BIT RESCUER’S HAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 880, 25 January 1930, Page 1

BIT RESCUER’S HAND

STRUGGLED AFTER JUMP FROM WHARF SUICIDE ATTEMPTED Struggling in the water after jumping from the Ponsonby Wharf last evening, Oscar George Augustus Harvey was rescued by a man who dived in after him. He struggled violently, and the rescuer received a sprained wrist and a bite in the hand. Harvey, a young man, was charged at the Police Court this morning with attempting to commit suicide. He pleaded guilty, and was remanded until Friday for observation. Applying for the remand, SubInspector McCarthy said he was not in a position to put the facts before the court. The man had made a determined attempt to drown himself by jumping from the wharf. He had made things very difficult for his rescuer, a man named Stoney Jackson. who had dived in after him. “I am not satisfied that the man should be at large,” added the subinspector. Mr. Stoney Jackson, a carpenter, of 39 Wallace Street, Herne Bay, was Harvey’s rescuer. His story was that he had been walking with his wife along the wharf at the foot of Wallace Street about 6.30 last evening. They had passed a man sitting on the wharf, and Mr. Jackson had commented on his appearance. The next thing they heard was a voice from the- water crying repeatedly, “Let me drown” “I jumped in after him.” continued Mr. Jackson. “Trying to grab me, he got his arm round me. I dived under the water and wrenched myself free as the man said, ‘Come on, friend; keep me company.' My wife then threw me a lifebelt.” With the aid of Mr. Tom Bell and Mr. Parker, in boats, the man was brought to the shore and handed over to the police. Mr. Jackson had sprained his wrist, in his attempts to rescue the man, who had bitten him on the hand, he said.