MEDICO'S WIFE WAS DRUNK AT WHEEL

NZ Truth, Issue 1305, 18 December 1930, Page 8

MEDICO'S WIFE WAS DRUNK AT WHEEL

DR. SMITH SEVERELY REBUKED

Both Had To Be Removed From Car Which Was Holding Up Trots Traffic

"HAIR TUMBLED ABOUT HER FACE"

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Huntly. Representative.) What kind of a man are you to allow your wife to again take the wheel after having been warned against doing so by the constable and the doctor? Do you not realize you hkd a civic responsibility m the matter? . . ." This sharp rebuke was administered by Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M., to Dr. Vivian Ramsay Smith, late of Pukemiro and now of Auckland, m the course of proceedings against the medico's wife, Norah Pamela Smith, when she was fined and deprived of her license to drive a car for being intoxicated while m charge of such a vehicle.

A CCORDING to witnesses who were jHL returning from the Trots at Ham- • ilton on October 11, the Smiths! car was blocking the main . road between Auckland and Hamilton, with the engine stalled and Mrs. Smith, dishevelled and m a drunken state at the wheel, with her husband m the seat beside her. Doctor Smith, erstwhile of His Majesty's Navy; for some time has, along with his wife, administered to the needs of the folk m the mining district of Pukemiro. He has now forsaken the colliery region and gives his address as Auckland. Mrs. Smith conducted her own defence, when the case came before Mr.' R H. Levien, S.M., m the Huntly Magistrate's. Court, explaining that counsel, whom she had engaged, unfortunately was employed on another case m Auckland that day. Another Caustic Comment solicitor, from Hamilton, who. was m Court at the time, refused to take Mrs. Smith's case, explaining that the notice was too short. Mrs. Smith, who was fashionably dressed m a costume of canary silk, which was somewhat becoming, proved quite skilled m the art of crossexamination, but' this availed her iittle, .as the evidence/was of such a strong and definite nature, as to leave her little on which to base a defence. The Magistrate, Mr. F. H. Levien, commented Caustically on the nature of the case. Detective-scrgt. Martin, of Auckland, conducted the prosecution for the police, and the magistrate gave Mrs. • Smith every assistance m the conduct of her defence. . The first witness was a young White Star service car driver, named John M. Newby, who stated that he had a car load of passengers from the Trots for Auckland. On arriving at Mere Mere he found the road blocked by cars. He got out to ascertain the cause and saw a three-seater car stationed at right angles to, and on the wrong side of the road. Healso. noticed a dishevelled woman banging' von the door of an Aard service car near by. She had a small dog beneath one arm and was screaming out and creating a scene. Witness did not hear what she said, but he certainly considered her m anything but a fit state to drive a .car. Her hair was tumbled about her face and she was yelling out and creating quite a commotion. Alfred C. Newdick, butter merchant, of Auckland, who was proceeding to the Queen City, encountered defendant's car before it actually pulled up. lie saw it approaching on the wrong side, and, seYising an accident, he slackened, speed. He finally pulled up .altogether,- and the woman, struggling with her wheel, stalled her engine just m front of his car. s Witness said he told Mrs. Smith /she was m no condition to drive a car. She smelled of liquor, and he told both her and the man with her that they had better get out . of the car, lock it and travel to where they were going by other means. She was, he said, absolutely ine"ap-' able of driving. By this ' time the whole of the traffic on the road, which was steadily accumulating, wasj held up. Finally the woman had to be lifted out of the vehicle, and when tlie husband had also been got out, witness' brother locked the car. William H. C4ilmour, service-car dryver, said that when he came upon Gesticulating the scene he saw Mrs. Smith being supported, by two men. Her hair was all ruffled, and he had no doubt that the Avoman vAia' drunk. Albert Nicholson, a totalisator official, said that when the tote char-a-banc reached the blockage he alighted and saw a woman flinging her arms about and talking very loudly. She showed every indication of being drunk. Her appearance was decidedly against her, and she cer-tain-ly was not m a fit state to drive a car. Her companion also was under the influence of liquor. They wanted to get aboard the char-a-banc but were not allowed to do so: Richard Sutherland, taxi proprietor, of Auckland, described the great traffic jamb that occurred. On noticing the plight of the woman he offered to render what assistance to • her lie could. . ■ ■ His ministrations were, however, hot accepted kindly, or m the spirit m which they were offered, andHhe woman finally displayed her gratitude for his good offices by telling him to go away, that he made her sick. "I would not have driven with her under any circumstances that night," added witness. Dr. D. Martin, of Ngaruawahia, who was -dragged out of bed at half-ari-hour after midnight to test the sobriety of the wife of a fellow practitioner, said Constable McGruer accompanied the woman and her husband. The woman, although she obviously , had had liquor, responded fairly well to the test for sobriety. It was hard to give an accurate description of defendant a.t the time, as she was m a- highly nervous condition and was exhausted and tired. He advised her to sit m the car and allow her husband to drive on to Pukemiro. In answer to Detective-sergt. Martin, witness admitted that he could smell alcohol on accused. Her speech was slurred. He stood her up and she responded to the tests very w&ll, although the times given by her as to her movements were indefinite. A storekeepei" of Taupiri, named Mrs, Hutchinson, said she saw Mrs. Smith at Taupiri. She was handling the car badly, appeared to be very drowsy and under the influence , of liquor, and when she asked the way to Ngaruawahia, witness cautioned her to be very careful. '• - . Another witness, named Charles E. Wilson, gave similar evidence. Constable McGruer, .of Ngaruawahia, said he received intimation by telephone that a car, that was being driven m an erratic manner, was en route to his area. He waited about for it, and on its arrival he bailed it

