BRAWL IN A HOTEL.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1919, Page 7

BRAWL IN A HOTEL.

A, JJCINSEE FATALLY INJURED. TWO MEN ARRESTED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. A» a result of a disturbance which occurred in the Clarendon Hotel after midnight last night, the licensee of the hotel wa* taken to the hospital about one o'clock this morning suffering from concussion of the brain and a broken jaw, * ttd two "yflung men, Harold P A. Stapleton (21), and Alexander Coppell (80), trace placed under arrest on a charge of assault. The licensee, whose name is Frank Brazier, subsequently died in the hospital, and further development* are expected. The aaeowtt given by the young men Indicates that Brazier's injury was the result of a struggle in the dark in one of the rooms of the hoteL It was getting on -towards one o'clock in the morning when a constable on duty outdid* £• hotel was informed that there WW tMfbte in- the hotel, and on 'going ticete "J» found Brazier lying unconMfms In a passage with a wound *n Us head.

In reply to the constable's inquiries, tie yomng men stated they had gone to 'their bedrooms late, ' and that Stapleton, after a time, was awakened by hearing somebody in his room. He got to grips with the intruder? 'but he was gtttrng the worst of the encounter when he called to his mate for help, aid Coppell rushed to the rescue. The result was that the other man was knocked out and was found to be the licensee of the hotel.