DEATH OF FOAL

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 72, 18 December 1937, Page 30

DEATH OF FOAL

Baronet’s Claim Against Father And Son NONSUIT ALLOWED It could not be established that the law relating to dogs chasing sheep wa-* applicable to boys chasing horses, said Mr. H. !’• Lawry, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court, Upper Hutt, yesterday, when he nonsuited Sir Kenneth Douglas’, baronet, practising as a solicitor at Wellington, in his claim against Ivan W. Bentley, Poulterer, Upper Hutt, and h.s son, AV. Bentley, aged 16, for £-0, iep u smiting the value of a foal winch it was alleged was killed as the result of a mishap caused by the youth driving stock on Douglas’s farm property, Glenbervie, without permission. Mr. D. Perry represented Bentley senior and junior and Mr. 1. G. Taj lor appeared for Douglas. Mr. Taylor said it was alleged that Bentley junior trespassed on the pr»Perty and that the manner . > n . w , llicl m h h o caused the death of the foal The father was also sued because Douglas saw him a few days after the discovery of the foal's death, when he admitted it was his son’s doing and said he woulc mak "■ood the damage. It was submitted the offer to pay ratified the son s act tllou ’’' it was’not suggested he acted at the direction of the father. The relation was somewhat similar to that of principal an a °Mr' Lawry: My impression is .that Bentley senior’s promise was a gratuitous one for which there was no consi oration. The consideration was the f ?' be ‘ lance of legal proceedings, said Mr. ia D° r - Sir Kenneth Douglas said he hat trespass notices on his property, as <l ult e a lot of damage had been done. He < warned the boy Bentley not to go on hs land. On Sunday, October 01, he saw some boys chasing his horses- on the• nd„l of tbc property. One x\as a boj nam, llartlev” who said Bentley was his companion and that they had gone there o rinse a pony. Next day the pony was found dead. Evidently it bad fallen douu the slope, became caught in the fence a C °He saw 'Bentley, senior, who said Curnr..,. Ivid offered his boy five shillings to ride a horse on the place. The boy adapted being on the property and dn ' ia " ® horses. Bentley said he would pay foi the f ° Cross-examined, he said he had .not seen the foal before. Neither he nor his manager knew it had been born. Mr. Perry: Dor all you know the foal mi’ht have been dead on October dll. 1 don't think so : not possibly. . He did not know how much lie paid for the mare which had the foal. He bought 18 horses at. the one time-Some Im £4O for; the total was £3OO to £4OO. He wanted a good colt to serve fillies he had al Mr! Lawry said Sir Kenneth could not have known he would get a colt foal. Sir Kenneth : I would be a clev ® r man if I could have known that. I bought scleral marcs in foal and hoped to get a colt He ascertained the value of the colt after its death at £2O. Bentley said he would pay for the foal, and that he mi ß ht have to mortgage his property to do so. Mr Perry: Bentley denies that. Who is telling the truth, you or he? Douglas: The court will decide that He offered by letter on November 8 to take £2O from Bentley at 7/0 a week or £lB if the payments were made promptly, the sums to be secured by promissory notes, said Douglas. . Francis John Curnow, plaintiff s farm manager, said that on October 31 he caught one boy who said he was h el l>ing another boy to catch horses to ride. He then went on to the ridge and saw young Bentley, who ran away. No authority was given to any boys to go on the property’ or to ride horses there. He heard no denial of liability by Bentley senior He did not'tell the boy if he caught and rode a particular pony he could have it for nie shillings. This pony was Sir Kenneths own ; even witness could not ride it. Mr Perry: So there was a discussion about one pony?—"No, there are a dozen ponies on the place.” Mr. Lawry said it seemed Curnow had changed his*tactics; first he referred to one pony and then to others. Curnow said the boy expressed a wish to ride the horses on the place once when he returned some that had strayed. He told him he would be bucked off. Mr Lawry : Some boys would take that as a challenge to ride the horses and.take the chance of being thrown. It was like daring him. Albert Edward Kobinson substantiated Sir Kenneth’s account of the interview with Bentley, who had asked Sir Kenneth to let him down lightly. Alfred Lewis Best, farmer, said he xahied the foal nt £2O on November 7. Plaintiff was nonsuited, with costs, without evidence being called for the defence.