“ABSOLUTELY DRUNK”

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 218, 11 June 1930, Page 12

“ABSOLUTELY DRUNK”

MOTORIST FINED £2O A ROAD ENGINEER Dominion Special Service. Palmerston North, June 10. “He was not merely in a state of intoxication, he was absolutely drunk,” said Senior-Sergeant Whitehouse in the police court to-day, in respect of Robert Duprat Tosswill (Mr. Ongley), who admitted a charge of being in charge of a motor-car while in a state of intoxication. and was fined £2O. Senior-Sergeant Whitehouse said the police were rung up at 6 o’clock last evening from Rangitikei Street, and in response to the message two constables proceeded on bicycles to Rangitikei Street as fast as they could go. They found defendant had got into his car, but was experiencing great difficulty in manipulating the gears. The car was jumping. The constables stopped defendant and got him out of the car. He was so drunk he could hardly stand on his feet. When asked where he was, he said “In Wanganui.” He was not merely in a state of intoxication, he was absolutely drunk. It was hard to say what fatal accident would have occurred if defendant had got away with the car. He could hardly speak properly. , , „ Mr. Ongley admitted that-the offence to which his client had pleaded guilty was very serious, and said it must be met by a substantial penalty. He asked, however, that defehdnnt’s license to drive be not cancelled, as his livelihood depended on it. Defendant was managing-direc-tor and engineer for a road-contracting Company in Wanganui. He was (10 years of age, and was not given to drink. That he should find himself in his present position was a severe punishment in itself. On the night of the affair he had had several drinks with friends, and none had realised his condition at the time. The case was an extreme one. The bench remarked that in the circumstances defendant’s license would not be cancelled, but the case was a serious one. and defendant would be fined £2O. ■ Two days were given in which to pay.