DAMAGES CLAIM FAILS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26918, 2 November 1948, Page 7

DAMAGES CLAIM FAILS

PEDESTRIAN IN COLLISION A verdict in favour of the defendant was given by a jury of 12 which heard in the Supreme Court at Dunedin a claim for £216 11s as special damages and £I3OO general damages brought by Adam Brockie (Mr W. H. Carson) against Arnold Owen Jones (Mr E. J. Anderson). Mr Justice Kennedy entered judgment in accordance with the jury’s findings, and intimated that costs would be allowed. The claim arose from an accident in which the plaintiff, a pedestrian, was struck by a motor cycle ridden by the defendant in Bay View road on December 8, 1946. The plaintiff alleged that the motor cycle was ridden in a negligent and unskilful way, and as a result' of the accident he suffered a permanent injury to the ankle and foot that had reduced his earning power. The plaintiff, who was 57 years old at the time of the accident, was formerly employed in work of a heavy nature at a Green Island tannery, but because of the injury could attempt only light work at a much lower wage. The special damages claimed represented loss of earnings and hospital and other expenses. Owen Sydney Jones was joined as a defendant in the action because his son, the rider of the motor cycle, was a minor at the time of the accident. The defence was that the plaintiff himself was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout for oncoming traffic, and that the accident was caused by his running into the legitimate path of the motor cycle. The jury retired at 4.27 p.rrt., and returned with its verdict at 5.15 p.m. The case was first heard on July 27, when the jury, after a four-hour deliberation, failed to reach an agreement.