DRIVER CONVICTED

Evening Post, Issue 87, 9 October 1936, Page 11

DRIVER CONVICTED

A TRIP. TO MASTERTON

INTOXICATION CHARGE

Pleading not guilty to' being intoxicated in charge of a motor-car on September 27, and to negligently driving a motor-car.in Moxham Avenue, Robert Bald, a commercial traveller, aged 40, appeared before Mr. J. .H. Luxford, S.M., in the. Magistrate's Court today. He was found guilty, of being intoxicated in charge, and was remanded for sentence until after the luncheon, adjournment; . Mr. R. E. Tripe appeared- for the accused, and Sub-Inspector C. E. Roach conducted the prosecution. Terence Maddison, a taxi driver, said he first noticed the defendant's car in the Mt. Victoria tunnel, travelling in the centre of the road. The defendant had trouble in avoiding an oncoming car, but pulled over to his. correct side At the corner of Moxham Avenue and the tunnel entrance, a pedestrian crossing towards the east side was nearly struck., by. the. car. .Down Moxham Avenue, the course of the car was a wandering: one. Witness saw a constable, stopped, and suggested that the driver of the car was intoxicated. The constable• entered the taxi*, which finally caught the car in Onepu Road. The constable called out to the defen-. dant to stop.: < This, the defendant did readily. The defendant then got out, and after a few, minutes got into the back of the taxi.. After he got in, witness could smell liquor- in. the front seat quite strongly. The defendants gait from his car to the taxi was not steady. . ■:'.-■ .■•'■■-.''■ Cross-examined-byMr. Tripe, witness said he was not prepared to say whether the defendant's car swung over to the right of the centre line, of the road, when in Moxham Avenue. A man would be rather stiff after driving from Masterton in a baby car. . CONSTABLE'S EVIDENCE. .' Constable Hodge said that the previous witness drew his attention to the way a baby car was being driven. Witness followed -the car in the taxi, and noted that in Moxham Avenue and Kilbirnie Crescent it swayed at times over the centre line. It tobk the corners well, at moderate speed. When the defendant stepped out, he said he had just driven through from Masterton. Witness could smell liquor. o n him, and he was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred, and his face was flushed. The defendant admitted having three or four drinks before leaving Masterton. At the sta^ tion, the defendant said he had gone through to> Masterton on the previous day (a Saturday) as manager of a football team, had a wild night in Masterton;, and had about three drinks on the way down. The drinks were shandies. ~-..■'' ' '■■ " : Cross-examined, witness .said .that prior to the taxi-driver drawing -his attention to the car, he had not noticed it. The defendant got into the taxi himself j without assistance. ■■;■.:•.,' ■ Sergeant C. R. Jukes gave evidence as to the defendant's condition when in the station. The accused asked for a doctor, but the doctor he nominated was indisposed; , ; , Cross-examined, witness said the accused told him the story of the weekend. Witness would not say that the accused was drunk, or incoherent. Dr. J. F. Zohrab, of Hataitai, said that at about 6 p.m. on September 27 he saw the defendant at the Kilbirnie police station. The defendant-' admitted drinking, his breath smelt of alcohol,.'and lie was unsteady and flushed. Hewas garrulous, and his speech was slurred. • In witness's opinion, he was unfit to.drive a motor-car. Cross-examined, the witness said the accused told him he had not had a drink for some .time.' Witness had heard of cases of men becoming drowsy while driving, and going to.sleep at the wheel of a car. He knew, that accused had been gassed in Jhe war, but did not know that the defendant still had a piece of shrapnel in his nose. If it w.as produced in evidence that the defendant'sJ nerves were in bad shape as a result of war injuries, witness would admit that that would be a contributing factor to the defendant's condition when examined. THE ACCUSED'S STORY. ;■ In-evidence,', .the accused said he was the manager of. a i'ootball team which played at Masterton on the Saturday. After the game, he. went to a party at a friend's place, and the party broke'up about 4 a.m. He stayed the night. During the morning six of them drank two bottles of beer between them. Their host gave them two bottles of beer to take back, there being four in-the car, and after lunch they drove down to Wellington, stopping at Featherstbn for a meal. . ■ He was never under the influence oi liquor during the drive down, and did not hay liquor after two 'hours., after leaving Masterton. In July, 1917, he was gassed by. mustard gas, from the effects of which he still suffered. He had a nervous breakdown in 1931. • The road being Up in Moxham Avenue caused him to drive on the tram-lines. On account of having four men and luggage aboard, he had pumped the tyres up considerably more than Usual for the. trip down, and this, combined with the strong wind, the fact that there were then only two men in the car, and a defect in steering, made the car very hard to control. Saturday night was not a "wild night, but just a convivial evening. William Cunningham, a,member . of the football' team, corroborated the defendant's evidence. The defendant remarked that he was feeling tired, but his driving gave the passengers no cause for alarm. William Munro said that as a motor driver of 12 years' 'experience, he expressed his complete faith in the defendant's driving on the Sundayv Henry James Gill, a mechanic, said that the car came into the garage in which he was employed on September 29 for overhaul and checking. -, He found the wheels three-sixteenths oi an inch out of alignment, which would probably. have caused the car to "wander" or drag to one side. James Jenkiri, of ' Masterton, gave evidence regarding the events of the weekend,- and generally corroborated the previous witness's evidence regarding the tendency of the car to drag to one side with the wheels out or alignment. . John Cheyne Riddell, manager of a city firm, said that he knew the defendant for a number of years as an emotional, nervous, and excitable employee. He saw the defendant soon after the medical inspection, and was positive he was- not intoxicated. He naturally appeared at times sleepy. Witness was satisfied that if , Dr. Zohrab had been acquainted with the defendant's medical condition, his decision would have been otherwise. Witness let the defendant have the car for the weekend,, and would do so again. ' . : ' ■. "I should have liked very much to have extended leniency to you in view of your war record," said the Magistrate this afternoon, "and it came as a great surprise to me' that you were convicted in 1928 of a similar offence.' The accused was sentenced to 14, days' imprisonment with hard labour, and a direction was made that the conviction, be endorsed on his licence and on any one issued to him within three years. The negligence charge was withdrawn. • ' ' >