NAPIER DROWNING FATALITY.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIII, Issue 32, 20 January 1923, Page 5

NAPIER DROWNING FATALITY.

Mr. R. W. Dyer, S.M.. District Coroner, held an inquest this morning in the Napier Courthouse on the death of the lad John Thompson, aged 7 vears and 9 months, who was drowned in the Tutaekuri River on Wednesday.

Harold, George Thompson, builder, of Napier South, father of deceased, gave evidence of deceased spending the dav with his grandmother. He came home to tea and witness never saw him again. During the evening the younger brother told him they could not find Jack. He was told they were playing at the riven He made _ a search, and not being able to find the bov he reported the matter to the police. Constabl© Kenny and witness searched the river until the following morning. At daybreak a> fresh party took over the dragging operations, and' continued all day. The body was found a few chains away from the launch. Deceased could not swim. Gordon Ridgdale, aged 8 years said that on Wednesday night he was with deceased and Jack Scullin at the launch on the Tutaekuri river. The launch was tied up close to th© bank. They were playing cowboys and Indians. There were other little boys present as well, When they left the launch deceased went inside the cabin, pretending to start the launch and the last he saw was deceased sitting at the steering wheel pretending to ste&r. He heard ripples on the water like a splash, and thought it was a boat. He heard no voice and went back to see what the noise was. Thompson was gone. They looked for him on the launch. All the other boys said he had gone home. He (witness) stayed playing on the bank. He had not seen deceased since. Hector Joseph Campbell, a railway employee, uncle of deceased, gave evidence of dragging the river with others and at 4.40 p.m. on Thursday he found the body, about three chains away from the launch. Constable Kennv said that he dragged the Tutaekuri river in the vicinity where the deceased disappeared. H© removed the body to the house of the parents. There was no mark of violence visible except a bruise on the bridge of the nose. The mooring chain of the launch was some length, and when a person i tunned from the launch to the bank the launch moved out into the stream. ,

The Coroner, in returning a verdict that deceased met his death bv accidental drowning, said that it was a most unfortunate affair.