HAIRS ON A MOTOR-CAR

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1933, Page 12

HAIRS ON A MOTOR-CAR

INVESTIGATION BY POLICE — ■ PEDESTRIAN HURT NEAR WAIT ARA. / CHARGE OF RECKLESS DRIVING. MOTORIST COMMITTED FOR TRIAL. Unusual circumstances were connected with a charge of reckless driving preferred against Leonard Bicheno in the Police Court at New Plymouth yesterday. Pleading not guilty, he. was committed to the Supreme Court for trial and admitted to bail in a personal surety of £5O and one other of £5O. It is alleged that his car knocked down and seriously injured Harold William Hill, a young man, who was walking towards Onaere on the Main North Road about two miles 'beyond Waitara on the night of April 3. , The case for the police was outlined briefly by Detective A. B. Meiklejohn, who said he took this unusual course in preliminary court proceedings because of some peculiar features attaching to the accident. Hill was walking home from Waitara on the right-hand side of the bitumen silrface when he was knocked down by a motor-car approaching from behind. The first thing he knew when he came to his senses was that , Bicheno was asking him if he was hurt. Bicheno’s car was ahead of him, on the right-hand side of the road and facing towards Urenui. Bicheno took Hill to Dr. Barclay’s surgery, and from there ha was sent to the New Plymouth hosP At about 2’aun. on April 4 Bicheno called at the Waitara police station and informed Constable Mills that hp had found Hill injured on the roadside. The matter was made the subject of inquiry, and in examining Bicheno’s car it was found that the front bumper was damaged and some hairs found later under e-ranvi nation to be human hairs, and similar to the hair on Hill’s hand or leg, were found on the undercarriage of Bicheno’s car. When this was pointed out to Bicheno he said that if he were / charged he would defend the case. Mr. L. M. Moss appeared in defence. Hill said he was a farm labourer, 19 years old, living with his parents on Waiau Road, Onaero. On April 3 he left Waitara for home between 10 and 11 p.m. He walked slowly on his way home alone. He had not been drinking. About two miles out of Waitara, near the Nikorima Road comer, he was walking on the right-hand side of the bitumen, about a foot from the edge, rolling a cigarette. He heard a car approachng behind on the slight downhill grade. He half-turned to see the headlights, strong and dazzling. “I froard a roar, and everything seemed to fade out and go black,” proceeded Hill- On regaining consciousness he was lying on the right-hand side of the bitumen. Bicheno was talking to him. He risked Hill what was wrong witn him. Ws he drunk? Bicheno then asked him if ' he would like to be taken to a doctor. Not realising he was as badly hurt as he was, Hill said he wanted to go home. Bicheno agreed to take him, but suggested it would be better to go to a doctor. This course was decided on by Hill. DRIVEN TO THE DOCTOR.

