The late Fatal Accident.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2579, 13 April 1877, Page 3

The late Fatal Accident.

Adjourned Inquest.

The adjourned inquest on the body of —• Macdonald, who: was found dead on the morning of the 10th inst. near the old powder magazine, was resumed last night 1 at 6 o'clock in the Salutation Hotel, Mary street. The adjournment had been decided on with a view to obtaining the evidence of the woman who was last seen with him on the night previous to his death. Shortly after the time fixed all the jurymen arrived and answered to their names, and. the Coroner then said he was prepared to take the evidence of— Jessie Alexander, who deposed on oath —I live in the Karaka. lam an unmarried woman. I know by sight the man who was killed the other day. I do not know his name. I saw him first before. 10 p.m. on Monday night, and I saw him last at the junction of Mary and Pollen streets, and I there wished him good-bye. I asked him not to follow me. A man • followed me up to where I live; Ido not know who he was. I live very near Mr v j£ampbeU's. I think deceased followed %s6§ to the Post : office. I lost the sound of ilia footsteps near the Templar Hall. By Mr Mason—lt was about 11 o'clock ■when I lost the sound of his footsteps. The man did not know where I lived. ' By the Coroner—The deceased asked me 'when first I saw him where Robinson's was. He asked me to go and take a glass of beer. We went to Cassin's. I was " there 20 minutes.. Deceased was talking . to the landlord nearly the whole time. By Sergt. M ulville—l did not tell you that deceased accompanied me to my own door. ' ;.■• ••••/■■ ■■;•■-.■• :■. •: '<:.'■'■' - By a Juror—The man seemed pretty sober. ;•■ '■ .■;■■'-, '•. - '■' -.-'■■'■■'. :; ; By Mr Speight~-I am sure it could not have been more than 11 o'clock. I got beer (6d worth) at a publichouse after I got home; that's;Kow I know. While going home I saw a man following me on le right-hand side of the road. Ido not know who the man was. The Coroner then .addressed; the jury. He noticed the principal points in the evidence given by Mrs Alexander. . As a la,wyer he was, he supposed, expected to say something relative to the immediate cause of Macdonald's death, or rather the circumstances surrounding it, and also to give his opinion as to the criminality or otherwise of those parties who had excavated the bank and left it in a dangerous state. He could not advise them to return a verdict tantamount to a charge of manslaughter against such parties. .There was really no one responsible criminally. He did not think they could do other than return a verdict of accidental death with a rider attached; Mr. Speight*. How is it possible to tell whether Macdonald fell over the bank or was pushed over ? and what is the use of adding a rider if it cannot be enforced ? The Coroner: There are no grounds whatever for believing that the, man was pushed over the bank. . -. Mr Mason : Has the Borough nothing todowith the matter of providing protection for the public in such cases. The Coroner said*he thought not, and. explained the situation of the property as "to whose it was. The jury were then left alone to consider their verdict, and after discussing the matter for 30 minutes brought in the following verdict :—" That the deceased — Macdonald came by his death by a, fall into a very dangerous cutting, on the morning, of the 10th instant, situate near the old powder magazine at the top of Mary street, whilst in a state of intoxication, by which fall his neck was broken." A rider to the following effect was also added:—" The jury are further of opinion that some person or persons are responsible for the late accident by leaving the cutting in such ah entirely unprotected state, and would urge upon the proper authorities the necessity of at once taking * steps to cause the bank to be fenced, as the accident could not have occurred if a fence had been there. Further, that the condition in which this jury found the body of deceased and its surroundings when viewing it, after the post-mortem examination, leads us to suggest that an authoritative statement should be made as to the availability or otherwise of the Thames Hospital dead-house and the Hospital staff for the purpose of holding ■uch examinations."