£l,lBs DAMAGES

Evening Star, Issue 21751, 20 June 1934, Page 13

£l,lßs DAMAGES

SUCCESSFUL SUIT AGAINST GROWN (Pier United Press Association.] WELLINGTON, June 19. A petition to His Majesty the King praying for £2OO special damages and £I,BOO general damages was brought in the Supreme Court to-day before Mr Justice Ostler under the Crown Suits Act by a retired Indian Army officer, Lieutenant-colonel George Stuart Douglas, C.1.E., whose kneecap was injured in an accident at- Rotorua at tho end of 1933. His chief complaint is that he is precluded thereby from receiving a high appointment as military adviser in the States of the Indian Empire. Liability for the accident was admitted by the Crown, the case resolving itself into the assessment of damages. The accident happened on December 18, the ear Douglas was driving colliding with a Government-owned motor lorry driven by a Maori. His Honour, after hearing evidence, said the chances of Lieutenant-colonel Douglas receiving an appointment as military adviser to a native State were so remote that they ought to be ignored by the court in assessing damages. Special damages amounting to £IBB had been admitted, and in addition Douglas was entitled to a reasonable sum for the pain and suffering be had undergone, and he would allow £2OO, plus a further £SO for medical expenses likely to be incurred in tho future. He had suffered a very severe injury to his knee joint; and all tho medical witnesses wore ol the opinion that there was a possibility that the knee would develop an arthritic condition, which would prevent him following his usual outdoor life. His Honour said he would therefore award £750 general damages, making a total of £l,lBB 17s 3d,