TOLD A TALE

NZ Truth, Issue 1127, 7 July 1927, Page 9

TOLD A TALE

The Apple On the Mudguard (From "N.Z. Truth's" Gisborne Rep.) "This man's action was coward- ■ ly, m the extreme, and m my , opinion a man who acts as he did is not fit to be driving a motor? . .car.", ■■. • ;■• ■ -■■■: / -■ • ■ ■' ;.. THIS was the testimonial handed put . to* Thomas Johnstone Cooper by Senior Sergeant Fitzpatrick when Cooper was before the Court at GlsTjorne. ■ • '■ .. ■■.•■■-■.■ ■■■. ■.'•. j Cooper never got , into the box to state his side of the case, but his counsel, Lawyer Kirk, did not view the matter in' such a serious light. He facetiously .remarked that even as an apple had toeen the first downfall ef man it had been the downfall of Cooper, who might not have been caught but for the irrefutable evidence of an apple. .'..'. The case arose through a little girl, 12 years of age, berng knocked down by a motor- car on the even- j ing of June 6. The Car did not.stop, but drove away and only by the quick thought of a young boy and the tell-tale apple, was; the offender traced. These facts were explained by the senior sergeant,' who stated, that the accident ; was caused through Cooper cutting the corner and driving on the wrong side of the. road. The little girl was cycling m front of the car, and seeing it approaching on the wrong side she swerved towards the centre, but the car did likewise. • The girl arid her cycle were picked up by the. car and carried tp the other side of the road before they fell clear. Cooper, said tlie police officer, drove back into the centre of the road and continued without stopping!: "The screams of the child, who was badyy bruised, should ; have been sufficient to make, him stop," he said, "but it appears as' if he continued on his Way so as to avoid detection." Cooper might have succeeded m this, but the boy referred to was near the scene of the laccident, and. realising what had occurred immediately jumped on his bicycle and, gave chase, not only securing the number of the car, but also obtaining a view of the" driver's face. . "This information was given by . the boy to the police," said the senior sergeant, "and I want to publicly thank him for his prompt . action." Cooper was subsequently interviewed by the police, but he denied all. knowledge of the accident. , .. It was a remarkable coincidence that branded him, jis the man' responsible for the offence. V i TELL-TALE APPLE v When the little girl left home she had been given an apple and had -taken one bite out of it prior to, the accident, and when tlie defendant's car was examined the same apple was found wedged between the radiator arid mudguard. '.'"..'■ It may have been this piece of evidence that caused Cooper to plead guilty to the three charges- — negligent driving; failing to stop; and failing to notify the police of .the^ accident; Lawyer Kirk still maintained that Cooper' had no knowledge of the accident. -..He had just been crawling along and the night was very bad. •To wind upwith counsel said Cooper was not at all satisfied that the acci-, dent had occurred,, and he ridiculed the suggestion that the boy should have been able to follow the car on such a bad night and take its number. The magistrate remarked^that these suggestions would carry ■ more weight if. the defendant submitted himself for cross-examina-tion, but he did hot do so. In convicting the defendant on all charges the S.M. said that , the only reply to the police statement was the suggestions of counsel." He could not treat the matter lightly because public life and safety must be protected. , "The thing that ' puzzles me," he added, "is how a man striking a bicycle and carrying, it and its rider, for some yards could be unaware of the accident when the sound of the crash aroused the neighborhood." , ...... • The fines amounted to £16 and. costs.