“LEFT IN THE AIR”

Evening Star, Issue 21319, 25 January 1933, Page 6

“LEFT IN THE AIR”

TRAMWAY BOARD'S RULE HINDERS POLICE CORONER'S POINTED CRITICISM " AN EXTRAORDINARY ATTITUDE " [Per United Press Association.] CHRISTCHURCH, January 25. At an inquest concerning the death of a girl who was knocked down by a tram, the coroner (Mr Mosley) made several references to the difficulty the police had had in their work through the refusal of a tramway employee to explain his part in the accident. He criticised the Tramway Board’s regulation, which prevented an employee from saying anything. “ I cannot understand why there should be such a rule,” said the coroner. “ Surely it is unwise for a public body to binder the police in this way. There should be no concealment.”

Counsel for the board (Mr Hutchison) explained that there was no intention to conceal anything. A tramway rule would not allow officials to make any statement to anybody. If the manager had been approached the matter would have been smoothed out. “ I think the police were right in not going to the manager,” said Mr Mosley. “ They have a right to the information.”

Before questioning the motorman, Mr Hutchison referred to the fact that the motorman had made no statement to the police. He said it was a purely unfortunate occurrence. The Coroner: It seems to me to be an extraordinary attitude to take up, and most undesirable from the public’s point of view. Senior-sergeant Fox said that_ as a result the police had been “ left in the air,” and had been unable to investigate the motorman’s side of the story. “ That means that most important evidence, from a coroner’s point of view, is lost, and the ends of justice are not met,” commented the coroner.