Exeter County Court: Tuesday: Before the Judge (Mr. M. Fortescue): … Luckham and Paddon v Keating: The plaintiffs for whom Mr. Floud appeared, are grocers of St. Thomas and the defendant, Captain Keating, represented by Mr. Templar, resides at Teignmouth. The claim was for £20 damage caused to the plaintiff’s van by a collision. It will be remembered that in October Capt. Keating’s horse ran away with his carriage from the London Inn Square and the coachman, being drunk, was unable to control the horses. … Mr. S. Tozer, veterinary surgeon of St. Thomas, was called in to attend to the plaintiff’s horse, and stated that he found the animal shaking all over, and it was lame in one of the hind legs, but beyond this he could discover no other injury. It was lame and probably would remain so. A “summer’s run” might, however, cure this. In his (witness’s) opinion, the horse before the accident was worth about £30, it was a very good animal. The depreciation in its value, in consequence of the accident, amounted to between £8 to £10. Like the lawyers, the witness did not work for nothing — (laughter) — and his charge for attending amounted to about 12s. Mr. Pinsent, wheelwright of the Commercial – road, proved repairing the plaintiff’s wagon, his bill for which amounted £1 19s 10d: The saddler who repaired the harness stated that previous to the accident the harness was in very fair condition and worth about 50s, but now, in consequence being so much strained, it was past repair, being only worth about a sovereign — [The harness was produced in Court, and inspected by the jury. It seemed to be in a very good condition, and several jurymen expressed their inability to see that any damage had done it all.] … His Honour having summed up the case, the jury in the end gave a verdict against Captain Keating for twelve guineas. The case took several hours in hearing, and the Court did not rise until nearly half past seven.
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