MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2076, 17 March 1922, Page 5

MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE.

FINE OF £IOO (Per Press Association.) GISBORNE, Thursday. In the Supreme Court, Albert Ld- ;• mond Burgeois, who was found guilty • of manslaughter, with a recommendation to mercy, came up for sentence. Evidence was called to show that , accused had borne the reputation of a r careful driver. . Mr Justice Reed said that since the / conviction the, matter of punishment > had occasioned him some anxiety. It t was not a case that called for punish* > ment by imprisonment. The accused • had been negligent, and such ncgli- > genco had brought him under the pro- > visions of the Crimes Act. The jury ' felt the difference between accused’s ’ negligence and the negligence of > others who had done the same thing " and had escaped with a fine for a 3 brehch of a by-law, or esepade alto--1 gether, was that his act caused a collision, which resulted in the death of a human being. The jury evidently ' felt that the circumstances —a dark ’ drizzly night, added to a poorly light--1 cd vehicle —was a strong contribution ‘ to the cause and the unfortunate, result. Negligence called for punish- ’ ment. A large proportion of motorists habitualy disregard the rules of the road. It cannot be too widely ’ known that where an accident follows and death results, the offender crim- ' inally is liable. His Honour thought the proper course in this case was to impose a fine of £IOO, and order payment of tlv cost of the prosecution.