MOTORIST FINED £100

Evening Star, Issue 22336, 12 May 1936, Page 3

MOTORIST FINED £IOO

NEGLIGENCE CAUSING DEATH DECEASED CONTRIBUTED T« FATALITY [Ps*t United Peeks Association.) AUCKLAND. May 11. A motorist, John Reginald Smith, company manager, who had been found wuilty of negligent driving, causing death, was fined £.IOO m the Supreme Court by Mr Justice Fair. The accident happened on the night of February 23, the victim, John Beeston, being knocked down when crossing a road. Mr Singer, who appeared for Smith, stressed the fact that the jury had added a rider strongly recommending mercy, holding that in its unanimous opinion the deceased had contributed in no small measure to the accident. His Honour stated that the jury’s verdict of negligent driving was, in his opinion, the only conclusion that it could reasonably have come to. He was prepared to give full effect to the jury’s decision that the deceased’s act had contributed to the fatality, having regard also to the fact that the negligence was restricted to failure to keep a proper look-out during a short period, that there were no circumstances of aggravation, and that the accused’s character had been exemplary in the past. His Honour said the ends of justice would be met by ordering Smith to pay a fine of £IOO.