MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

Southland Times, Issue 24138, 29 May 1940, Page 8

MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

SEQUEL TO INCIDENT IN HOTEL HEARING NOT COMPLETED YESTERDAY • 1 1 ■■ - £ (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 28. Charged with committing manslaughter by killing Keith Francis Joseph Sisson, labourer, aged 35, Tomson Yandall, a carpenter, aged 35, a native of Samoa, appeared in the Magistrate s Court this afternoon. • The hearing of police evidence occupied the whole afternoon, the Court adjourning till 10 a.m. tomorrow. Dr P. P. Lynch, pathologist, who conducted a post-mortem examination of Sisson, said his findings indicated that at the time he received the fatal injuries Sisson was .on the verge of alcoholic coma. Death was due to a fracture of the skull and laceration of the brain. John Joseph Darrogh, barman, described how Sisson and a companion named Sharp became involved in a fight in the bar of the Imperial Hotel on May 18. The witness put out Sharp, who returned but was ejected by another barman. He was pushing Sisson backward through the door of the hotel when something happened Which caused Sisson to fall backward on to the pavement. He believed someone behind him had struck Sisson. After falling Sisson lay inert. He was still unconscious when taken to hospital by the free ambulance. Yandall was not involved in the fight in the bar. Frederick William Roffe, superintendent of the Wellington Free Ambulance, said he was sitting in a car parked opposite the Imperial Hotel and saw Sharp and Sisson ejected from the hotel. As the barman who had ejected Sisson re-entered the hotel he saw Yandall and another man standing in the doorway. Sisson rushed at Yandall, who punched him in the face. He staggered back and fell with terrific force on the footpath. Constable E. S. Tuck said he went to the Imperial Hotel with Sergeant G. E. Callaghan. When they saw Yandall he said: “I’m the man you are looking for. I hit him. I thought he was going to attack me, but the barman will tell you all about it.” Yandall was arrested and charged with assault causin'- actual. bodily harm. He was quite sober at the time. As far as he. knew, Yandall was a quiet, inoffensive man without previous convictions.