INQUEST

Hokitika Guardian, 30 January 1928, Page 3

INQUEST

BLAKkTOWN FATALITY

An inquest was held before Air AA ■ Meld rum. Coroner, on Saturday, at Greymouth, as to the death ol .Joan Harvey, aged five years, who on AYednesday evening was crushed bv a dray on the bench at Blaketown. The father of the child. Robert Nelson Harvey, stated she was five years and one month old, and died at 1.30 p.m. on Thursday at the Hospital. Charles Edward AVatson. caretaker of Victoria Park, said that the deceased and a number of other children accompanied him on AA'ednesday when he was carting sand from the beach, and ran off to play in the surf. Deceased and he: brother came along when he was filling the dray. He did not see her near the dray, but when the boy climbed into it, witness took him out, as he was at raid of striking him with the shovel. AA itness at that time moved the horse a lew feet, and then the hoy said: " OhMr AVatson, you have run over Joan! ’’ The boy. when questioned, said lie and his sister were climbing tlie Wt;cel. AA ituess could not see the girl lroni where lie was. but going round the drav be picked her up. She aslu-d lion to put her down, and when he did so, she* went six or seven yards towards the other children. Then she started to stagger, and witness picked her up and took her to Mrs Rim’s, who told him there was no danger, lie did not see the wheel pass over the child, but j„ bis opinion the wheel jambed her against the rut made by a previous dray. He was working on the land side of the dray and deceased was on the sea side, where the slope was onefoot in four. Dr J. V.f. Moore. Superintendent, said that when the child was admitted to the Hospital at 3 p.m. on AVednosday. she was affected bv profound shock, had extensive abrasions on the left side of face and neck, bruising on the right side of the chest, an internal squint of the right eye, was coughing blood from a laceration of the right lung, due to extensive injury to the right ribs; also a fracture of the lower jaw, and a fracture at the base of the skull. She improved from the shock effects, but the chast m jurv caused weakening, and she died at 1.30 p.m. on Thursday from laceration ~f th° lung. AYitness did not consider the dray wheel passed over the b---' and it was most likely she was crushed between the wheel and the side ol a rut The verdict was that death resulted from shock, due to injuries received through deceased being accidentally crushed by a dray, no blame being attachable to the driver of the dray.