FATAL EXPLOSION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20993, 2 October 1931, Page 8

FATAL EXPLOSION.

CARTRIDGE JAMMED IN GUN. IN BREECH FOR TWO YEARS. [by TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] NEW PLYMOUTH, Thursday. How a young man, Gilbert Leonard Valentino, was killed by the accidental explosion of a cartridge which had been jammed in the breech of a pea rifle for more than two years, was described at an inquest to-day concerning Valentine's death. The coroner, Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., in returning a verdict of accidental death, said it was clear that deceased had been attempting to extract what he thought was a dead cartridge which had become jammed in the breech of the rifle and it had exploded while he was in the act of doing this. With consent ol ! the young man's mother ho mado an order that the weapon should be destroyed. Arthur Ronald Harding, aged 16, said he was a friend of Valentine. He knew of the pea rifle and had often seen it in a shed. When witness saw it about two vears ago there was a cartridge in the breech, which, he thought, was dead, as it had not exploded when he pulled the trigger. Valentine said it was stuck there. Witness had never seen the rifle in use. It had always been in the corner of the shed and practically useless. The police evidence showed that there were no cartridges in the shed or on the premises, and that the rifle was defective.