Parties Reach Settlement In Damages Claim

Chronicle (Levin), 10 April 1948, Page 2

Parties Reach Settlement In Damages Claim

! The circumstances surrounding ; the death of Patricia Maud Guth- j rie, a 19-year-old girl who was kiil- I ed when her bicycle was struck by a motor-car on the Otaki-Te Horo j main highway on May 23 of last year, were a subject of dispute before Mr. Justice Cornish in the Supreme Court on Wedpesday, when Leslie Gordon Guthrie an'd ( Elsie Emily Guthrie, parents of the girl, claimed damages totalling £1031 19s 9d agaihst Maurice Richard Gore, a fitter of Levin, who was the driver of the car. Counsel for plaintiffs were Messrs. j A. M. and J. A. Ongley, and for de- ! fendant, Mr. N. M. Thomson, of ] Levin. Plaintiffs alleged negliaence on the part of 'defendant in that he drove at excessive speed . that he drove at excessive speed, that he gerous in the circumstanees, that he failed to keep a proper lookout. and that he failed to steer his car clear of the girl. Defendant admitted that he was the 'driver of the car, but denied that he was guilty of any negligence. He alleged contributory negligence cn the part of the gii4. The hearing of evidence was only partially completed on .Wednesday, but when the .Court resumed yesterday morning counsel intimated that a settlement acceptable to •all parties had been feached.