MANSLAUGHTER ALLEGED
AGAINST MOTOR DRIVER. DEATH OF A PASSENGER. ON TAURANGA ROAD. QUESTION OF SOBRIETY. A charge of manslaughter against. Frank Smith, a motor driver living at Katikati. was heard at the Supreme Court to-day, before Mr Justice Stringer. Mr. V. R. Meredith appeared lor the accused. Hon. J. A. Tole. X.C, Crown Prosecutor, stated that Smith was engaged on May 17 last to drive a party of people from Katikati to Tauranga, a distance of 2-1 miles, and back. The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. John Tanner, their two children, and a Mr. Pruile.n.' The outward journey was accomplished safely, and they arrived at Tauranga at S._n a.m. The arrangement was that Smith should call for the passengers at 3 p.m., but he did not turn up till an hour later, when he gave Mrs. Tanner the rather strange explanation that he had had to keep away from the boys because he had to drive the party home. He went away again for a few j minutes, ostensibly to buy provisions,! and on his return Mrs. Tanner noticed | that he seemed sleepy. She suspected! that he had been drinking, and was con-! firmed in the opinion when he began to 1 drive very fast. He went round cor-
ners at a dangerous na.ce. and persons on the road noticed that the outer wheels of the car (a Kord) lifted clear of the road. A stop was made at a private hospital, where the accused was seen by several witnesses, and the journey was resumed, the accused continuing to drive very fast. About seven miles out he ran the car into a bank at the aide of the road, bringing it to a standstill. He got out and pulled the front wheels round, but when Mrs. Tanner suggested that he ought to see if any damage had been done he took no notice. He drove on down a hill at a fast pace, the car wobbling wildly from side to side of the road, which was here on the top of a big filling. He cleared a bridge in the middle of the filling, and then the car toppled over the bank, which was about 35ft high. Mr. Tanner had his chc_t badly crushed, and died in hospital three days later.
ACCUSED'S CONDITION. Mrs. Tanner gave evidence, in the course of which she stated that after the accident she first noticed the accused standing by the damaged car and swearing at it. .Cross-examined, she .aid that accused was a blacksmith at Katikati, and occasionally took parties out in his car. He was an old friend of her husband. Thomas Bird, Government road engineer, said that he saw the accused driving between Tauranga and the scene of the accident. The car came very fast round a corner, and the outer side iifted, but a bump which existed on the road surface might have contributed to this. ln answer to Mr. Meredith the witness said that a collision was very likely to bend the radius rod of a Ford, and onco this happened, tbe car was impossible to control except at a vcr\- low speed. It could not be prevented from veering from side to side of the road. A good river would identify the trouble at once. He had had an experience of the kind himself. i Ceorgc Prnden. aged 78, a passenger in the car, stated that at the private hospital the accused 6ee_ed tipsy, and his speech was thick. Witness had two ribs broken in the accident. Nurse Eleanor Chappell, in charge of the hospital, stated that she considered the accused to be under the influence of liquor when he called. His manner was peculiar, and once he stumbled slightly. Rev. W. H. Rattray, vicar of Katikati, who was present on the same occasion, said that he had a conversation with the accused, who was able to talk consecutively, though he smelt of liquor. Tf it bad been necessary for him to return to Katikati that afternoon he won _ not have had any hesitation in going in the accused's car. William M. Reid, a Public ?erri cc clerk. stated that he arrived oil the scene of the accident immediately after it occurred. Tlie accused said to him. "For Hod's sake, get as out of this. T ought to have been killed." He was plainly under the influence of liquor. Leonard ,T. R. Hrant. a Government agricultural inspector, who was with the previous witness, said that tbe aeensed told him that he had run into a bank and bad foolishly gone on without examining his steering gear. He formed the opinion that tbe accused was in liquor and not in a fit state to drive a car. He said as much to Reid at the time. Dr. Julius Delepine, who attended the injured people on the scene of the accident, said that accused smelt of liquor, but that was as much as he could say as to bis condition. District Constable Dunne, of Katikati, produced a statement signed by the accused. This gave an account of the accused's movements during the day. The accused admitted that on arrival he and Tanner each had two glasses of whisky. Later in the morning lie had one or two glasses of beer with friends. He thought that these put him under the influence of liquor, though at the time he did not think so. The witness said that be had never seen the accused under the influence of liquor. Mr. Meredith, opening the case for the defence, said that he proposed to show that the mishap was accidental, and not due to any ne_-lisen_e on the part of the accused. Before reaching the embankment, he bad to dodge a wet place in the road, and in doing so skidded into the water-table under the bank. He got down and cleared the mudiriiard, also setting the front wheels straight along the line, of the water-table. He took a look at the axle, radius rods, and king bolt, all of which seemed to be unin- .
jured. He then drove on. and on the embankment one of his bent wheels ran into a deep rut, the s : des of which contained large .tones. Evidence would he called to show that the radius rods of a Ford were liirbt and hollow, find once tliev were buckled ever so little, a further shock would probably :bend them considers _r, rendering tlie car Uncontrollable. He would endeavour to prove that the original bump started the trouble, which could not then be detected, and tbe rut finished it. can.in? tbe ear to jrn over tbe bank. Tlie case is proceeding
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 195, 16 August 1918, Page 3
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1,111MANSLAUGHTER ALLEGED Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 195, 16 August 1918, Page 3
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