Loss Of Bag And £422

Northern Advocate, 5 August 1949, Page 6

Loss Of Bag And £422

WELLINGTON, Fri, (P.A.)—On December 15, Mrs Ellen Helson, of Fetone, made some purchases at McKenzies (Cubh Street) Ltd., and shortly after leaving discovered that her handbag containing £422/10/- in £5 and £1 notes, was no longer over her arm. In a claim opened in the Supreme Court today before Mr Justice Hutchison and a jury of lour, Mrs Helson sought recovery of the £422/10/Counsel for the plaintiff said she discovered the loss just after going into another shop, and was certain she had left the handbag in McKenzies. Inquiries she had made at McKenzies revealed that a handbag had been, found and later given to a woman who claimed it. Evidence would be called from the finder, added counsel, that the bag had been similar to that lost by Mrs Helson. NEGLIGENCE ALLEGED Defendants would deny that the bag had ever been in their possession and would claim that another bag had been found and handed over to its rightful owner. But, said counsel, it would be a surprising coincidence if two bags had been found at the same time and the same place. Plaintiff claimed that McKenzies were negligent in their failure to identify the claimant of the handbag before letting it out of their possession, and alternatively that having had the handbag and its contents in its possession the defendant company had failed to account for it. A denial of having had the particular handbag in its possession is filed by the defendant company, which claims that plaintiff was negligent and any loss sustained was her fault.