DRIVER FINED £50

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 17, 20 July 1942, Page 6

DRIVER FINED £50

PEDESTRIAN'S DEATH

Found guilty by a jury of causing the death of Sydney Parsons, aged 77, by negligent driving in Darlington Road, Miramar, on April 18, James Herlihy, a truck driver, aged 34, was fined £50 in the Supreme Court today by the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers), and ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution, £14 Is. The jury had added to its verdict a strong recommendation to mercy. Mr. J. A. Scott, who appeared for the prisoner, stressed the recommendation of the jury and the fact;that Her- ! liny-bore an exemplary character. He [urged probation, and asked that, be- | cause driving in wartime was an essential occupation, any cancellation of the prisoner's licence should be for a short period. His Honour said.it was one's, duty to give the fullest possible effect to the jury's recommendation. The accident was not, attended by any of the grosser features whiafti generally accompanied such cases. It was more an error of judgment than negligence, although in law it was negligence; but it was not unreasonable to suppose that !in the circumstances that existed, on Ithat night the driver might not have been aware of the fact that his lights had gone out. DRIVING AT NIGHT. The very fact that the jury had convicted, however, showed that it was fully alive to the necessity of protecting the safety of users of the road in the present black-out or restricted lighting conditions. It would have a most salutary effect and would act as a warning to persons who .drove at night. Sentence was then imposed, his Honour adding that because the accident had been caused by an error of judgment rather than anything like gross negligence he would' make no order as to Herlihy's licence.