Leicester Evening Mail
Saturday, May 25, 1957
Page 5
HUSBAND KILLED, £572 DAMAGES
The future of a 63-year-old woman, a helpless cripple, is very much in doubt, Mr. James Ross said at Leicestershire Assizes yesterday.
For her 68-year-old husband, Mr. Augustus Flood, of 16, Herrick-road, Leicester, was cook, housekeeper and nursemaid to her.
And when he was fatally injured in a collision with a car on Saturday August Bank Holiday night, last year, she found she could not stay in the house by herself.
But the widow, Mrs. Gladys Flood, is now to receive £572. That was the amount of damages awarded, with costs by Mr. Justice Lynskey on a claim brought under the Fatal Accidents Act by Mrs. Flood's son.
£2 a week
"Had the deceased man not been negligent himself, I would have awarded £1,716." said the Judge, £2 a week as the value of the husband's services to his wife.
Mr. Ross, who appeared on behalf of the widow told the Judge: "This is one of the most tragic cases it has been my lot to present."
He said the income of retired Mr. Flood had been made up of £5 2s. from pensions--an income which would have continued as long as he lived.
"In addition, he kept himself, his wife, and his 87-year-old mother-in-law in vegetables raised on an allotment.
"The real point is that although his widow is helplessly crippled with arthritis, she has a normal expectation of life."
Mr. Ross said Mr. Flood had been knocked down while crossing the Welford-road by a car driven by Mr. Frederick Harold Vernon, of 225 Loughborough-road, Leicester, the defendant in the case.
'Felt bump'
Mr. Vernon told the court that he did not see anything until he felt a bump. He could not say from which way the man came.
Mr. Robert Irvine, a passenger in the car, of 9 Halstead-street, Leicester, said nothing had passed in front of his vision.
