THE HEATH IN LYTTELTON GAOL.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 903, 17 May 1877, Page 3

THE HEATH IN LYTTELTON GAOL.

Inquest. An inquest was held yesterday at 1 p.m. in the Lyttelton Gaol, on the body of Jacob Cox, who died suddenly on Tuesday morning within the precincts of the gaol, before J. W. S. Coward, Esq., coroner. Mr E. C. Brown was chosen foreman of the jury. The body haying been Hewed, the following evidence was taken : Hr Donald sworn, said—l am medical otlicer to the "gaol. Deceased has been an invalid since his admission. Ho first complained of his kidneys, but this was easily remedied ; but he also always spoke of suffering and distress in the head. He had the look of a man suffering from incipient brain disease. He was often reported to me as having had a fit at night or other times, but they wore of such short duration that neither myself nor the chief warder ever actually saw him in one. Recently he expressed himself as much better, but often said lie was convinced he should not survive t he three months of his imprisonment. Yesterday morning I hoard deceased had been found dead, and coming at once, found he had been dead some time. He had been kept in the infirmary because some time ago I said it would not be safe to leave him alone. I have enquired of those who were in the room if they heard any disturbance in the night, and how he was when they last saw him. They replied nothing had drawn their attention to him; he had been the last up, and put out the lights, and remarked he had not felt so well for months. Deceased had no labor to perforin.

blit the last few clays arranged a few pages in the printing office. S. C. Phillips sworn, said —I am head gaoler. I hold the body of prisoner under warrant from the Eesident Magistrates’ Court, Christchurch, dated March 6th, 1877. He was committed for habitual drunkenness, and appeared when admitted to be suffering from the effects of drink, lie was sick on March 9th ; resumed labor on 11th; sick again on 16th, and resumed work on 18th. On the 29th he was again ill, and went to work again on the 80th. He was stone-breaking; the work was light. On April sth he was sick ; resumed work on 16th, and sick then till Bth May, on which day he said ho felt lonely on leaving hospital, and asked if he could be provided with a light job. I sent him into the printing office, and he remained there till the evening of the L4th. Ho was doing no work of any consequence, being there simply for companionship. On the morning of the 15th it was reported (o mo he had been found dead in his bed, and that the medical officer had seen him. I never saw him in a fit, but it was represented to me lie had suffered from them both during this and a previous imprisonment. There were live others in the infirmary on the night deceased died. The night patrol can sec those in the infirmary during the night through a window. No special orders were given in this ease for the patrol to sec to deceased during the night. Win. Gallagher, a prisoner, said —I was in the infirmary with Cox on Monday night; there were six altogether in the infirmary that night; all slept in separate beds. Deceased retired about 8 p.m. that night, the lights having been previously put out by him. At 9 p.m. he said to Smith (a prisoner who slept next to him) “It is 9 o’clock.” He said on the evening previous that he felt better than he had for months. I had frequently seen deceased in fits ; they lasted a very short time, but the effects lasted some time. He did not usually struggle much. H. McDonald said—lam a medical practitioner residing in Lyttelton. I made a post mortem examination of deceased yesterday morning. The body was much discolored on the right side, where it had been lying. There were no marks of violence. The body was very rigid, leading one to suppose death had been very sudden. I opened the head and found the scalp much congested. On opening the skull I found the cavity full of blood pressing on the brain. I never saw so much blood in a man’s head before. The substance of the brain was softer than in a state of health ; there was also some serum in the cavities. I examined the chest and found the heart very flabby but not diseased ; the lungs were healthy. Deceased died from effusion of blood on the brain.

In reply to a question from a juryman, Dr. McDonald stated that it was probable deceased’s intemperate habits might have hastened his death, but not necessarily so.

The jury returned a verdict of “ Died from natural causes.”