WATERSIDER'S DEATH

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 270, 11 August 1919, Page 6

WATERSIDER'S DEATH

THOUGHT TO BE ACCIDENTAL NO EVIDENCE OF FOUL PLAY The inquest into tho circumstances of the death of the watersido worker named George M'Kinty, 05 years of age, whose dead body was. iound lying near a right-of-way between tho old and the new Parliamentary Buildings on Wednesday morning last was concluded on Saturday morning, when the coroner, Mr. W. G. Eiddell, S.M., declared that the weight of. evidence pointed to deceased having met his death by accident. the inquiry opened on Thursday, Dr. I'yile, who had made a post-mortem examination of tho body, expressed tho opinion that death was duo to violence. No further evidenco could be adduced, liowover, to uphold any suggestion of foul play. At the proceedings on Saturday, Inspector Marsuck represented the police, and stated that tho only evidence he could produce was in the direction of showing that the deceased was under the influence ofsliquor 'when last seen alive on Tuesday night. Edward I'isher, barman employed at the Midland Hotel, said that at ten minutes past 5 on August 5 he was in the n' lie bar when tho deceased, whom he known for the last three years, came in. Deceased was dressed in his workiM clothes, and was supplied with a pint of beer. He stayed in the hotel until about 5.30, during which period he was supplied with .another pint of beer. As deceased was'talkative, witness asked lam to leave. About live minutes lator deceased. .returned to the hotel and asked for more drink,: but as witness deemed that lie had had sufficient M'Kinty was refused any more. No one accompanied deceased, who was not quarrelsome, but talking to himself. The coroner: Did he drink much?— 'Ho was a man who liked his glass or two every day." The coroner: He was not a heavy drinker?—"No, I don't think so. I have never , known him arrested for drunkenness." William Charles Windsor, waterside worker, said he knew the deceased. On Tuesday deceased was one df a gang of four men working on the steamer Armagh at. the King's Wharf. Deceased knocked off for tea at 5 o'clock, returned at G p.m., and worked on _ until G.4S p.m., when, owing to the rain, all work stopped. When deceased returned to work at 6 p.m. it was noticeable that ho had had a few drinks, but he was capable of doing his work. Docensed left work a few minutes before the rest of the Sfan.g as it wns not necessary for him to remain. Ho had no alteration with any-' ljody on tho vessel, and appeared to be in good Oramour. Constablo A. J. Huston e<ud thnt at about 7.10 a.m. on August 6 ho was informed by some wharf labourers that a man's body was lying in the Parliamentary .grounds. Witness proceeded to the locality, and found that the deceased was lying on his back with his head pointing towards fh'e concrete steps a,nd his feet towards tho footpnth. Deceased's clothes were not disordered, but wero dirty, and his pockets did not appear to have been interfered with. On deceased's head was a'soft felt hat. Witness did not see any marks of a struggle in the vicinity. The body was removed to the morgue, but beyond the injuries to the, head there Svere no other signs of violence.

■ Drank to Excess. Constable T. Swan stated that about five minutes to 8 on the marnin<r of • August 6.he was passing through the Parliamentary Grounds, and he saw the deoeased's body lying near the steps. Witness had known deceased for about two years, and lie oould say that the man was addicted to drinking liquor to excess. Deoeased lived in Sydney Street West, and tho right-of-way near where his body was found would be a short cut to his home. , John O'Neill, waterside worker, said lie lived in tho same house ns deceased, in Sydney Street. About 5.35 p.m. on August 5 witness saw deceased in the Midland Hotel., The barman ordered deceased off the premises. Mltinty was talkative, liut witness would not say "that that condition was brought on through over-in-dulgence in liquor. To the coroner: Except when he was working on the wharf, witness had never known deceased to 6tay out over night. • The insnector: Did ho have any enemies —"Well. I do not know that he had any enemies, but I don't think he had inanv friends." Why?—'"Because he would speak the truth to thorn and tell them his mind." Do you know anyone in particular who had a quarrel with him?—"No, not frt the present time—not in Wellington." In the course of further evidence, the witness said that some men used to try to provoke tho deceased and poke fun at him. Some men might have punched him at some time or other, but witness had never seen anyone attack him. Asked bv the inspector 'wliero such people as 'he had described might be found, the witness pointed upwards and remarked: "They're gone. They're m the 'clink' now." The inspector requested him to be a little more definite in his answers, but the witness said he could not say where such people were, except that tliey were gone. In reply to the coroner, the witness said the deceased was not a quarrelsome man. Detective-Sergeafi't E. W. Scott said that he had examined the spot where the deceased's body was found. The right-of-way between the old and the now Parliamentary Buildings was narrow and full of ruts. The place was not lig"lited' at night, and there was a drain running alongside the road almost tip to the spot where the deceased was found. It would be a comparatively easy matter for_ a man to trip on the ruts or on the dram, and fall in the position where the deceased's bodv was found. Constable Philips said he had mnfie an examination of tho deceased's clothing and hat. The latter was stained with oil and was wet, but it was not cut or marked by any ;loni. . Inspector Marsack said that every inquiry had been made, but no one could be found who saw tho man between the time he left, the ship on Tuesday night and when his body was found the following morning. Opinion of tho Coroner. In reviewing the evidence the coroner said there was nothing definite to show that deceased had any enemies ivlio would injure him in tho manner described by the medical testimony. Tho post-mortem showed that the deceased's skull was fractured, and thfe doctor had given it afi his opinion tliaj the fracturo was caused by a blow from' soiuo' blunt instrument, and that considerable force must have been used. After viewing the place where the body was found, lwwover, the doctor said it was not impossible that a fall on a concrete step might have been responsible for tho injuries sustained. The ri°ht-of-way was a track often used by deceased 011 his way home, and it was quito possible that, in the darkness, deoeased stumbled in the ruts, his hrad striking the concrete steps as he fell. Ihe weight of evidence was in that, direction. Deceased might have died from some other cause, but the verdict would he that deceased was found dead, the cause of death being a fractured skull. Whether that was duo to an accidental fall on a concretc step close by where the deceased was lying, or to a blow intentionally given, it was impossible to say. The weight of evidence, however, pointed to deceased having met his death by accident.