INTOXICATED DRIVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 45, 23 February 1927, Page 11

INTOXICATED DRIVER.

MOTORIST ASSAULTS DETECTIVE. OTTSG MAN PLEADS GUILTY. FIXE? TOTALLING £45. j Because he did not heed the friendly ; /arning of a detective yesterday after- j D oon f Leslie Watters (28) now has to j pay into the Consolidated Fund fines | totalling £45 or else serve two months' j imprisonment. . Represented by Mr. Schramm, he | pleaded guilty to being in a state of \ intoxication while in charge of a motor I car in Q~ een Street, and also with hnv- i incr assaulted Detective Craigie. ' c . ~ i The facts of the case were disclosed j to Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M.. by Chief j Detective Cummings. About 3.10 yes- j terday afternoon, sr.H Mr. Cummings,! Watters and two companions were in j the Metropolitan Hotel. Detective ' Craigie spoke to the accused about his j conduct in the hotel. Some time later j Detective O'Sullivan observed Watters ! seated at the wheel of a motor car. j The accused, who was in an advanced i state of intoxication, was warned not to I drive the car away. He told the detec- i tive that he would hire a taxi and go ! home. Watters and two other men I then left the car. However, at 4.20 p.m. the detectives saw that he had isain seated himself at the wheel and was about to drive away. Watters j was at once ph. zed under arrest, and I was transferred to the rear seat of the ' ca r. while Detective Craigie took the! wheel to drive to the police lock-up. ! Accused then kicked Detective Craigie i on the face three times, and had to be , overpowered. The detective sustained' a black eye and bruises on his face, and ! had to be medically attended to. j Mr. Schramm stated that Watters ' ras a sin»le man anci a commission | acrent, residing at Auckland. He had ' taken too much liquor yesterday, and when arrested he had become very ! excited, getting to grips with Detective ! Craigie. As accused had a previous! wood character and had never been in ! trouble before, counsel asked the niagis- I trate not to be two severe on him. Had he not taken too much liquor he would I not have got himself into trouble. Mr. j Schramm drew the magistrate's atten- j tion to the fact that Watters had not ' driven he car. "Both charges are serious, and I'm ; ifraid that I will have to impose a term j ii imprisonment on the second charge.'' j Jlr. McKean said. | Mr. Schramm: I will ask your Wor- j ship not to do that. This is his first' offence. In reply to the magistrate's question is to whether accused had been in trouble j before. Mr. Cummings said that he had : not. "He's a bookmaker," added the | chief. Mr. McKean said that the assault on ; the detective was committed when Wat- ! ters was under the influence of drink, j Probably he did not realise what he was doing. " However, he had not taken advantage of the warning given earlier j in the afternoon. "I did think of send- . ing him to gaol, but I will give him the option of paying fines," said the magis-j trate. "But the fines will be substan- i tial. On the first charge he will be ! fined £25, and his driver's license will he suspended for twelve months, and on the other I will impose the maximum , fine—£2o, in default, one month's im- ' prisonment on each charge, the terms to ho cumulative." Counsel asked for time to pay, but I Chief Detective Cummings objected. ' Accused then said he would pay to-day.