INSURANCE CASE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22200, 29 August 1935, Page 10

INSURANCE CASE

CONSPIRACY CHAKGE ALLEGED CAR ACCjDENT EVIDENCE OF A DOCTOR TWO MEN SENT FOR TRIAL [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION"] WELLINGTON, Wednesday A joint charge of conspiring to defraud the National Insurance Company of New Zealand, Limited, of £625, arising out of a motor accident on March "4, was brought against two, labourers, William Herbert Miller Duncan, aged 34, and Thomas John Lucinsky, aged 28, in the Magistrate's Court to-day. Dr. N. F. G. Hill, of the Wellington Public Hospital staff, said that Duncan, who was admitted to the hospital on March 4, told him that he had been knocked down by a motor-car, the wheel striking his left leg and the mudguard hitting him in the back as he fell. There were no visible signs of injury. Duncan complained of pain in the Kick of his skull, and severe pain in the lower part of the back, which he said was very tender. He also complained of pain at the baso of the right thumb. Witness said that he found that the movement in the joint at the base of Duncan's thumb was limited, which was compatible with a previous injurv The lower part of the spine was Xrayed The pelvis and the thumb were also examined, but in no case was any bone injury revealed. Duncan was in the hospital from March 4 to 9, when he was discharged at his own request.. Another witness said that he helped Lucinsky to pick a man up. Lucinsky, who told him that he did not know the man, asked him to telephone for the ambulance. Evidence was given by other witnesses that the two accused were friends. One witness said he was told by Lucinsky that the accident was a "frame-up" to get the insurance money. Both the accused, who pleaded not guilty and reserved their defence, were committed for trial.