£750 DAMAGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22972, 25 February 1938, Page 13

£750 DAMAGES

QUARRY FATALITY CASE AGA.IN&T COUNCIL JURY'S LONG RETIREMENT The hearing of a claim for £2OOO compensation, which occupied the Supreme Court for almost four days, camo to a close last night, when, after a protracted absence, the jury returned with an award of £750 for the plaintiff. The action was brought by the Public Trustee as administrator of the estate of the late Daniel Leslie Lees, of Matata, against the Whakatane County Council, and was heard by Mr. Justice Callan and a jury. Mr. Haigh and Mr. Henry represented the Public Trustee, and Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr. N. I. Smith appeared for the defence. Lees and a man named Mason were killed by a fall of material in the defendant's quarry at Matata on June 2 of last year. Lees was 43 years of age at the time, and the claim was made under the Law Reform Act for his loss of expectation of life. The plaintiff claimed that the accident was due to the negligence of the council's servants, but the defence eaid it was the result of Lees' own negligence. The jury retired at 3.15 p.m., and six hours elapsed before they returned with an award of £750 for the plaintiff. Judgment was entered accordingly, with costs.