The inquest into the death of Leonard Empson Kirk, a piano tuner, aged 41, who, it was stated, had entered the Christchurch Public Hospital for remedial treatment for a hydrocele condition, and was later found with a deep wound in the throat, was adjourned sine die, so that the doctor who had been in charge of-the case could be called to give further details as to Kirk’s condition before his death. He died a few minutes after he was found. A blade razor was in his hand. Evidence was given by two nurses, Elizabeth Purchas and Erica Prudence MacFarlane, that they had attended Kirk for the time he had been in hospital. He had been quiet, and had given no indication of any tendency to take his life. Nurse MacFarlane said that while she was on duty, about 10.20 p.m. on April 21, her attention was drawn to Kirk. She went to his bed, to find him covered in blood, and with a blade razor in his hand. Dr. A. G. Harper, a house surgeon at the hospital, in answer to a call said he examined Kirk, who had an incisive wound in his throat. Treatment to stop the bleeding and continue his breathing was tried without success, and death, due to acute haemorrhage, occurred within a few minutes.  Verdict of Suicide

PRESS, VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 23631, 7 MAY 1942, PAGE 6