GAOL FOR LORRY-DRIVER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 12

GAOL FOR LORRY-DRIVER.

A PEDESTRIAN KILLED. TWO YEARS' HARD LABOUR. Before the Chief Justice, Sir William Irvine, in the Criminal Court in Melbourne recently, the trial was concluded of Thomas Sullivan, aged 29 years, motor-lorry driver, who had been committed for trial by the city coroner on a charge of having killed Ivy Jane McKenzie at Footscray. The Crown prosecutor, Mr. Madndoe. prosecuted, and Mr. T. C. Brennan appeared for the defence. The Chief Justice, in summing up to the jury, said: —A great deal has been said to you on the subject of drunkenness. The Crown says that Sullivan was drunk, but the defence says that he was not. I think you can have no doubt that Sullivan was driving the lorry which knocked down and killed this woman, and also that the woman died as the result of being knocked down and being run over by the lorry. The issue of whether Sullivan was drunk or sober is of no importance. It has been . said that the driver would not reasonably expect any persons to be on the road at this time. It would be dangerous to lay down a rule that motor-drivers should not keep a sharp look-out for such emergencies. In a civil action it might have been a good plea to have alleged contributory negligence on the part of this unfortunate woman and her husband in walking on this part of the 'road, but that plea is of no use in this case. It had been held that it is manslaughter if a drunken man, staggering across the road, is knocked down and killed. v Having inspected the motor-lorry and the scene of the accident, the jury, after a retirement of four and a-half hours, returned a verdict of guilty. Mr. Brennan: The verdict of the jury involves a finding of recklessness on the part of Sullivan. It is a finding which does not involve moral latitude and does not involve anything in the nature of deliberation. He is only a young man on the threshold of life, and to know that he has been the cause of the death of a young woman like this is, in my opinion, sufficient punishment. The Chief Justice (to Sullivan): You have been convicted of manslaughter on evidence on which any reasonable jury would have come to the same decision. I have heard your counsel's plea in mitigation, and I agree with one remark that 4here was no deliberation. The offence is not so criminal as it would have been in other circumstances. The offence is most grievous according to law. Sullivan was sentenced to imprisonment for two years with hard labour.