FATAL SHOOTING ACCIDENT

Southland Times, Issue 24446, 28 May 1941, Page 3

FATAL SHOOTING ACCIDENT

INQUEST HELD AT GORE A verdict that Owen James Howells, solicitor, of Gore, died at Washpool, near Gore, on May 4 from a gunshot wound in the neck, causing the arteries to be severed, was returned by the district coroner (Mr A. T. Newman) at the inquest at Gore yesterday. The Coroner added that there was no evidence to show how the gun was discharged. Dr James Brugh gave evidence of examining the body. The gunshot wound had severed the big arteries in the neck. He considered that death would be almost instantaneous. Alfred Ernest White said that with Mr Howells and Mr Robert Allison he arrived at Mr M. Hanley’s property at Washpool at about 6 a.m. on May 4 and then went to a lagoon on the property to shoot ducks. They were in a maimai on this lagoon shooting and about 9.30 a.m. Mr Howells had wounded a duck, which fluttered downstream, and he left the mai-mai to go and “make sure of it.” After he had been gone some minutes the witness heard a shot. Mi - Howells did not return and Mr Allison went to look for him. Mr Allison called out: “Owen has been shot,” and the witness immediately went to the spot. “I saw Mr Howells’s body lying on the ground alongside a fence,” the witness said. “His gun was still in his right hand. Apparently he was getting through the fence when he must have slipped or got caught up in the wires and bumped his gun on the ground, causing it to explode. The charge had entered the left side of the neck and death must have been instantaneous. Mr Howells’s gun was a first-class gun in good condition.” Robert Allison also gave evidence and stated that when he went to look for Mr Howells he saw him lying alongside a fence which ran straight from the end of the lagoon. The witness first thought he was lying down out of sight of the ducks. He then went forward and found that he had been shot. The police and a doctor were informed. The witness had been a partner with Mr Howells on duck-shooting expeditions for some years and he had always found Mr Howells exceptionally careful with his gun. The ground at the spot was water-logged and soft. The witness was of the opinion that Mr Howells’s coat caught in the fence and that he slipped while getting over it. Constable John Feeley also gave evidence.

A report from the arms expert, Wellington, stated that he had examined the firearm and ammunition exhibits. The gun belongeo to the class known by the gun trade in England as “best” quality guns. It was in excellent condition. He was of the opinion that the fatal shot was discharged by a trigger being pushed or pulled backward far enough to unseat the sear. Both triggers had been microscopically examined, but he could not find any mark on the triggers to suggest that either was disturbed through contact with a metallic object, such as the wire of a fence. Accidents with hammerless shotguns were not common.