His body was found to

contain 185 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. HEAD INJURIES

Dean Grant Dollimore, aged 18, had died of severe head injuries after his Honda 50 step-thru scooter hit a pole in Shirley Road, on June 28, the Coroner found. Constable Smith said Mr Dollimore had been to a disco and was on his way home from a friend’s place when, “for reasons unknown." the ■ machine swerved to the left, ran into the gutter and struck a pole. Mr Dollimore died in hospital three hours later. No witnesses to the accident were found. CYCLIST KILLED The driver of the car involved could not be held responsible in any way for the death of a young girl cyclist, Constable Robert Henry Moore told the Court. The Coroner found that the girl, Adele Shepherd, aged 12, had died from severe head injuries after her bicycle and a car collided in Avonhead Road, near the intersection of Wittys Road and Worthy Street, about 6.10 p.m. on August 21. Her sister, Amanda Shepherd, aged eight, who had been on the carrier of the bicycle, was seriously injured. Constable Moore said the evidence of witnesses showed that the deceased was at fault because she had not stopped at a “stop” sign in Worthy Street, and had proceeded when the way was not clear. There was also some doubt about whether the bicycle light had been working. The driver of the car, Maxwell John Harris,' aged 18, had been in a difficult situation and could not be held responsible for the accident in any way, said Constable Moore. FATAL FALL Grant Michael Peterson, aged 19, was found to have died from multiple injuries received when he fell from a window on an upper story of Christchurch Hospital on June 11. He died six days later. The Coroner said the evidence was not strong enough to warrant a suicide verdict.