LATE MR. POWDRELL, M.P.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2250, 12 March 1921, Page 2

LATE MR. POWDRELL, M.P.

COROXTAL ENQUIRY. © _— Welling!on, March 10.' An inquest was formally opened 10-day in connection with the death of Air D. AY. Powdrell, late member for Pa tea. Evidence of identification was taken, and the enjuirv adjourned till Friday morning.

It i- reported that deceased, who had been accompanied by attendants. left bis bedroifm for a moment, and shortly afterwards a. heavy fall was heard. He was then discovered lying at the fool of a steep bank, with his neck dislocated. Deceased had been suffering from a nervous breakdown. Great sympathy has been expressed by his old colleagues at his sudden end. He leaves a widow and grownup family of two. Later.

The evidence at the inquest showed that deceased had had a nervous breakdown, and required constant supervision owing to the state of his nerves, caused by worry and insomnia, but lie was not a mental case. On the morning of lbs death deceased told a nurse that he had had a had night. He was very restless, and he left his room shortly after 7 o'clock, and was immediately followed by a nurse, who found him lying on the asphalt footpath near the side of the hospital. He was unconscious and bleeding from the hands. The medical evidence showed that the cause of death was injury to the spinal cord.

The coroner’s verdict was that death was due to injuries to the spinal cord caused by a fall from a bank at the back of the hospital, but as to whether death was by accident or desigff there was no evidence.