CLAIM ALLOWED

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 12, 14 July 1939, Page 11

CLAIM ALLOWED

DAMAGE BY WATER

Occupiers of a basement In Princes Street, Dunedin, Irvine and Co., Ltd., recently brought a claim against the Dunedin City Corporation for damages caused'by the leakage of water from the mains running under Princes Street. Originally the amount claimed was £714 2s 4d, but at the first hearing it was reduced by the plaintiff by £20. The caise was removed by the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers) to the Court of Appeal, where the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Ostler, Mr. Justice Smith, Mr. Justice Johnston, and Mr. Justice Fair were on the Bench,

In his judgment the Chief Justice said that the very point that arose in the case, namely, whether an action lay for nuisance apart from any question .of negligence, was raised in an action against the Wellington City Corporation that came before him in December, 1930. The alleged nuisance there was the escape of sewage from a sewage main into the basement of premises fronting the street under which the main was laid. The point, however, did'not call for determination, as he held on the evidence that the trouble had been caused by an earthquake, and that the Corporation was therefore not liable. In the present case, in the result, the plaintiff was, in his opinion, entitled to recover the sum of £694 2s 4d, to which amount it was admitted the claim must be reduced. Mr. Justice Smith, Mr. Justice Johnston, and Mr. Justice Fair concurred, but Mr. Justice Ostler stated that in his opinion judgment should be for the defendant Corporation with costs.

At the hearing Mr. H. Brash (Dunedin) appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. A. M. Haggitt (Dunedin) for the defendant.