Aide cleared of charge

Press, 9 June 1982, Page 23

Aide cleared of charge

' •' Dunedin 1 he Dunedin Mavor’s aide has been cleared of a charge ol assaulting a traffic officer after the District Court at Dunedin was told that he might have been suffering from shell shock on the night of the alleged assault. Miles Raymond Singe, aged 49. had denied assaulting Traffic Officer Peter James Dalwood in the execution of his dutv on March 28. He was represented by Mr C. S. Withnall and appeared before Judge Seeman. Mr Dalwood said Singe had been seen in a car weaving on Andersons Bav Road, and was taken to a Ministry of Transport office for alcohol tests. In the patrol car. the defendant was abusive and spoke with an American accent. After the taking of blood samples by a police surgeon. Singe got up from his chair and appeared to trip and knock one of the blood bottles over. Mr Dalwood said. Singe was told to sit down and Mr Dalwood "sat him back in the chair firmlv with one arm on each shoulder." Mr Dalwood said he tried to prevent Singe's glasses from slipping off the end of

his nose, and was hit h. Singe on the right side of the face. In evidence. Singe outlined his former career as a soldier. his service in Vietnam and Malaysia, the training he indcrtook to resist interrogation. and the treatment he received from British military police in Singapore. He was discharged from the Army in 1974 on medical grounds after a period in hospital from a type of ‘'mental breakdown.” he said. Dr J. D Peyroux. Singe's doctor, explained his medical history in relation to his war service. From medical records and reading he had done on post-combat neurosis (shell shock), he felt the defendant's behaviour was consistent with that of someone suffering from the condition. The procedure of going back to the Ministry office to undergo a blood test was like being taken prisoner and going back to enemy headquarters. Dr Peyroux said. The officer was in uniform. a sharp "weapon" was wielded (the syringe), there was blood, the defendant was forcibly restrained when told to sit. and there was the use of the American accent. Dr Peyroux said.

Under cross-examination by the police prosecutor. Sergeant D. W. A. Boyd. Dr Peyroux accepted that Singe's behaviour may have also been consistent with someone agitated, frustrated, and intoxicated. The Judge said there had only been one blow in reaction to a physical contact situation. Given all the circumstances. he was prepared to accept it was "reasonably possible" for the blow to have been a "knee jerk” reaction, and he dismissed the charge.