The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1887. A HORRIBLE AFFAIR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1517, 26 March 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1887. A HORRIBLE AFFAIR.

The horrible death of an inmate of the Napier gaol, who while suffering from an attack of delirium tnmens knocked his life out by hammering his head against the walls of his cell, surely calls for a rigorous enquiry at the hands of the Minister for justice. We, yesterday, mentioned briefly the facts of the case, of which the following are more extended particulars. The poor fellow, one John Douglas Parsonage, who had drunk himself into delirium over the unexpected luck of winning a ;£ioo totalisator dividend had been remanded on a charge of lunacy for medical examination. "He was placed m an ordinary cell and, according to the evidence given at the inquest, he was visited by a warder at six o'clock m the evening. Shortly afterwards he became very violent, knocking his head against the wall, and the prisoners shouted out that he was knocking his brains out. At last the warder went to his door and spoke to him but did not enter, and for a minute or two he was quieier, but soon renewed his violent conduct until nearly midnight, when he was heard to /all on the floor of his cell. When his cell was opened at six o'clock next morning he was found dead from the injuries he had received." Of course an inquest was held, and the jury found that he had come to his death through the self-inflicted injuries described, and appear to have thought that they had fully completed their duty m adding as a lider to their verdict that the gaol should be furnished with a padded room. It did not seem to strike them, as it surely must strike everyone else, that there was gross carelessness and heartlessness shown by the gaol authorities m suffering the poor demented creature to knock himself about m the way described. He was heard to fall on the floor of his cell and yet no one opened the door until morning, when he was found a corpse. It seems to us that the warder on duty was guilty of the grossest possible neglect, and that he ought at once to be called upon to answer for it. We assume, of course, that the telegraphed j particulars- of the case are to be relied upon as correct. If they are not so, then an official enquiry would serve to clear the gaol authorities from blame, but if they are, then most certainly such gross carelessness and cruel negligence as is alleged to have been displayed should not be allowed to go unpunished.