SHOT BY SHIPMATES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 4 July 1928, Page 11

SHOT BY SHIPMATES.

SAILOR’S Til A (MO PATE-

WIDOW SEEKS COMPENSATION

A sequel to the tragic fate o-f the •sailor who was fatally wounded by a bullet despatched by a shipmate during the .recent visit of the H.M.S. Dunedin to' Apia, has come before Parliament in the form of a. petition presented oiu behalf of the dead man’s widow, who resides in Auckland. In the brief account published, at the time of the occurrence, it was simply announced that the sailor had run. amok, climbed, to the foretop of the Dunedin, and fired bullets at random among other members of the crew. Unable, to cope with the situation in any other way, the ship’s officers took the extreme step of ordering shots to he fired with the object of crippling the frenzied .sailor, thus allowing others to capture him. Unfortunately, one of the shots fired inflicted a fatal wound' in the thigh, the injured sailor dying a few hours later in Apia Hospital. According to the petition.,- it is now .shown that the man’s frenzied condition was the result of a: long period of confinement aboard his .ship. This was a punishment imposed in accordance with the rigid code of naval discipline, and! was carried so far that the sailor concerned was even kept aboard' the ship while the Dunedin was .spending a month at Auckland, where his l wife resided. It is now held' that this punishment affected. his . mind, causing him to become moody and i threatening. To .avoid trouble, his weapons were taken away .from him, but he still hack access to the ship’s armourv. and it was after procuring a rifle from there that he became troublesome.

TTi-s widow appealed l for a pension, which the Naval Board declines to grant, on the grounds that death was not caused by misadventure while on duty. It is against this, decision that his widow is now petitioning, seeking, either a. pension or comncnsation.