“Wait there and I will back the car out,” said Bicheno. The car was ahead of Hill, towards Urenui, on the righthand side of the road, about a chain away. Bicheno did not return from the car immediately, as he said he would, and Hill walked over himself. At the car Bicheno, with one hand on the radiator, was bending down. The car was turned in a gateway about a chain further on. Hill got into the back of the car, which was a five-seater. Bicheno then asked him to get off the back seat aB wanted something with which ,to make repairs. Obtaining what he wanted, Bicheno went to the left-hand front wheel, at which he was working for something less than a quarter of an Later they drove to Dr. Barclay’s house. The doctor sent him to the New Plymouth hospital. On his walk out of Waitara McDonald’s taxi passed him near the pa gates. The detective: Have you got any idea who hit you? Mr. Hill: No. . . Mr. Moss; You admit quite frankly that you cannot say it was Bicheno’s car that hit you?—No. I cannot say. Council: In fact, owing to the strong lights, you cannot describe the car that hit you?—No. . , Until about 8 p.m., said Hill, he had been at the home of a friend, Alfred Crowe. After that he was at O’Donnel’s billiard saloon. He started to walk nine miles to his-home. . He could not say what tool Bicheno obtained from under the rear seat. To the magistrate: He could not see what Bicheno was doing while he was bending down in front of the car. Dr. R. L. G. Barclay, Waitara, said early in the morning Bicheno had called on him and told him that when driving home he saw a dark object on the road. He went on a few yards, and then walked back to find Hill on the road, unconscions* Bicheno had. shaken Hill "Until he awoke. Bicheno was quite sober, but was agitated, more so than would appear to be usual under such circumstances. Bicheno appeared to be worried lest someone should suspect him of running the man down. The doctor agreed the affair should be reported to the police. Bicheno was at his place about half an hour. He thought Bicheno first mentioned the police. , , To Mr. Moss: He had attended Bicheno’s son about a year earlier. That was the only occasion he had seen Bicheno previously. . Dr. G. F. Rich, medical superintendent of the New Plymouth hospital, said Hill was admitted at 2.30 a.m. on April 4, suffering from shock, abrasions on the front of each thigh, a lacerated wound above the right knee joint, and a fracture of one of the small bones of the foot These injuries were consistent with the accident alleged. The injuries on the thigh were on the same level and the wound above the knee would be caused by a scraping accident. Hill was discharged from hospital on May 2; he was still an out-patient. The fracture of the foot was the only injury troubling him now. It . would take him about six weeks to recover. A PATHOLOGIST ON HAIRS. Dr. P. P. Lynch, pathologist, Wellington, said that on May 19 he received from Detective Kearney 11 pieces of hair said to have been taken from the chassis of Bicheno’s car. They were dark brown and curled. A second exhibit was of hairs taken from Hill’s head, in hospital on April 24. A third exhibit w<£ of hairs removed from the back of Hills hand; other hair referred to was from near a wound on Hill’s forehead, from the back of his right knee, near the injury, from the front of his right thigh, and from the right side of his head. Having examined specimens from each exhibit, the doctor gave his conclusions. The hairs from the car were human, they were curly and had been either pulled out or broken off. They ran off to a point, and did not seem to come from the head. They corresponded in structure to the hairs on the back of the hand or the leg. • None of these hairs had a root.

Constable Mills said he was on relieving duty at Waitara in April. On April 4, at 2 a.m., Bicheno called at his house and reported that he had found a man lying on the main road near Mr. Coles place. The man had been injured and he brought him to Dr. Barclay. Bicheno gave an account of the circumstances m which he found the man. He said he was driving home from Waitara at about midnight when he saw an object on the roadside which he afterwards found to be Hill. . ' After obtaining the statement the constable tried to examine the car with the aid of matches, but it was difficult to keep a light in the wind. Bicheno drove him almost to the intersection of the Nikorima and main roads and said the man had been lying a short distance from the comer. With matches they 'both examined the road for a considerable distance, but could find no indications of where a man had been, and they decided to give the search up in the meantime. Bicheno mentioned that two small pieces of paper had been lying where the man was. About a quarter of a mile from Cole’s place the constable saw a small piece of paper in a cutting on the road. He did not see any blood there. He marked the spot m order to make a further examination m daylight. The following afternoon the constable found several patches of blood in_ the locality, on the right-hand of the bitumen going towards Urenui. This was at the Urenui end of the cutting. was usable clay on the side of the bitumen. There were no signs of skidding. . Bicheno had very good headlights, showing the full width of the road. On this being pointed out to him, he said: “You know my eyesight is not too good. On the way out Bicheno drove the constable at a moderate speed, but more on .the wrong than the correct Side of the road. The engine had raced for some time before Bicheno started off on the trip. On the return to Waitara Bicheno drove a good deal on the wrong side of the road and had to apply his brakes to prevent the car running over a hank on that side.' Bicheno handled the car badly, and raced the engine before starting. Bicheno was sober when he called on the constable, but was very excited. He could not keep still, and walked round and round the room before eventually sitting down. On the afternoon of April 6 Detective Kearney and the constable called at the Urenui. schoolhouse. Bicheno gave them permission to inspect the car, and backed it out of the shed for them. They found a. fresh dent on the valance on the front of the car, and the stay on the right-hand side was broken. Bicheno said the valance had been broken about three months before when he struck a post in an alley-way. Asked to show them the place where the damage was done, Bicheno looked round the alleyway, but could show them no post'. SHOWED THEM A HEDGE. He showed them where he had run the car into a hedge, but there was no post or broken post that could have damaged a car. Bicheno said he did not know the bumper stay was broken, but had noticed some time ago that it was cracked. The stay appeared to have been freshly broken, and there was no sign of a previous crack. The valance seemed to have been chipped within a day or so, there being no sign of rust. He pointed out that the bumper appeared to have been recently sprung and that the centre clamp had shifted. He said the clamp had been moved a long time. , Detective Kearney and the constable then got underneath the car and found

