LABOURER’S DEATH

Southland Times, Issue 22280, 22 March 1934, Page 7

LABOURER’S DEATH

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. COLLAPSE ON STREET. (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, March 21. “Whether this man was struck or not has no bearing on the cause of his death,” commented Mr W. R. McKean, S.M., the Coroner, at the conclusion of the inquest concerning the death of Robert Cramond Ashton, single, aged 44, who collapsed and died in Hobson street about 12.30 a.m. on March 3. Ashton, who was a farm labourer, was found lying on the pavement near a restaurant he had been in. The verdict was that his death was due to natural causes. The Coroner said the report of the pathologist showed that death was due to cerebral haemorrhage, which, however, was of such a kind that the doctor was of the opinion that the haemorrhage was due to natural causes, and not to any blow or fall. The abrasion which had been mentioned was also not a fresh bruise, a microscopic examination of the blood showing that the abrasion occurred certainly some hours before death. “It is extraordinary,” he said. “I have some evidence that the deceased was struck. One witness says so definitely. Whether he were struck or not has no bearing on the cause of his death. The man when he entered the cafe was a sick man and had been so for some days. The Coroner said that death was due entirely to natural causes and not to any maltreatment in the restaurant. The Coroner added that the deceased was not under the influence of liquor. It was perfectly clear that his condition in the restaurant and his death were due to natural causes.