DEATH AFTER ARREST

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 300, 10 March 1928, Page 10

DEATH AFTER ARREST

DRINK CHARGE AGAINST A TEETOTALLER ANOTHER POLICE MISTAKE An inquest on a man who died, after being arrested on a charge of drunkenness, from a stroke which a doctor said might have given him the appearance of being drunk, was held by Mr. H. R. Oswald, the West London coroner. The man was Mr. William Birkbeck Harris, aged 60, an insurance broker, of The White House, Hayes, near Bromley, Kent, and Mr. Oswald told the jury that the police wanted a public inquiry for fear that any allegation might be made against them. Mr. Harris died in St. Mary Abbott’s Hospital, Kensington. Mr. Harold Lowther Carey, a colonial broker, of Brecon Place, South Kensington, said that Mr. Harris, his brother-in-law, had been in bad health and had had a stroke some years ago. On doctor’s orders he had been a total abstainer for three years. Visits to the Cell He left his office at 5.30 p.m. one evening and as he.did not arrive at Bromley station, where his daughter had gone to meet him with a car, she communicated with the police. Later she was told he was at Notting Hill Gate police station. Police evidence was given that Mr. Harris was seen in Bayswater Road at 6.30 p.m., being supported by several people. As he appeared to be drunk and his breath smelt strongly of drink he was taken to the police station in an ambulance. When charged with being drunk and incapable he made no reply. He was visited in the cell every half-hour and on each occasion said he was all right. At midnight he was found to be ill, and the police surgeon ordered his removal to the hospital. Mr. Harris had been in the station for six hours.

Dr. R. Hobbs, medical superintendent, St. Mary Abbott’s Hospital, said Mr. Harris, when admitted was unconscious and in a condition of collapse. A post-mortem examination revealed cerebral hemorrhage. Death From Stroke

There was no smell of alcohol either on the man’s clothes or in the internal organs. Three doctors, besides himself, could detect nothing. If the man had taken a small quantity of liquor the smell might have evaporated. The cause of death was a stroke. Mr. Oswald (the coroner): Would it be possible for this to be induced by alcohol? —It is just possible. Do you think the hemorrhage showing itself about seven o’clock would have the effect of simulating alcohol?—That is quite possible. Addressing the jury, Mr. Oswald said death had been proved to be due to an entirely natural cause. As to the police, he thought they had acted in a perfectly straightforward and natural way. A verdict of death from natural causes was returned.