A FAVOURABLE REPORT

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1929, Page 2

A FAVOURABLE REPORT

PETITION OF SAILOR’S WIDOW, WELLINGTON, October 2. A favourable recommendation was made to-day by the Defence Committee on the petition of the widow of. a sun-crazed naval man, ' who ran amok on board H.M.S. Dunedin;, at Samoa in March, 1928. ;• The Committee recommended that: Airs Gladys Gillies’s petition be referred to the Government for favourable consideration. , The petitioner, in seeking a compassionate allowance in respect of her husband’s death, stated that she was in desperate plight, as she ‘had received nothing but deceased’s deferred pay. The Naval Department disclaimed any responsibility for Gillies’s 'death. Deceased, who was an A. 8., gained access to the unguarded armoury of the ship when suffering from sunstroke, which affected his mentality. Securing possession of a loaded rifle, he began to discharge the weapon, and the officers ordered that he be secured, as tliey feared his action might result in loss of life. A member of the crow fired with the object of maiming Gillies, and shot him through the groin. Gillies died from loss of blood despite immediate medical attention.