LIBEL ADMITTED.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1920, Page 4

LIBEL ADMITTED.

crrY PAPERS CONCERNED. £l5O DAMAGES AWARDED. By ,Tel«E»Db.—Ptmb Association Wellington, Nov. 20. In the Supreme Court to-day, before Sir John Salmond, James Furniss, a farmer at Huntly, claimed damages for alleged libel from the proprietors of The, Dominion and the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Weekly News, The statement complained of wbb to the effect that plaintiff was "a mental case." Plaintiff claimed £IOOO from the Wellington Publishing Co., proprietors of the Dominion, and £2OOO from Wilson and Horton, proprietors of the New ! Zealand Herald and Auckland Weekly News. .Mr. H. Hi Cornish was fo» , plaintiff and Mr. A. W. Blair for dei fendants. A jury of twelve was empanelled. Ulr. Cornish explained that the statement appeared in a report of a main- / tenanco,case, Bartley v. Bartley. The statement, which was attributed to a lawyer in the case, was admitted by defendants to be untrue, and the only question at issue was the amount of damages to be awarded. The statement originally appeared in The Dominion and was copied into the New Zealand Herald and Weekly News. Plaintiff, giving evidence, said he en* Hated in December, 10U, and during his two years' absence had seen service in Egypt and Gallipoli, loging his right eye and practically his right hand. The published libel caused him concern and worry. The papers published his name as "Fumes*," whereas he spelt,his name Furuias. ~. Mr. Blair argued that the damage done had not been as great as if tha name had been spelt correctly. I Plaintiff admitted that the papers published apologies, but said the/ did it out of policy and not for his sake^ Two witnesses gave evidence as tq plaintiff's good standing in the community. Tli is ejosed plaintiff's case. ■No evidence was called for the de< fence. Mr. Cornish, addressing the jury, said the puhlif did not lightly view the eujt« gestion that a returned soldier was a mental case. It was a more serious thing to say of a soldier than of a> civilian that he was "a mental case." Mr. Blair, in his address, stressed the point that the papers immediately corrected w'-at was an obvious mistake of the reporter who reported what he believed to be correct, and they,also apologised at the earliest possible moment They did not want to injure any return* ed soldiers. The amount of'damagea claimed was absurd. The judge, in summing up, said plaintiff had not proved that he had suffered any damage, but he had been libelled and it was for the jury to conaider the extent to which he had suffered from publication of the paragraph in question. Everyone who knew him knew he was not a "mental ease." The jury awarded plaintiff £l6O dam. ages, £IOO lo be paid by the Domlnipn, with costs on the lowest scale, and £SO between the New Zealand Herald and the Weekly News, with costs on the highest scale.