"HOW DARE YOU!"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 110, 5 November 1926, Page 10

"HOW DARE YOU!"

TRAFFIC INSPECTOR AND

MOTORIST.

An encounter between a motorist and a traffic inspector at Petone recently had its sequel in the Magistrate's Court 3'esterday afternoon, when Captain Leopold M'Laglan was charged with parking his car within twenty feet of a street corner, and with parking it on the wrong side of the road. Walter Benjamin Gough, traffic inspector, of Petone, said that he found the defendant's ear in Jackson street, parked within twenty feet of the Bay street corner. He was just looking at it when the defendant called out from across the road, "Leave the thing alone." Witness then went over to the defendant and said, "You are pretty smart but I am going to prosecute, you for leaving your car within twenty feet of the corner." The defendant then followed him across the street to his (witness's office), and said that >he would report the matter to the Commissioner of Police. Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell (for the defendant) : "I put it to you that this prosecution would never have taken place if Captain M'Laglan had not been what you thought was rude to you."—Witness said he would have prosecuted in any case. Mr. Treadwell said that Captain M'Laglan had come up from Christchurch especially to defend the case. He was a man of exceptionally high character, who had Been governor of two prisons, and had trained members of the police for a number of years. On the date in question, the defendant had parked his car between thirty and forty feet from the corner. He saw the inspector touch his car and said, "How dare you touch my car?" to which the latter replied, "How dare you speak to me like that! Do you know that I am the Petone traffic inspector?" The defendant then said, "Run away, little man, run away," and the inspector walked away. He never mentioned anything about a broken bylaw. The defendant said that the inspector was not in uniform, and ha had no idea that he was a traffic inspector. Some time after, he received a summons iv Christchurch, and he came to Wellington because he thought the prosecution had been made out of malice. The defendant bore out his counsel's statements. Several witnesses gave corroborative evidence. In iris decision, Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., said he thought both parties had used little tact. It seemed that the measures taken to judge the distance the car was parked from the corner were unsatisfactory, and the defendant should have the benefit of the doubt. That charge would be dismissed. The other.charge would be dismissed with the payment of 7s costs.