Three Damages Claims Settled At £l0,000 Total

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 November 1949, Page 4

Three Damages Claims Settled At £l0,000 Total

The sum of £lO,OOO was involved in damages settlements approved in the Supreme Court which opened its quarterly session at Greymouth this morning before His Honor, Sir Erima Northcroft. A fourth claim for more than £7OOO in general and special damages, was adjourned to the next session. In view of the prior settlement of the three claims, jurors were not required, and the session concluded after a brief sitting this afternoon. . A collision between a cycle ridden by a 13-year-old boy and a taxi driven by Ray Norman Ward, near the Kaniere bridge was the basis of a claim by Frank William Joseph Shields, now aged 16, through his father'William Joseph Shields (Mr: W. D. Taylor) against Richard James Steel, taxi proprietor, of „ Hokitika, and Ray Norman Ward, of Christchurch (Mr C. H. Thomas). Describing the collision, Mr Taylor said that plaintiff had been unconscious for three weeks and had had seven or eight plastic head operations as a result. He was now working and earning £7 a week, but the effects of the injuries in the accident were likely to be present for some time. '

The question of liability was by no; means clear, he added, as the plaintiff had the right-hand rule against him and had no brakes on. his cycle. On the other hand the taxi’s certificate had been suspended three weeks before the mishap on account of its general condition, and an examination showed the brakes to be only 50 per cent effective. The only witness to the accident, a nine-year-old boy, who had run away, said the taxi' was going fast and the cycle slowly. He considered that the settlement was fair considering all the risks. The fund would be held by the Public Trustee until the plaintiff was 21 years of age, stated Mr Taylor, add- z ing that a claim for special damages lodged by the father had not yet been settled. “In the circumstances, I think it is a wise compromise on behalf of the plaintiff,” said His Honor, approving of the settlement at £3250 and making an order for the disposition of the funds as requested. _ Sawmill Accident

Hi? Honor also agreed to a settlement of a claim by Ann Josephine Watson (Mr W. D. Taylor.) against United Sawmills Ltd (Mr C. H. Thomas and Mr F. A. Kitchingham) for £5OOO general damages, at a figure of £3,150, plus funeral expenses and costs. Pointing out that the husband of the plaintiff had met his death while driving a tractor in the Lake Brunner district, Mr Taylor said that it appeared that his clothing had been caught by a nail in a universal joint in the tractor, while he had been oiling it. He claimed that the joint should have been covered and that the employer should have arranged for the deceased to have been remonstrated with in regard to his practice of oiling the machinery while in motion. “You claim that the employer was negligent in not warning a man that it was foolish to do something that was patently stupid?” asked His Honor. “In the circumstances,” he said, in approving of the settlement, “the compromise is not only, appropriate but fortunate.” He also approved of the disposition of the money to the plaintiff and deceased’s three children. Coal-mine Accident

The third claim, by Mattie Martha Norma Smith (Mr Taylor) was settled at £3,600 for general damages plus £250 for loss of expectation of life, £49 funeral expenses and £26 costs. The defendants were Joshua Tinning, John Tinning, Frank Tinning and Carl Todd (Mr J. W. Hannan). The claim, it was stated, followed the death in Tinning and Party’s coal mine of plaintiff’s husband as a' result of a fall of stone from the roof. Dependants, apart from the plaintiff, were two children aged 14 and two years. x - A claim by Thomas Beaumont Dwan Bishop against W. T. Ogilvie and Coy Ltd for £6500 general and £378 special damages, was adjourned to the next session of the court.