LOSS OF AN EYE

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 31, 6 February 1935, Page 4

LOSS OF AN EYE

ACCIDENT AT "GOLF

£500 DAMAGES - SOUGHT

Playing golf at .the Manor Park Club, to' which he; belonged, on the morning of Sunday, October 7 last, Ernest Edward Edwards, a hardware assistant, was hit ail' the left eye by a golf ball and the' eye had to be removed. In thijivtagistrate's Court yesterday he alleged that'the accident was due to the negligent play of another member, Beatrice'Mehaffey, and he sued her; for-£SOO. Mr. E. Page, .S.M.,' was on the Bench. Mr. J. B. Callan, K.C., with> him Mr. E. T: E. Hogg, appeared for the plaintiff, ; vand > Mr. H. F; O'Leary for the defendant . s •

la ,his ■statement;pf claim the plaintiff1, said "that he and the defendant were members of the Manor Park Golf Club. On Sunday, October 7 last, they were playing golf there at holes the fairways of which adjoined. The defendant, it was alleged, played her ball so negligently that without ' having first touched the ground it struck and injured the plaintiff. It was contended that the negligence of the defendant consisted in (a) playing the ball while the plaintiff .was so situated that 'there was 'a reasonable' prospect of if'striking ' him,' ;'and - (b) failing to give-warning of her intention to play the shot! ' ,' As the result of'being injured'the plaintiff lost the use of his- left eye," continued the statement of claim, and suffered much pain and permanent ■disfigurement in that the muscles of his left eyelid had ceased to function. He claimed £47 13s special, damages, for hospital, medical, and-surgical expenses, and £452 7s general damages. ONE HUNDRED YARDS AWAY; Outlining the case to the Magistrate, with the aid of a plan, Mr. Callan. said that Edwards was struck by the golf ball just as he arrived at his own ball to play it* The call of "fore" was heard practically concurrently with the ball hitting him, The inference was that warning was given onlywhile: the ball was in flight and the lady realised that it might hit Edwards. There was a.little more than 100 yards between the plaintiff and the defendant at the time of;the accident. "At the same moment-I> got hit'l heard a weak 'fore* from;Miss;:King" (with whom the' defendant was playing), said.Edwards in evidence. He', heard no other call and had'not seen' Miss Mehaffey. ■ He was taken to receive medical attention and his eye was removed. The loss of his eye had adversely affected his work of window-dressing and he. was now unable to play tennis.. Since the accident he^ had twice,;tried to play golf. He had found that though he could hit the ball from the tee he; could not follow it. He ■ had no idea of distance and on the putting green could hot see the pin and the ball at the same time. Cross-examined by Mr. O'Leary, Edwards said that: he had returned to his work at the '.same wages within .three weeks .pf the accident. ON THE LADIES' FAHtWAY. Asked whether his ball was on the ladies-fairway,- Edwards- at first said it was not, "tut on Mr. O'Leary's repeating the question he admitted it was "oh thefairway. He admitted that in such a position he was bound to wait and see if all was clear before making any, preparation for his stroke. Medical evidence was given by Dr. J.; H.; Beaumont, an ophthalmic surgeon,'; and by Dr. E. L. Marchant, an eye specialist. ■ ■ James Ronald, a salesman and a member of the Manor Park Club, said'that at the. time of the accident he heard a lady cry "Fore" more than once andI'm a'very'agitated manner. ' He could not'identify the voice, but: Miss Mehaffey and Miss King were' the only ladies in the vicinity at-"the time. After being struck Edwards was hardly conscious. His hands were;-held tightly over his eyes. Descriptions of the circumstances of the accident were given ori behalf of the plaintiff by other, members of the clubi- * • ' .'■■'■ -CASE FOR THE DEFENCE. For the defence Mr. O'Leary said that Miss Mehaffey saw a group of men ahead of her as she was approaching the'seventh hole, and it was evident that they .were giving way to her. Before 'striking the ball she saw neither .the plaintiff nor the man he was playing with; they were not in her line.'of .vision. Unfortunately, she "pulled" her stroke to the left, with the result that-the ball hit Edwards. , Following the ■ flight of the ball, she saw.-'Edwards for the first time. She immediately called "Fore" a couple of times, and Miss King, who.was nearer Edwards, also.called. The defendant considered that at th^ time Edwards was hit he was practically directly on the fairway between; the seventh tee and the green. Any suggestion that' the warning cry came too late for the plaintiff to take advantage of it,\.continued Mr. O'Leary, was met by the evidence of a witness for the' plaintiff,' who had heard three or four calls', and had had ' ample time to cover - up. Tests made since the accident had shown that about six seconds must 'have elapsed between the time the ball was struck and' the ' time -it hit the plaintiff. Counsel submitted that the plaintiff had "pulled" his ball 'on to the fairway along which Miss Mehaffey was playing' and the obligation was; on him to see that ; the. fairway was clear, before he made his stroke. It was 'quite evident that neither the plaintiff nor the man -with whom he was playing took any precaution to see what was the position. SUBMISSION AS TO CAUSE. Mr. O'Leary submitted that the cause' of the;;accident was. the failure of Edwards to take the precautions that a prudent and reasonable golfer would have taken. He stressed the following points: (1) When the defendant made her stroke the plaintiff was not between her and the green; he was not in sight. (2) He was probably coming up to the place where he was hit when Miss ..Mehaffey; was addressing her ball. (3) The plaintiff had pulled his shot ori to the defendant's fairway and there was an obligation on him to keep a ]ook-out. (4) On hearing the call-he■ should; have covered up and not.looked up. The defendant gave evidence. She said that she was junior champion of the club last year and was playing a championship match at the time of the accident. InI'cross-examination she told Mr. Callan that she had driven a ball 190 yards off the tee.' The case was adjourned until Friday afternoon. The , Magistrate expressed his- intention 'of. viewing' the scene of the accident.