Dismissed Charges As A Protest

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30740, 3 May 1965, Page 9

Dismissed Charges As A Protest

(New Zealand Press Association) DARGAVILLE, May 2. Two charges of over-loading were dismissed by Mr H. Jenner Wily, S.M., as an expression of his opinion of Transport Department policy. He said the Court should be informed on all matters relating to a case, not just what suited the Transport Department.

The Court was hearing charges of overloading brought against M. and C. Franicevic I '. of Dargaville. M. J. Franicevich, managing director of the company, told the Court his trucks had carted two over-weight loads on February 15 because of faulty scales at the Whangarei fertiliser works. The driver had been unaware of the extra weight and the company had carted 27 cwt. of fertiliser extra in each

: load for which it had not been ; paid. The Magistrate: Who gets the benefit? I Franicevich: the farmer. We I got the ticket. He said a letter from the i fertiliser company explaining ■ the fault had been forwarded ■ to the chief traffic officer in Whangarei, this had not been • returned and he was only I able to produce dockets for ’ two 19-ton loads for which i his company had been credit- ' ed. The Magistrate said he would like to have seen the letter. It shauld have been supplied to the prosecuting officer. Traffic Officer K. A. Gould said traffic officers were not normally shown these letters unless they were required to comment on them. It was not department policy to supply them to the prosecuting officers. 1 The Magistrate: Then I will dismiss these two charges as an expression of my opinion i of the department's policy. i He said he had already com- • mented on the department’s i policy of not advising prosecuting officers of previous ■ orders by the Court against ■ the licences of defendants in driving charges. He hoped i both matters would be • brought to the attention of the department.