DRUNKEN MOTORIST

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 270, 10 August 1943, Page 2

DRUNKEN MOTORIST

Airman Fined £25

Having been foufid iu charge of . a mOtor-ciif while in a state ot intoxication in Murphy Street last Friday afternoon, Patrick Arthur Townsend, a member Ot the Royal New Zealand Ait Force,, was convicted and fined £25 by Mr. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. Scnior-Sei'geant G. J. Paine conducted the prosecution, and Mr. N. T. Gillespie appeared for accused, who pleaded not guilty. Mrs. Ivy Muriel Whrner said that while she was making a right-hand turn in her motor-car from Murphy Street into Pipitea Street, accused drove a heavy motor-car rtound the corner at great pace, and crashed into her car with such force that it was forced back, 20 feet into Murphy 'Street. She spoke to accused, who said lie was sorry, lie xvas definitely drunk, his clothing being disarranged, and he smelt strongly ol liquor. , , , Constable F. Foley said that when he arrived, acused was iu an advanced stage of intoxication, and he had no hesitation iu arresting him. The police officers who received accused when he was taken to the Central Police Station said that be was in an advanced stage of intoxication. Accused, in evidence, said he was on sick leave from the Air Force after an operation to his left leg. On Friday be had six or seven drinks of beer between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. AVhen the collision occured, the car he was driving was coasting. He had been overseas with the N.Z. Air Force for three years, and returned, to the Dominion to undergo’ the operation. Cross-examined by Senior-Sergeant Paine, accused said his nerves were not too good, and the accident upset him. Sergeant John Leonard Ashworth Friar, returned New Zealand soldier, said he had been in company with accused on Friday. They hud several drinks that day. but he would not. say that accused was intoxicated. Witness bailed accused out after he had been asrented, but he denied that lie was intoxicated when he did so. Mr. Gillespie, in a plea for lenieney, said accused had au outstanding war service record, and bad been in more than 30 operational flights over Germany uud Europe, lie had th" permission of Belinett, the owner of the ear. who sat beside him that day, to drive the ear. and the owner would not: have allowed him to take the wheel had be been drunk. *Tn passing sentence, the magistrate said he saw no reason' why accused should be treated any differently from a civilian driving a car.