MOTOR DRIVER DRUNK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18495, 4 September 1923, Page 8

MOTOR D RIVER DRUNK.

PUTARURU DOCTOR FINED. STEERED ERRATIC COURSE. DEFENDANT BLAMES DRUG. tBX ; TELEGRAPH.—-OWN CORRESPONDENT.} ' HAMILTON. Monday.. A plea that -he was under, the .influence of a drug was made on behalf of Selwyn Haslet, medical practitioner, of Putarnru, when charged at the Hamilton Police Court to-day, with driving a motor-car in the streets of Hamilton on -August 23 while : drunk. Defendant pleaded not guilty. ' :.'■'./ . ■.;;' .■■' : -'y-" ; ';','-:•/ '^^::.% Evidence was given by' the police that defendant was seen driving his car in an erratic and reckless manner. He narrowly avoided one collision, and when he started his car after pulling up for some minutes he ran into a lorry. .. No damage was done. ': ■'■'•';■■'"'.• '.. '■: . ..,■■■., : '.' ' For the defendant, Mr. King said that he was a nick-man and not a drunken man on the day in question. t In the dis- ! trict in which he was practising. Puta- ! ruru, he had a .wide area to cover, and the roads were exceptionally bad. In consequence of the influenza epidemic he had had a very strenuous time... in fact, i ho was exhausted and ill. On August 22, he accompanied a cot • case to Kotorua, and while there he received bad news, which.necessitated his proceeding immedi. atoly to Auckland. . Defendant returned to Putaruru, saw two patients, and motored to Cambridge. While there he felt ill, ami hud-, three brandies. He went for a walk, and not feshng any better, he to'.k an injecu.n of mnir.hia sulphate. There was no doubt, said counsel, that defendant s condition was duo to the drug and not to the drink. He made a noise in his cell because he wanted a doctor. _ He was well-nigh distracted owing, tp his anxiety to get to Auckland. , ' . .:.■■ Dr. Oswald Joseph said the effect of a quarter of a grain of morphia nulphate would bo to depress the higher nerve centres very markedly, to lesson the reasoning facilities, and \ to make a man very larpelv irresponsible for his actions. It would dull his higher faculties, and mnke him respond to other stimulants. Defendant gave evidence on the lines of counsel's statement. He said ho was not addicted to drink or drugs. ; Robert Glynn Lewis, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, said he had never seen a man look like defendant on the day in question. He d?d not think ho was drunk, but he certainly looked.ill. After a considered judgment, the magistrate, Mr. H. A., Young, found defendant guilty. ,' Counsel referred to the magistrate's recent warning and decision to send persons found trinity of beinß- in charge of vehicles while drunk to gaol, and pointed out the differences between the present case and a case in which a local man who was convicted for bcincr drunk while in charcte of & licensed vehicle was sent to prison. ' '•.■■,: ' After further consideration, the magistrate imposed a fine of £10. A burst of applause among the large Catherine: of interested spectators was suppressed by the police. ;