NEW TRIAL SOUGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22224, 26 September 1935, Page 15

NEW TRIAL SOUGHT

APPEAL COURT APPLICATION MOTOR FATALITY SEQUEL [BT TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON', Wednesdaj An appeal against the judgment of Mr. Justice Johnston dismissing the application for a new trial in the case of Freda Hill, of Fairdown, a widow, and Shaws' Taxi Service, Limited, Thomas Patrick Shaw, of Westport, a taxi-driver, and Thomas Shaw, an electrician, is being heard by the Court of Appeal. Mrs. Hill brought an action against the Shaws for damages as the result of the death of her husband, which occurred after a collision between a motor-cycle he was riding and a taxi driven by Thomas Patrick Shaw. She was awarded £1750 damages by the jury. Application was made to the trial judge, Mr. Justice Johnston, for a new trial, on the grounds that the finding of the jury was so defective that the Court could not give judgment upon it, that it was against the weight of evidence and that the damages were excessive, but Mr. Justice Johnston expressed the opinion that the jury was entitled to find that plaintiff's loss was occasioned through toe negligence of defendants, and that the jury's assessment of the damages ought not to be set aside. The hearing of the case will be continued to-morrow.