CHILD ELECTROCUTED

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 152, 14 June 1935, Page 5

CHILD ELECTROCUTED

Defective House Wiring CORONER’S SEVERE COMMENT (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, June 14. Delivering his verdict to-day in connection with the death of Alexander Frederick Feisst, aged nine, whose body was found under his parents’ residence on March 10, the Coroner found that death was due to electrocution through coming in contact with a totally inefficient earth wire made alive by an inadvertent cross-over of the main lead-in wires by some person approximately 18 months ago. The Coroner found that Mr Frederick Ditchfield, a former occupier of the house, now employed by the Public Works Department at Arapuni, When employed by the Borough Council some 18 months ago endeavoured to remedy a defective supply to his residence without authority. Mr Ditchfield admitted replacing the service mains from the street-post to the house, and the Coroner expressed the opinion that he was also responsible for installing under-gauge wire found as part of the lead-in installation, and also for the apparently inadvertent cross-over of the lead-in wires, thus causing the defective earth wire to be alive. The Coroner said that when the borough supply was changed from direct to alternating current in 1929 the earthing of the house installation was not in accordance with the wiring regulations. Had the local authority carried out periodical inspections, as required by regulation, this fault in the service must have been readily detected.