SUPREME COURT Charge Against Driver After Boy’s Death Fails

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 22

SUPREME COURT Charge Against Driver After Boy’s Death Fails

A jury in the Supreme Court yesterday found Douglas Barry Borton, aged 18, a labourer, not guilty on a charge of causing the death of Robin Wayne Bruce Millward while driving under the influence of drink or drugs on September 18.

Mr Justice Macarthur was on the bench. Mr I. C. J. Polson appeared for the Crown, and Mr B. McClelland appeared for Borton. Dr. John Stewart Wilson said that at 12.10 a.m. on September 19 he examined the accused at the police station, and considered him unfit to drive.

Sergeant Robert James Crooks said that at 11.55 p.m., when he first saw him, the accused was slumped in a chair in the police station, barely conscious. He had been vomiting, and smelt strongly of liquor. The accused did not know how much liquor he had taken, and had to be assisted to the examining room and later to the cells. The witness said that when he returned to the cells the accused was asleep on the floor. When roused, he wanted to fight, and saitj he had not meant to run over the people, but they had been in the middle of the road. After

being cautioned, the accused said he knew he was full, but did not care. It was the worst case of its kind he had seen, said the witness. Youth’s Evidence Ferguson Arthur Renwick, aged 18, said that he and Millward (who was 15) were walking home after a dance, wheeling their bicycles, as Millward had a puncture. In Aorangi road they moved out on to the road under a street light so that Millward could look at the puncture and straighten his handlebars.

The witness said that while he was bending down he heard a car, turned, and saw the car’s lights about 20ft away. The car was travelling quickly. He took two steps, and then the car hit him and Millward. When he regained consciousness he was lying on the road. Cross-examined, the witness said a car parked 10ft away from them could have hidden them from the accused’s view. He and Millward were wearing dark clothes, and neither cycle had mudguards, reflectors, or lights. James Cahill said he was in his Aorangi road home when he heard a car change gear and then a thud. When he looked from a window he saw a boy and a cycle on the road. He went out to assist, and later took the accused into his home.

Cross-examined, the witness said that immediately after the accident the accused was steady on his feet and his conversation was rational. He gave no indication of being under the influence of liquor, nor was there anything in his driving to make the witness think he was incapable of controlling a car. “Condition Worsened”

It was only after the accused knelt beside the injured boy that he became

emotionally and physically disturbed, and his condition then worsened. Constable James Leon White said that he arrived at the accident about 11.20 p.m. and found the accused lying on the front doorstep of a nearby house vomiting. The accused was unable to get up, and also had to be assisted to the police car. Constable Carl Albright said that when the police car reached the station the accused was asleep, and had to be carried inside. Mr McClelland said in his address to the jury that there had been no suggestion of speed by the accused. The boys had been wearing dark clothes, and their cycles had neither mudguards, reflectors, nor lights. Renwick had said in his evidence that the parked car could have hidden them from the accused’s view, and Cahill, who saw the accused immediately after the accident, thought he was fit then to drive.

Two Appeals Dismissed

Mr Justice Wilson in the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the appeal of Harold Maurice James Smither, aged 45, a fitter and turner, against his conviction in the Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, on September 24 on a charge of breaking and entering the Theatre Royal on August 19. Mr R. A. Allan appeared for Smither. His Honour also dismissed the appeal of Murray James Johnson, aged 29, a storeman, against conviction and sentence of six months’ imprisonment imposed in the Magistrate’s Court, Christchurch, on October 22 on a charge that on September 24 he permitted another. male to do an indecent act on him.

Mr R. L. Kerr appeared for Johnson. Mr N. W. Williamson appeared for the Crown in both cases.