Uncertainty about which blow killed

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 6

Uncertainty about which blow killed

saying which of two blows to the head had caused the death of Gary Talele Uili was not possible, said the coroner, Mr Colin Marshall, in the Christchurch Coroner’s Court yesterday. Mr Uili, aged 41, had died in hospital on March 24, after being injured in an incident at the Royal George Tavern on March 22.

Detective Senior Sergeant Alan Dalzell said that police were directed to the tavern about 6.45 p.m. on March 22, where there was a disturbance involving members of a local Samoan community who regularly drank there. The deceased, a member of that group, sustained a knock to the head, which rendered him unconscious, during the disturbance, said Mr Dalzell. He sustained a second knock as he was leaving the tavern, and these knocks led to his death, two days later. Police enquiries revealed that the deceased had arrived at the tavern late in the morning and was intoxicated by the time of the disturbance, about 6.40 p.m. The fight broke out between two patrons, Jeff Pelesa Sanft and George Siaosi Leota, and was stopped a short time later by other patrons, including Lu Leota, said Mr Dalzell. When police, led by Sergeant Gus Milne, arrived about 6.55 p.m., the fight had already stopped. An ambulance had arrived and an ambulance crew was treating the deceased. Sergeant Milne went into the bar and spoke with bar staff. Deceased then entered the bar. Sergeant Milne, who was then unaware that the deceased had earlier been knocked unconscious, described him as heavily intoxicated and his eyes were rolling. Mr Dalzell said that a large number of patrons were spoken to in the course of police enquiries. "Substantial evidence supports Mr Lu Leota’s claim that he was involved in stopping the fight and acting as a mediator. “The deceased insisted on interfering in the fight, and after being asked to desist on several occasions was either backhanded or punched by Leota to get him out of the way. “As a result of the blow, the deceased fell to the floor, possibly striking his head on a bar leaner as he fell. His head hit the floor as he landed and he became unconscious as a result.” Mr Lu Leota told the court that when the fight broke out, he moved in to stop it. Others became involved and the deceased “started butting in.” He was drunk and a nuisance, said Mr Leota. “Two times I pushed the deceased aside and told him to get out of the way. He just kept coming back and getting in the way. “About the third time he came up I sort of flicked him with the back of my hand. I did it firmly, but I wasn’t looking at him and I don’t even know if he fell over. I did not punch him.” Constable Grant Alan Keeble told the court that he arrived with the police contingent led by Sergeant Milne. He noticed the deceased outside, and he appeared drunk. The constable said that he spoke to the deceased, who said, “I’m pretty pissed,” to which the constable replied, “You’d better not go back in, then.” However, the deceased did go into the bar, and there followed a number of attempts to get him to leave. Constable Keeble said that he did not use strong physical force on him, but tried to turn him towards the exit. "When he started to turn, I let him go, expecting him to turn and walk out. “He, instead of turning, just fell immediately backwards out the door and on to the footpath. His feet did not move. He fell like a sack of spuds and his head came into contact with the footpath. "He fell on to his back, but then the back of his head came heavily into contact with the footpath. It sounded just like a really heavy dull thud.” The constable said that the deceased’s eyes were then wide open instead of “hooded looking, like a drunk’s eyes,” but he still did not think he had been injured. There was no sign of blood. Several police officers then tried to carry, the deceased to a police vehicle to take him in “for a detox.” However, other patrons then came out of the tavern, and

they took him away, said Constable Keeble. At about 5 a.m. the next day, friends of the deceased heard him call out from the couch where he had slept the night. They checked him and found him bleeding from the mouth.

