NEGLIGENT DRIVER

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 141, 16 May 1929, Page 4

NEGLIGENT DRIVER

SENTENCED TO IMPRISONMENT SEQUEL TO AUCKLAND FATALITY Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, May 15. Having been found guilty of negligently driving a motor-car in Remuera on April 19 so as to cause the death of a little girl, a jeweller’s apprentice, Francis Clarence Beresford Power, aged 19, was sentenced by Mr Justice Heroman in the Supreme Court, to-day to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour. His license was cancelled and ho was further debarred from obtaining a license for seven years. “Your case has given me much thought*” said His Honour. “You have been convicted by a jury of destroying the life of a child by a negligent act. lam not forgetful of the recommendation which the jury has made, but I have the public interest to consider. lam bound to assess punishment for an act which was inexcusably reckless. Too often, perhaps, in thinking of the future of a prisoner we are apt to forget the distress and sorrow which are the lot of the relatives who in the twinkling of an eye lose a parent or a child. The law has been designed to protect persons who in the lawful exercise of their rights use the streets. “On this occasion,” continued His Honour, “you were driving on a clear road in a clear light; there was nothing on the road to obscure your vision. Your companion saw the children on the road when you were over 100 yards distant from them, and you should have seen them had you kept a proper look-out. But you held on, driving at a fast pace, knocking the child over, and, hardly even pausing to look at the harm you had done, you drove “If . you did not see the children in the street then you were not keeping a proper look-out; if you did see them, then your recklessness and irresponsibility caused the tragedy. Had you been able to show that you had driven slowly, carefully, and vigilantly, you could not have been held to blame, but the evidence was all the other way. I consider the case to be a bad one. It is not a case for a fine —it is a case that requires some sterner form of punishment. I take into account your age and the recommendation of the jury.”