Three-mile Trail of Blood iii City Streets

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 236, 6 October 1936, Page 7

Three-mile Trail of Blood iii City Streets

A BROKEN HIP-POCKET FLASK, Fer Press Association. WELLINGTON, Last Night. With his clothing saturated in blood and blood oozing from his shoes a young man staggered up to a taxi-driver in Boulcott street in the early hours of this morning and demanded to be driven to his home. Such was his condition that the taxi-driver refused to let him enter the vehicle. Telling jthe driver to say uothiug about the occurreuco the injured man disappeared leaving a trail of blood-stained footsteps behind him. Later, at 1.45 a.m., William Cox, a. taxi-driver reported to u constable whom he met on the corner of John and Eiddiford streets that he had seen a man lying on the footpath in Adelaide road close to Hall street, lu the meantime the Taranaki street police had been investigating a trail of bloodstained footsteps and having traced them for a considerable dislauco handed the inquiry over to the Mt. Cook police. Investigating Cox’s report the constable found James McLennan Duffy, of C Liverpool street, Miramar, lying in a pool of blood, having apparently walked three miles before losing consciousness through loss of blood. He was able to stand up, but immediately collapsed and was taken in a taxi to the hospital. Later inquiries revealed that in the vicinity of Boulcott street or the Terrace he fell somewhere near Plimmer’s steps and broke a bottle in his hip pocket. He received a deep wound two inches long which bled freely and had already lost a considerable amount of blood when he approached the taxidriver in Boulcott street. At the hospital three stitches were inserted in (ho wound, but afterwards he was allowed Jo go home.