THE SUDDEN DEATH AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1473, 27 February 1886, Page 2

THE SUDDEN DEATH AT CHRISTCHURCH.

The inquiry into the cause o£ death of John Midgley, a slater and shingler, who died on Tuesday, at Christchurch, during the course of a quarrel with J, Taylor, plumber, of the firm of Taylor and Oakley, was held on Wednesday afternoon before Mr R. Beetham, Coroner, and a jury, of which Mr R. Walton was foreman. The evidence of eye witnesses of the quarrel was to the effect that after high words had been exchanged about a dividing fence Midgley was erecting, and to which Taylor objected as unsightly, Midgley left his ground, came on to Taylor’s section and struck Taylor. The men fought a minute or so, Taylor acting ou% the defensive, till Oakley came up and/ separated them. Oakley said in bis' evidence “After I had separated them Mr Midgley appeared as nearly as 1 could tell to be trying to get himself ready for another attack on Mr Taylor, and just as I expected by his attitude that he was about to make another rush, the man suddenly became rigid. Ilia hands closed suddenly. He seemed to alter in a moment. They were four or five yards apart, and before I could prevent him be fell very heavily on to the asphalt on his face. I was between them when he fell. As soon as the man fell I picked him up and turned him on his face at once. I concluded he had a fit.” The witnesses were sure that nothing but fists were used cn either side. Dr Patrick, who had been called to see deceased, said that there were some abrasions on the face, which were accounted for in the evidence by the fact that deceased had fallen heavily on the asphalt footpath. He had made a post mortem examination, and concluded that deceased died from apoplexy. The doctor said “This apoplexy might occur before his fall, or because he fell. My opinion is, seeing that he fell in an interval of the conflict, and not following a blow, that it was the excite*. ment of the contest which caused the} apoplexy, which in turn caused him to* fall. He had not the apoplexy because he fell. He was killed by the apoplexy, and not by a blow.” The Coroner in summing up, carefully pointed out that if lay lor had ] gone beyond reasonable limits in defending himself, he had laid himself open to the imputation of manslaughter. The jury returned a verdict that Taylor did not exceed the . limits of justifiable self-defence, and that the death ot Midgley occurred through a fit of apoplexy, brought on by excitement. Taylor was discharged by Mr Beetham, R.M., who expressed the opinion that no blame was attachable to him for Midgley’s death.