£1050 COMPENSATION

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 108, 10 May 1933, Page 11

£1050 COMPENSATION

SEQUEL TO ACCIDENT

JURY'S VERDICT FOR WIDOW

That the death of ' Arthur 'John Ibbotson, a builder, aged 62, following an accident near the Town Hall in December last year, was caused by negligence of a motor-cyclist and the driver of. a motor-car, was tho view taken by the jury, oil the issues put to them, at tho conclusion of the trial in the Supreme Court ' today of, an action for compensation brought .' on ■ behalf!, pf the widow, Ada Elizabeth JJb^pf^R.. ...The jury, fu^tlier; lM^.tliat, the late Mr. Ibbotson, was : npt.,. guilty of contributory negligence, and award-: ed £1050 as compensation.., ■ Tha, defendants were Lance Godfrey Edwin Barnes; the niotor-cyclist, and 'Tom; Gordon Gault, motor mechanic, owner of the motor-car, which, at the. time pf ''.the accident, was .being driven by Mother man. ..•■'.' " ' . Mr. Justice Ostler said ho would not Center' judgment; in tha meaatime', ;so as to enable counsel for the defendants to go into the question of whether it was considered worth while arguing a nonsuit'point' further. . •'■'' •■ : ''■■ It was alleged; in the statement of claim .(reference to which was made in yesWtlny's "Post"), that the motorcyclist' and the drivrir : of.the"motorcar were so negligent that their respective vehicles collided ■ with .Mr. Ibbotson, or with one another, or, alternatively, that one of the vehicles knocked tho deceased into the other one. > Mr. 0. C. Mazengarb appeared fpr the plaintiff, and Mr. "W. Perry for the defendants.. ■ . CASE FOR DEFENCE. At the conclusion of evidence for the plaintiff, Mr. Perry submitted that the plaintiff must be non-suited against both defendants on the ground'that there- was no evidence of negligence against them, or, even if there were, because the deceased was the author of his own wrong in jumping back'into the motor-car, thereby giving the car driver no opportunity of avoiding him. His Honour said that so far as the motor-car driver was concerned he thought there -was some force in Mr. Perry's contention, but ho would reserve the point. Giving evidence, Barnes said • that after he turned the corner from Cuba Street'into Wakefield Street the motorcar overtook ; him. Ho first, saw Mr, Ibbotson when he stopped from in front of tho car, which was slightly in front, of his motor-cycle. Witness applied, his brakes and swerved to the right, his cycle running into tho fOre-end of the lefthand running board of the motorcar. Mr. Ibbotson, after havifig cleared the car, stumbled' backwards into tho car's path. His motor-cyclo did' npt strike tho deceased. If ■ Mr. Ibbotson had walked on or had stood still h ewould have been all right. "APPARENTLY FLUSTERED." Edgar James Stone, a clerk, employed by White Star Motors, Palmerston North, the driver of the motor-car, said he. saw Mr. Ibbotson walking diagonally'across Wnkefield Street. Witness did not apprehend any, danger, but he pulled over, a little to the right. He .then saw Mr. Ibbotson hqsitate and ho pulled further over to the right. Mr. ibbotson stumbled backwards, apparently becoming flustered on seeing tho motor-cycle. At the time it appeared to witness that tho motor-cyclist struck the,deceased, but he was not prepared to say he actually .did. . , - From .1 doorway, 12 feet from the Cuba Street corner, of tho Dental and Medical Supplies, Ltd., .where ho is employed as a clerk, Raymond Barton Telfar said he saw Mr. Ibbotson crossing Wakefield Street, at an angle. Mr. Ibbotson got past tho motor-car,. and ihen, upon seeing tho motor-cycle,' he jumped backwards and was knocked down by the 'car. Witness said he thought that if Mr. Ibbotson had looked to his left when ho was crossing the street and had stood still tho accident would not have occurred. This concluded tho evidence. Counsel addressed the jury, and his Honour summed up this morning.