SHOT BY SHIPMATES

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 83, 3 July 1928, Page 5

SHOT BY SHIPMATES

SAILOK'S TRAGIC FATE. widow sbbS compensation. A sequel to the tragic fate of the sailor who was fatally wounded hy a bullet despatched by a shipmate during the recent visit of the H.M.S. Dunedin to Apia, has come before parliament in the form of a petition presented on behalf of the dead man's widow, who resides in Auckland. In the brief account published at the time of the occurrence, it was simply announced that the sailor had run amok, climbed to the foretop of the Dunedin, and fired bullets at random among other members of the crew. Unable to cope with the situation in any other way, the ship's officers took the extreme step ot ordering shots to be fired with the object of crippling the frenzied sailor thus allowing others to capture him Unfortunately, one of the shots fired inflicted a fatal wound in the thigh, the injured sailor dying a few hours later in Apia Hospital. According to the petition, it is now shown that the man's frenzied condition was the result of a long period of confinement aboard his ship. This was a punishment imposed m accordance with the rigid code ot naval discipline, and was carried so far that the sailor concerned was even kept aboard the ship while the Dunedin was spending a month at Auckland, where his wife resided It is now held that this punishment affected his mind, causing him to become moody and threatening. To avoid trouble, his weapons were taken away from him, but he still +„ -Hip shin's armoury, had access to tne snips and it was after procuring a rifle i.i . tint hp became troublefrom there that m, l some. His widow appealed for a pension which the Naval Board declines to grant on the grounds that death was 'not caused by misadventure while on duty. It is against this decision that his widow is now petitioning, seeking either a pension or compensation.