BANKRUPT ESTATE

Otago Witness, Issue 3398, 30 April 1919, Page 5

BANKRUPT ESTATE

CASE OF ELLIS MATTHEW PEACOCK.

In November last year a man named Thomas Lloyd was knocked down near the Oval by a motor car driven by- Ellis Matthew Peacock, and was fatally injured. Peacock was proceeded against in the Police Court on a charge of manslaughter, the charge being dismissed. Peacock was. then cued."by the Publio Trustee acting on behalf ot Mrs Lyold, for £5Ol damages for tin loss of her husband, and the jury gave a verdict for the full amount claimed, wita costs (£54). Peacock later filed his schedule, and * meeting of creditors was called for th«l 24th by the Official Assignee (Mr W. W. Samson). The only proved creditor wa» the Publio Trustee, for whom Mr Hay appeared, the claim being for £556 6s 6d. The statement submitted by the bankrupt read as follows:—"When I bought the car my mother advanced me £IBO, which with £2O I'had, I paid to Cooke, Howlison and Co. as a deposit. I also borrowed in March. 1918, £3O from my mother to buy petrol, and I paid back %n the car and petrol aooounts to my mother the following sums—July, 1917, £2O; October, £5; December, £3o} February, 1918, £4O; April, £5; October £5; December, £5, making in. all a total of £llO, leaving a balance on the above of principal and interest of £l3O. I sold the car on January 20 for £350, and paid the following accounts from, the pro- , coeds —Cooke, Howlison and Co. £53 Bs, Government Life Insurance £l9 12s 6d. A. S. Paterson and Co. £l4 4s, F. Smith and Co. £l4, A. L. Peacock (money lent) £l2O, A. C. Hanlon £7l 10s, telephone exchange « £2 10s, electric light (garage) £1 5s 6d, garage rent £4 2s 6d, L. J. Potter (dentist) £1 8s 6d, underclothing, hat, and boots £5. (Returned Soldiers' Association 10s 6d personal expenses £36—a total of £343 4*s 2d, leaving me with a balance of £6 15s lOd, which is all the money I own." To Mr Hay: The car was his wholly after January 10, and he sold it to pay hi-s debts. Bankrupt kne\T it was the intention of the relatives of the deceased Thomas Lloyd to suo him for damages. He anticipated before January 20 that he was going to be sued for damages. At the inquest on December 6 the Coroner fcund that there was evidence of negligence against him. Nobody but A. S. Paterson and Co. was pressing him on January 20. Up to the time of the accident the oar was paying him, but he did very little after that. He paid all his debts because he had riven his word to pay them, and he thought it the right thing to do. He paid mcjt of his .debts before January 20, He wanted to get rid of his property a* soon as possible, because he did not want to lose it. It' was not through witness'* carelessness that the fatal accident occurred. He still maintained that. He had no offe* to make —he had nothing to offer. After the inquest his (witness's) solicitor had asked him if he was willing to pay any damages, hut he had said he was unable to do so. He was an engine driver before he went to the war. Bankrupt declined to sign the copy of his evidence as taken down by the Official Assignee, and said he would write it out himself. This he did. Mr Hay said it seemed a case of distributing property in order to defeat the payment of a liability. He would have to consider the position and see whether he would take steps to enforce repayment of some of these moneys. It appeared that £350 was distributed, mostly on January 20, by the bankrupt while he was well aware that there was" an outstanding liability. The meeting was then adjourned to enable Mr Hay further to consider the posj» tion which had arisen. Mr Hay said it looked as if the payments were all fraudulent preferences really.