WEEK IN GAOL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23145, 17 September 1938, Page 22

WEEK IN GAOL

INTOXICATED DKIVER * OFFENCE BY YOUNG MAN PEDESTRIANS KNOCKED DOWN CAR SEEN BEFORE ACCIDENT "There is no difference between n young man who takes liquor and goes ou the street as a potential murderer and a much older man, hut 1 hope this will serve as a lesson to accused and other young men who take liquor and drive afterward," said Sir. C. U. Orr Walker, S.M., in the Police Court vesterday, when sentencing Clarence William Flardman, labourer, aged 22 (Air. George Skelton), on an admitted charge of being intoxicated in charge of a motor-car in Karangaliape Road last Saturday afternoon. Sub-Inspector Fox said accused's car mounted the curb in front of the premises of George Court, Limited, and continued for about lift, before knocking down a woman and her young daughter. The child suffered only bruises, hut the mother was badly injured, although she was no longer in danger. Shortly after the accident a constable found accused in charge of the car and saw he was in an intoxicated condition. Half an hour later a doctor certified that accused was drunk and unfit to drive. Course of Oar "With the aid of witnesses' stories we are more or less able to trace accused's course up Queen Street," said Mr. l''ox. "A man waiting for a Ponsonby tram saw him drive past in between the safety zones on the tram lines, and called out to him to watch where lie was going. The car was wobbling and the driver's head was lolling from side to side, as if he were drunk. ! Some minutes later this witness got off his tram in Karangaliape Road, when he recognised accused's car, which had been implicated in the accident." According to other witnesses, Air. Fox added, the ear swerved from side to side between the curb and tram lines in Karangaliape Road before the accident. The speed of the car was about 25 miles an hour After tho accident, accused simply sat in the car for some minutes until a constable arrived. Tho polico had no previous record of accused. Plea for Leniency Counsel said it was not a case of a man deliberately taking liquor and risking driving. Accused had only three "half-handles" of beer, the effects of which were not apparent when he started to drive. The reason for his •driving on to the footpath was to avoid striking a preceding car, which stopped suddenly. His car just glanced off the back of the other. It was accused's first accident, and tho circumstances aggravated his condition. He was the sole supporter of his mother, added counsel, pleading for leniency. The magistrate said the fact that the car got on to the footpath showed that accused was unable to manage it. Because of his youth, however, he would not be given flie same sentence that he would otherwise have received. Accused was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment. His driving licence was cancelled for three years. MONTH'S PRISON TERM THIRD SIMILAR. OFFENCE [by telegraph—PßESS association] DUXEDIN, Friday Pointing out that there were two previous offences, the last one in 1932, and emphasising that to impose a fine would definitely be wrong in the public interest, Air. Bundle, S.AI., sentenced William James Patterson AleCullough, radio dealer, to a month's imprisonment and also cancelled his licence for two years for being intoxicated in charge of a car.