He was admitted to hospital about 8 a.m., and underwent surgery, but died at 1.30 p.m. on March 24, without regaining consciousness. The coroner said that it was apparent that there were two injuries, either of which could have caused the death. He noted the comments of Dr Martin MacFarlane, a consultant neurosurgeon with the Canterbury Hospital Board, who operated on the deceased the morning after the incident. He had removed a “large clotted haemotoma” from deceased’s skull, and noted bruising of the brain surface, and a tom cortical vein. However, Dr MacFarlane concluded that as the deceased was rendered unconscious with both impacts, this meant that either had sufficient force to cause the injuries. The coroner said that it was not possible to be, categorical as to which blow caused the injuries. “It is also apparent that no criticism could be made of the police constable (Keeble) involved in the incident,” he said. DIED IN COMA A Christchurch woman who suddenly lapsed into a coma and died, after an operation, had been a diabetic. Laura Myrtle Fox, aged 69, had been admitted to the Southern Cross Trust Hospital for pelvic surgery on May 15. She regained consciousness after the operation, but about five hours later rapidly became comatose. On May 16, she was transferred to Christchurch Hospital, where she died on June 4, without regaining consciousness. The surgeon, Hamish Heathcote McCrostie, told the court that he undertook surgery well aware of the slightly added risk in cases where diabetes was present. Under modern conditions, the risk was regarded as acceptable, he said. Dr McCrostie said that the operation had been uneventful, and Mrs Fox’s initial recovery was satisfactory, until the sudden onset of the coma. Dr McCrostie told the court that Dr L. Hannah saw the deceased at that time, and diagnosed “some sort of cerebral accident, or ‘stroke’.” Although the added risks of surgery on a diabetic patient were well known, it would have been impossible to predict the chain of events. “I have been undertaking surgery on such patients for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I have been involved in a serious complication resulting from diabetes, let alone a fatal one.” The pathologist, Leonard Lawrence Treadgold, said that the cause of death was a left-sided cerebral haemorrhage. Questioned by the coroner, Mr Marshall, Dr Treadgold added that the post-mortem had shown “moderately severe atherosclerosis” in the blood vessels of the cranium. Diabetes could exacerbate the condition, he said. CAR ‘VEERED’ A car driven by Annie McKenzie Jones, aged 65, appeared to be veering across the road just before the head-on collision in which she was killed. James Gray Packer, the driver of the other car, said that he was driving north-west on Halswell Junction Road, towards Prebbleton, about 3 p.m. on January 22. He noticed deceased’s car when it was about 10 metres away, “because it seemed to be coming across the road at me.” He said that he tried to see what the other driver was doing, but could not because of sunlight reflecting on the windshield. Mr Packer said that he had tried to pull to the right. Senior Sergeant David Sandes, of the Hornby Police, said that the impact happened almost on the centre line, but slightly on the deceased’s wrong side. He said that the only independent witness was travelling behind the deceased, but was nearly a kilometre away, and was not able to see which side of the road she was on. Mr Packer’s passenger was injured and was not able to remember the events of that day. The coroner said that it was clear from the evidence presented by Mr Packer that no fault could 1)6 attributed to him for

the accident He found that the deceased died as a result of severe head injuries sustained in the accident. MOTOR-CYCLE CRASHED A Christchurch youth, aged 17, died of severe internal injuries, after his motor-cycle crashed into a bridge railing on Lakewood Drive. Glen Douglas Nathaniel Rolley, also known by the , surname Gill, died in the intensive care unit of Christchurch Public Hospital on July 6. Just before midnight the previous day, he was riding his lOOcc motorcycle west on Lakewood Drive, apparently lost control and collided with the railings of a culvert on the left side of the road. Witnesses remarked on the high speed of the motor-cycle, Senior Constable Martin Fitzsimons told the court. The road was wet, and it was apparent that the deceased lost control by a combination of speed and wet road surface, he said. He said that the road characteristics had received much media criticism, and a previous ■fatal motor-cycle accident occurred on the same bend. However, he could find no fault with the roadway. “The bend in question is very slight with little camber and it has a designated speed of 50km .. .Both accidents have involved speed as a contributing factor.” KILLED INSTANTLY Blair McDonald Woolhouse, aged 49, was killed instantly when a car he was working on was struck by another, the coroner has found. The accident happened at 1.40 a.m. on July 12, when Mr Woolhouse was attaching a tow rope to a car which had broken down on Halswell road. Constable Robin Cocks told the court that a second car, being driven at about 70km/h by Paul Simon Haar, struck the rear of the car which had broken down, and shunted it 18 metres into the back of deceased’s own vehicle. The broken-down car had been L correctly parked at the side of the road, he said. • > Haar was later charged with causing death while driving with an excess blood-alcohol level, pleaded guilty, and had been sentenced to six months prison, and two years’ disqualification. ' ‘HOONING’ BEFORE CRASH A carload of young people was pulled up by a traffic officer for “generally hooning around and dragging,” shortly before a crash in which a driver, aged 15, was killed. A schoolgirl, Sharleen Ava Whitley, gave written evidence on the death of Clinton Andre Baker, who died on May 23 when the car he was driving failed to take a right-hand bend on the Governor’s Bay Road. The car crashed 70 metres down a steep bank, throwing the four occupants out and ending up against some gum trees, which stopped it plunging into the sea. Miss Whitley said that they were drinking from a flagon as they drove from Moorhouse Avenue out to Lyttelton, where “I think we might have got some more beer.” “I was starting to get pretty drunk by this time. Clinton (the deceased) was not drunk, I do not think. He seemed all right.” Two others in a second car were ahead of them as they drove towards Governor’s Bay, although the two cars were not racing each other, said the witness. However, they were going “pretty fast.” “I thought we were going too fast around the corners.” The police said that an alcohol blood test carried out on the deceased came back negative. “We can only assume thfe D.S.I.R. ' made a mistake.” Miss Whitley’s evidence was that deceased had had "at least three drinks” from the flagon. The coroner found that he died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries sustained in the accident. DEAD IN BATH The Coroner found that Ida Isabel Gibson, aged 82, died of a combination of factors, including pulmonaiy congestion, aortic stenosis, generalised atherosclerosis, and a mixture of nitrazepam and amyltripyline in the bloodstream. Deceased had been found dead in her bath on July 25. SUICIDE VERDICTS Verdicts of suicide were returned in the cases of Mabel Ferguson Mcllraith and Arthur Lawrence Grijble.