MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27018, 18 April 1953, Page 2

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

FRIDAY (Before Mi F. F. Reid. S.M.) BREACH OF LICENSING ACT Margaret Mortimer, licensee of the Rotherham Hotel (Mr J. G. Leggat) pleaded guilty to a charge of refusing, without valid excuse, to supply Charles Collins with accommodation on January 27. Sub-Inspector J. C. Fletcher said that Collins, a postal official, was on his way to Kaikoura when he became flood-bound and applied for accommodation at the Rotherham Hotel. The licensee refused to provide him with accommodation, saying that the house was full and advising him to go to Waiau. "To say that the house was full was an insult to a man s

intelligence. He and the licensee knew it was not,” said Sub-Inspector Fletcher. Mr Leggat said his client much regretted the offence. The only two persons on her staff who could have helped to give the complainant accommodation were stranded in Christchurch by the floods. The offence arose out of the private worries of the defendant. The Magistrate said there was an obligation on any licensee to provide accommodation on request. It was one of the conditions on which licensees—an almost privileged class—were granted licences. At such a time the refusal to provide accommodation was unreasonable. The defendant was well aware of her obligationsAs ill-health might have been a contributing factor in the commission of the offence, he would impose a nominal fine. Mortimer was fined £2 and ordered to pay costs. DEFERRED SENTENCE Stella Walsh, aged 52, a domestic, pleaded guilty to a charge of being found without lawful excuse on an enclosed yard at the Christchurch Public Hospital on April 17. ' Senior-Sergeant C. A. G. Mcßae said that at 1.5 a.m. yesterday, the police received a complaint that someone was trying to gain access to the hospital, and a constable found the accused attempting to get through a window. When the Magistrate asked the accused whether. she had anything to say, she said she had lost her way. The Magistrate: I don’t believe you. You will be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called on within six months. REMANDED Edward William White, aged 50, a labourer, was remanded to Monday on a charge of assaulting Nora Eugenie White. TRAFFIC BREACHES Offenders against the traffic regulations were dealt with as follows: — Unlighted cycles: Peter Hughey and Raylen Margaret Frederickson, each fined 20s. Insufficient lights: Alan Alfred Walker, fined £2.

Failure to give signal: Murray James Johnston, fined £1 (no driver’s licence and no warrant of fitness, convicted and discharged). Failure to give way: Stuart McDonald Somerville, Ivy McDonald (no driver’s licence, 20s; no warrant of fitness, 10s), Alan Hay McCormack and Hendrick Smits, each fined £2; Norman Edward Briggs, 20s. Driving without due care and attention: Noel Desmond Bateman, fined £3; Alec Gin, £2; Charles Glenville Fife, ordered to pay costs. Failure to stop on request of constable: Alfred Bettridge, fined £2 (no warrant of fitness, 10s).

No driver's licence: Cyril Edward Brandsden, fined 20s; Andon gl. Altonaishlieff, ordered to pay costs. NEGLIGENT DRIVING Gerald Joseph Robertson, aged 34, a carrier (Mr R. A. Young), pleaded not guilty to a charge of negligently driving a motor truck on Heyders road on February 8.

He was convicted and fined £5. Senior-Sergeant C. A. G. Mcßae prosecuted.

Leslie Wilfred Jackson, a dealer, said his home was at the corner of Lower Styx and Heyders roads. About 6.45 p.m. on February 8, he said, he saw a truck approaching at such a speed that he was sure it would not be able to take the corner. As its flashed past nis gate it was in a skid, and then he heard it crash over. As the truck approached the corner he heard people in it screaming. Most of those in the truck were injured, and a boy had a leg badly injured.

Alexander James Gunn, a carpenter, said he was at the Sydenham Rugby League Football Club picnic at '■Spencer Park on February 8, and was returning to (Christchurch on Robertson’s truck. When it left the park it. would be travelling at 25 to 30 miles an hour. Approacning the Lower Styx road, he did not see the corner until the truck was actually on it, because of the glare of the sun. The truck slid to its incorrect side of the road and back to its correct side before tipping over. Evidence was also given that there were nine adults and four children on the back of the truck in addition to picnic gear, including tents and forms. There were three adults and a child in the cab of the truck.

Constable E. G. Smith said that Robertson, in a statement, said he was the owner of the truck. When he left Spencer Park with the picnic gear there were two other men and a child in the cab. As far as he was aware there were only two men on the back of the truck. He did not know other persons were there. He slowed down to 15 miles an hour to take the corner and could not account for the truck going into a slide. He had about 20 soz glasses of beer up to 3 p.m. and then slept for two hours in the cab of his truck. He had a good mid-day meal. He considered he was in a fit state to drive.

Constable Smith said that when he reached the scene of the accident the sun was low and shining directly along Heyder’s road.

Mr Young said that the defendant was a driver of wide experience. He would say that he did consume the liquor he told the police he had, but he had none after mid-day. Robertson thought that three men helpers would get on the back of the truck and had no idea all the others had got on. Th*y had no business to be there. He considered that the truck rolled over because all the people on the back of the truck were on the right side and they prevented it from coming back when it tilted on the corner. Robertson gave evidence bn those lines, and supporting evidence was given by Avon Flutey, a waterside worker, who said it was his son, aged five, who lost a foot in the accident.

The Magistrate said he was satisfied, on the evidence, that Robertson approached the corner at too high a speed. The people in the back of the truck did not come into the proceedings. If the truck was so overloaded as to be put off balance, Robertson, as an experienced driver, should have been aware of it. The cause of the accident was that Robertson was driving directly into the sun at too high a speed, and that in itself was negligence.

As witnesses’ expenses and other costs would be heavy, he would not impose as substantial a fine as he had contemplated.