SINKING OF LAUNCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23599, 7 March 1940, Page 10

SINKING OF LAUNCH

CASE AT LYTTELTON GRANT TO MASTER'S WIDOW SUM EXCEEDS £2OOO A compassionate allowance of £2OOO, plus compensation for the value of the launch, has been made by the Government to the widow of the late Mr. F. ,T. Brasell, master and owner of the fishing launch Dolphin, who was fatally injured when tho vessel was sunk by a shot from a coastal battery at Lyttelton on October 12 last.

In announcing the award, the Labour paper, the Standard, states that the report of a military court of inquiry and the finding of the coroner who conducted an inquest on Mr. Brasell indicated that error 011 the part of the deceased was the first cause of the fatality, and that therefore there was no liability on the part of the Crown to make compensation. "Mr. Brasell was a member of the fishermen's section of the Federated Seamen's Union, in the hands of which the widow placed her claim for compensation," states the paper. "Representations were made by the president of the union, Mr. F. P. Walsh, to the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, who was advised by the Crown Law Office that the Government could not legally ho considered liable. "The Minister, nevertheless, felt that this was a case which should receive the sympathetic consideration of his department and the Government, and 011 his recommendation Cabinet decided that a grant of £2OOO should bo made, as well°as the uninsured value of the launch and gear. . "Mrs Brasell has accepted this offer, and both she and the union have expressed complete satisfaction with it and gratitude to the Minister for his practical sympathy."