KATANA FINED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 243, 11 September 1933, Page 3

KATANA FINED.

PATEA, Sept, 8. Tahu Wire mu Ratana, on a charge of being intoxicated while in charge of a motor car, was fined £SO (costs 12s) in default three months’ imprisonment, at the Patea Magistrate’s Court yesterday. On a second count of driving without a license a fine of £lO (10s) was imposed. The prosecution was a sequel to Ratana’s arrival at Patea with a party of Maoris on August 31 to establish a model pa. in memory of Turi. Ratana did not appear at Court, but wrote explaining that his licensed driver, Peter Paul, had been driving the car that day. When he was returning from Patea to the camp at Wai-o-Turi the car had refused to take a hill near the pilot station. The driver had gone to the camp to get some men to push the car up the hill, and while the car was being pushed he had taken the wheel for a short time.

The Magistrate said that in view of Ratafia’s position as a leader of men he could not treat the offences lightly. Had it not been for the mitigating circumstances of Ratana’s having had control of the cai only for a brief period and the car’s being in a side road he would have imposed a term of imprisonment. Ratana was setting the Natives an extremely bad example. One week was allowed in which to pay the fines.