Liquor Supplied Motorists After Hours

Franklin Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 140, 30 November 1938, Page 5

Liquor Supplied Motorists After Hours

MERCER HOTEL DISCLOSURE AT ACCIDENT NINE PROSECUTIONS FOLLOW LICENSEE IN TROUBLE When his old beauty model was involved in a collision on the Pokeno deviation bn September 23 last, little did Henry Ernest Biddle think of the number of prosecutions which would follow. Yet as a direct result, nine prosecutions—involving five individuals—ensued; and in consequence, the Crown is the richer to the extent of £ll 6s. In the Pukekohe Police Court on Monday, Biddle, a carpenter, employed by the Public Works Department at Waitakaruru, and his companion, A. H. McAllister, of Maxwell, were each charged with aiding and abetting Henry Douglas, a barman, of Mercer, in committing an offence —procuring liquor after hours —and the proprietor of the Railway Hotel, Mercer, E. B. Morey, with (a) selling liquor after hours, and (b) opening licensed premises for sale after hours. Douglas faced two counts of supplying liquor after hours. Sergeant W. Grainger said. that at 6.30 on the evening in question, McAllister and Biddle, who had been driving in the latter’s car, called in at the Railway Hotel, Mercer, where they were served a round of drinks by Douglas, who had been left in charge by the proprietor. They left the hotel after purchasing a further four bottles of beer. These facts had been disclosed to the Police as the result of inquiries made after a collision in which the two men had been subsequently involved, as a result of which McAllister had been seriously injured. Biddle and McAllister were each fined £l, and were ordered to pay 10s and 12s costs respectively. Douglas, the barman, was fined £3, with costs 10s, for supply, one man, and was convicted and ordered to pay costs 10s for supplying the other.

The licensee was convicted and ordered to pay costs 10s on the.count of selling, and the other was withdrawn.

The fines and expenses arising from the motoring charges cost Biddle a further £3 14s. A detailed report of the latter appears in another column.

SUBSEQUENT CHARGES

OFFENCES ON NOVEMBER 15 In conjunction with the above counts, Morey was also charged with selling liquor after hours, and opening licensed premises for sale after hours, on November 15; while two men, Jack Bird, a seaman of the S.S. Arawa, and D. Patterson, a butcher, of Devonport, faced charges of being on the licensed premises of the Railway Hotel, Mercer, after hours.

Sergeant Grainger said that at 9.30 in the evening Bird and Patterson went into the hotel, which was visited by Constable F. T. Wakelin soon afterwards. The two men were found in a side room drinking beer. When spoken to, the licensee had been perfectly honest, stating that the men had asked for the beer, and that he had supplied it to them. Mr A. P. King, who represented Morey, said that his client had a verygood record, having only been in trouble twice in 17 years. In this case, the two men had “seemed decent fellows, and he had not the heart to let them down.” Mr King added that the Mercer Hotel was one where the licensee was often subjected to temptation. The Magistrate: They all run the risk, and the country licensees are no worse than the city ones, although they are more frequently in court. I’d better not say what I think about the whole thing. If these people desire liquor, they should procure it before six o’clock. Morey had sufficient warning Iwo months before. On the charge of selling after hours, Morey was fined £5 with costs 10s, the charge of opening being withdrawn. Bird and Patterson were each fined £1 with costs 10s.