GUILTY OF NEGLIGENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 112, 13 May 1926, Page 14

GUILTY OF NEGLIGENCE.

MAN KILLED AT GREY LYNN.

FRANKHAM FINED £50.

"COURAGE OF YOUR CONVICTIONS."

After a retirement of about an _our< the jury in the trial of Ronald George Frankham. charged with manslaughter, and, further, with negligent driving of a motor car so as to causae the death .of Oscar Swanson. returned a verdict ot , ' not guilty on the manslaughter count and uuiltv with a strong recoinmenda- | , tion to mercy on the .second count. Mr. j _*" Justice Stringer presided. The case for the defence opened after j the luncheon adjournment yesterday. ! The facts set' out that the accused drove a motor car without lights and • without a horn at night, after a dance at j •* l'oint Chevalier. Un the road home he j crashed into four men, killing one of j them. Lengthy evidence was given hy Professor P. W. Burbidge, Professor of 3 Physics at, the Auckland University, Z relative to the degrees of lighting in the vicinity of the accident as taken at night. " Taking everything into consideration, witness was of the opinion that on the night, in question the conditions ntre ■ cxtremelv bad for visibility. Mr. McYeagh said that it was not disputed that when the car left the cabaret at Point Chevalier it had. no lights. ,:. When the car was driven to the cabaret '■> earlier in the evening the lights were _ burning brightly. The first point for consideration was whether or not ihere was negligence on the part of the accused. Negligence meant tbe 'failure •* to take such care as a reasonable man "-« would take under the circumstances. It had been stressed by the Crown that the accused should have left the car at the U cabaret when he found that the lights ,; were not working. It was easy to be wise after such an event, but the accused j was placed in a difficult position. There "• were two respectable young women who « had to be home at a respectable hour, » and there were two young men who acted "3 as only decent young men should, and adopted the only course open to them. X The evidence showed that the occupants A of the ear had exercised great care. All the way from the cabaret they had kept _ a sharp look-out. and were moving very 5 slowly. Up to the critical moment the % accused was doing all he could under 2 the circumstances. Counsel referred to the effect of the flood lights on the vision i of the driver as well as the fact that 4 rain drops on the wind-screen were ** obscuring the line of sight.. .It was.easy ' to say they should have had lights, but, he asked, "was that culpable negligence. Although' there were no lights, everyone 2 In the car was alive to the situation, «• There had been some estimates of dis- _ tanees, but they were only approximate snd that could scarcely be regarded ai , being reliable. w A charge of this kind, continued Mr ** McYeagh, was of an anxious character. It was a charge in which the penalty was a heavy one. The judge was empow - ~-s'-- er ed to impose a sentence of life ioi manslaughter, and five years for negligence. -gence. Mr. Meredith rose at this and pro -tested. > £*' His Honor: It is_not usual to refe: t* to those matters, Mr. McYeagh. Mr. McYeagh: I mean that it is s ,; grave matter that requires grave con , v sideration. ;_; His Honor: But it is not the thing t< •.- re fer to the penalties. 1 gather fron ■. what Mr. Meredith has said that th < charge of manslaughter is not beinj • h> pressed. . S Mr. Meredith: It h» not a gross case *£ Mr. McVeagh concluded by asking tha * the jury give full consideration to thi £ evidence as given. j_; Mr. Meredith said the evidence ol , <- Professor Burbidge had been very inter •j* esting, but it did not assist in th< •-1 slightest. There was no differencf 5 between shadows in Williamson Avenut • S and other streets of the city, and even ?! motorist- must be expected'to meet witl : such things on the road. When th« V', accused elected to drive home without • *£• lights he knew what he was risking I JJ When the accused found that the lights 7, were no good he could have procured a ;] taxi, put the women on a bus, or walked ;it home with them, but there was nc J!J attempt to get to a telephone. The ,' 'IX point was what justified the use of a I $ car without lights. If the weight of J R evidence was against the and ' ■*£ the jury did not find him guilty, they 2 were setting a standard, and it would b« |s open to any motorist to drive, his cai gf without lights. FeS His Honor said the Crown did nof -y* press the charge of manslaughter, and f _ the only question was whether- the x* accused committed a breach of the Act j_ and drove his car in a negligent manner 5; and caused the death of a man. That H he killed the man was beyond all ques- .£ tion, but the whol* case relied on the 2 question whether he was negligent. ■ti ""There have been a great number of ;§j motor car accidents which have resulted •«| in people meeting their death," said •«£ his Honor, "and most of them have been 3 caused through the negligence of the 3 motorists. It is important that juries T sh °nld have £he courage of their convic- ;■ tu>ns and find according to the evidence. You must deal with each case as you find It, and in this ease do you consider that ; | to drive a motiir car through the streets ■ _, of Auckland at" 11.30 o'clock at night | without light, and without a horn is % negligent?" I His Honor said the case depended on I t f* rc .T! t ! nCe J 5 -. Jt Woul d perhaps _-■ be all right to drive without lights in - a country district where there was not j 4 much chance of meeting anyone, but it I j| was a different matter when it came to .' g the city streets. It was obvious that _ there was very little wrong with the ; car as the constable had fixed it within a few seconds. The very fact that the - occupants of the car considered it neees•j sary to take every precaution was an * indication that they knew it was taking ". a risk to drive as they did. _; The jury retired at 3.50 p.m. and ! & returned before 5 o'clock with a verdict -j as indicated. His Honor imposed a fine of £50 on the accused and suspended.hh license for two years.