' hairs on the radius rod in front. Bicheno crawled under to look at them, and when asked by the detective to account for them, he said he could not. “I did not run over the man,” he said. He repeated that, statement frequently. Other hairs were found on a joint in front of the differential. Bicheno crawled partly under the car to see the hairs. “I cannot account for them,” ,he said. “I did not run over that man.” He was agitated while they were under the car, and kept walking round it, saying frequently, “I did not run over that men.” On July 6 the constable went to Urenui with Detective Kearney and told Bicheno the result of Dr. Lynch’s examination of the hairs. Bicheno said he had no fur1 ther explanation and that if there were anything further they could charge him and he would defend himself. To Mr. Moss, the constable said he had not felt at all safe when Bicheno drove : him to Urenui from Waitara. The car ■ ran well. He had not then noticed anything leading him to suspect the car was . damaged. Detective Kearney had found hairs on the car, and so had the constable. He had been in Bicheno’s com- ’ pany from about 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on the ; day of the accident. Walter Leonard Rockstraw, garage ! foreman, New Plymouth, who had exam- ; ined the stay, bumper and valance from Bicheno’s car, said that when he saw . them the damage to them appeared rel cent. A nut on the end of the bumper ; was quite bright and seemed to have i been dragged on the surface of the road. On April 8 he went to the alleged site ' of the accident with H. J. McKain and Constable Mills. He found bloodstains : on the right-hand side of the road going ; north. Witness gave other details of his investigation. He had gone on to Urenui [ to examine Bicheno’s car. He gave del tails of the car somewhat similar to those > given in evidence by Constable Mills. ■ Hair and skin were found on the radius I rod. In Rockstrow’s opinion, the dam- ■ age to the hedge and the car were not I done at the same time. To Mr. Moss: The fence had 'been re- ■ paired for an equal distance on each s side of the eleagnus hedge. Contact > with the fence could have damaged the - stay of the bumper, but under those ciri cumstances he would have expected to : find marks on the mudguards as a result > of the collision.

Harry James McKain, motor garage proprietor, New Plymouth, generally supported the evidence of Rockstrow. Detective Patrick Kearney' detailed his trip to Urenui with Constable Mills on April 6. They arrived at the schoolhouse about 4 p.m. He told Bicheno that they were making inquiries into the accident to Hill. Bicheno agreed to let them examine the car, and, taking them, across to the shed, backed the car out. Bicheno, when requested, turned the car round to face the sun. The detective went on to give details of the damage to the car and the discoveries made on the lines of the evidence given by Constable Mills. AN EARLIER ACCIDENT. Referring to the damage to the bumper and valance, Bicheno said that the second time he had had the car out, about October, 1932, the car struck a post and an eleagnus hedge. Asked to point out the post, Bicheno could not do so. There were tracks of a car up the lane for one chain 32 feet. At the end of the track an eleagnus hedge on the left-hand side bore signs of damage. There were signs in several of the poste in the fence on the right-hand side. Bicheno said that when he drove the car up the lane the fence on the tight-hand side had been taken down for a considerable distance in order to get the car into the home paddock again. Detective Keamey went on to describe the finding of hairs on the radius rod by him and by Constable Mills on another part of the car. On both occasions Bicheno said he could not account for the presence of the hairs. He said he did not run the man down. Subsequently these hairs and samples taken from Hill were forwarded to Dr. Lynch. On the evening of April 6 Bicheno was asked if he was prepared to give a written statement. Bicheno said his explanation to witness was true, and he would not put it in writing. He said he had given Constable Mills a statement about

finding the boy, and that statement was true. He said he did not run the boy Hill down. On July 6 witness and Constable Mills went- to Urenui and told Bicheno about Dr. Lynch’s report. Bicheno said he saw Hill lying on the bitumen, seven or eight feet from tire side, and that he had picked him up and done him a good turn. He had not run the man down. He said hairs might be found on anybody s car. On it being pointed out that the differential rod had been wiped clean in places and appeared to have come in contact with a hard object, Bicheno replied that he did not run the man down. On May 27 witness went with Hill along the road. Hill was not told where the bloodstains were, but he pulled 'the car up at the exact spot.