INTOXICATED DRIVER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20516, 18 March 1930, Page 14

INTOXICATED DRIVER.

ACCIDENT AT JAKAPUNA.

CRASH INTO POLE AT KERB.

FINE AND LICENCE

Following a collision with! an electricpower polo at Takapuna cm Saturday afternoon, when the car in which he was driving with his child was damaged almost beyond repair, Thomas Mackie (Mr. Singer), dental mechanic, aged 37, was charged in the Police Court yesterday with being intoxicated while in charge of a motor-car in Anzac Street, Takapuna, on Saturday. He pleaded not guilty. William Godfrey Reid said he was in his house about 6 p.m. on Saturday when he heard a crash outside. He saw a badlydamaged motor-car against an electricpower pole on the corner of Anzac Street and The Terrace. Accused was in the car and witness asked him if he were hurt. Mackie did not seem to understand and did not reply. He surveyed the wreck of liis car without comment. "At first I thought he was dazed, but I later decided that he was under the influence of liquor," said Reid. > In reply to Mr. Singer witness said accused was bleeding from an injury in the side of his head. A schoolboy, aged 13, who was riding a bicycle in Anzac Street, said he saw the car come round the corner at a fair speed. It swerved sideways into the pole and the two right-hand wheels struck the kerbing. There was no other traffic on the road at the time. , Constable Wood, of Takapuna, said the car skidded and after travelling 30ft. struck the kerb. The wheels on the right side collapsed and the vehicle ran 24ft. until it struck the pole. Accused at first said he had not taken any liquor and then said he had had' one drink, but had taken no liquor after the accident. "Mackie was under the influence of liquor and was not, in my opinion, in a: fit state to drive a car," concluded the constable. ''l saw the car /thait evening previously, between 5 and 6 p.m., standing outside a hotel." "I formed ■ the opinion that accused should not have been driving a car," said Sergeant O'Brien, of Devonport;, who stated that he had seen accused when he was brought to the Devonport police station shortly before 7 p.m.

Mr. Singer' said accused was married and had three children. He h&d never been before a Court, previously. He had taken only one drink in the hotel and had had only one drink previously, a small glass of beer. He had his little boy, aged five, with him at the time. The accident had been caused by the car skidding, which it had a habit of doing. "I am afraid I cannot see anything different from the usual, case," said the magistrate, Mr. W. R. McKe&n, after accused had given evidence along the lines of Mr. Singer's statement. Accused was fined £25 and ordered to pay costs, £1 4s 6d, while his driving licence was cancelled for 12 months. He was allowed 21 days in which to pay. RESISTANCE TO ARREST. . SALESMAN FINED £3O. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Monday. Walter Hugh Anderson, aged 28, a motor salesman, pleaded guilty to-day to charges of being intoxicated while in charge of a car and violently resisting the constable who attempted to arrest him early on. Sunday morning. Anderson was fined £2O on the first charge and £lO on the second.