DEATH AT AN ASYLUM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 291, 18 May 1915, Page 7

DEATH AT AN ASYLUM.

INJURIES TO A PATIENT. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, May IV. The inquest concluded at the i'jriru.i Mental Hospital on Saturday coimorniiif? the death of an old patient names ,fames Hamhlyn, as the result of burns wiich had occurred a week previously. Vile inquest was opened last .\;ois.lay, '.vlien there was not the sligliWoc evidence as to how the deceased came by the injuries. . Then it was adojurned, and reopened on Saturday, when John Dickson, attendant, who previously 'gave evidence that he did not know how the deceased received his injuries, told a (lillVrent story. He stated that on Sunday, May !), he noticed that Hamhlyn was dirty, and told an inmate named Perry to take him to the bathroom. Witness w.is absent about ten minutes, and during this absence Perry had {jot the key and turned on the water. Witness noticed live or six inches of water in the bath. He made a {treat mistake, for, without testing the temperature, he told Hamhlyn to jump in, and immediately he got in he fell ami-commenced to cry out. Witness felt the water and found it too hot. When helped out Hamhlyn did not complain, and the matter was not reported. The next time he noticed decensed was that evening, when his body was blistered. Medical assistance was called, but death followed. Witness admitted that an attendant should have been present when the water' was turned on, but said that Perry got the key himself, and it was not witness' fault. The doctor, in giving evidence, said lie did not consider the injuries would bo fatal to an ordinary healthy person. A verdict was returned that death was from the shock of burns received while being bathed by Dickson, who neglected to test the water.