up and interrogated the driver. Mrs. Smith was the only occupant at the time, and she said her husband was m one of the hotels. Witness told the woman he was not satisfied as to her condition, and suggested that she and her husband should take a bed at one of the hotels for the night. The husband, by this time, had reappeared and refused this piece of advice. Witness suggested they should drive along to Dr. Martin's house, and he accompanied them there, Dr. Smith taking the wheel. From her speech, the constable said, he conclude ed the woman had had liquor, and he would not allow her to continue at the wheel, especially as he knew the road to Pukemiro to be a particularly dangerous one, narrow and winding between the hills. "Witness was cross-examined by the woman, but he maintained his story as to her condition. When asked how j he accompanied them to Dr. Martin's he said he travelled on the running board of the car. For the defences defendant called her husband, Dr. Vivian Ramsay Smith, who described himself as a medical practitioner of Auckland. He said he and his wife left Auckland about four o'clock, and reached Mercer about 7.20. He found the road blocked, and when, his wife pulled up the car somebody jumped on the running board and ordered him to get out. . Somebody also took the key of the car, and then four men got hold of hi 7ii and he was hustled along and roughly handled as also was his wife. Later, he said, they re-entered the car and drove as far as Ngaruawahia, where he entered an hotel m order to telephone his manservant at Pukemiro. Subsequently he was spoken to by Constable M.cGruer, who questioned the sobriety of his wife, so they drove along to Dr. Martin m order that he should test the sobriety of Mrs. Smith, who was very tired at the time. Witness said that after leaving Dr. Martin's, he took, the wheel' for about Safety First a quarter of a mile, when he handed over control to his wife, who drove for the ba-lance of the journey. Detective-sevgt. Martin: You mean to say you allowed your wife to again take the wheel after the warning you had had? — Yes, she was quite capable of driving-. The Detective: You have been m the Navy, I believe? — Yes, for ten years. Then you should have some realisation of the necessity for -safety as the first thought m a case like this, where lives arc endangered on a 'public thoroughfare through dangerous, driving? Witness said he fully realised that safety should be one's first thought. The Detective: Did you call at any hotel on the journey from Auckland? — We pulled up at the Papakura Hotel, but we did not have any liquor. Did you have any liquor at all that day?— We each had a bottle of beer for" lunch. s Who usually drives the car? — My wife. Had you any liquor m the car? — No. Is it not a fact that you met with an accident on the way to Mercer? — Well, avc had a slight mishap, but it was nothing to worry about. We Avould not have noticed it had not a passing motorist called our attention to it. What . was Avrong with your, car til at a passing motorist should draw your attention to it? — The "bumper 'bar was out of place, that was all. Questioned as to where they stopped on the journey through, witness said that on arrival at Mercer they alighted and went to some tea-rooms, where his wife purchased some scones. Asked to describe tho hold-up, witness said that when the car stopped there was a scuttle on. the road and a. man got knocked down. Witness was also assaulted. Some man seized him by the shoulder's and ran him down the road. Witness added that it took them three hours to drive from Auckland to Mercer, so they were "not pushing things along." ' Asked by the Magistrate to account for the time occupied between 8 p.m. and midnight, witness said they made a detour at j Taupiri looking for a friend on a I farm, but they were unable to locate him. His Worship: <JVhat kind of man are you to allow your wife to again take the wheel after having been warned against doing 'so by the constable and the doctor? Do you realise you had a civic responsibility m the matter? Witness vouchsafed *no answer. Mrs. Smith, giving evidence on her own behalf, said that when she and her husband called at the Papakura Hotel she did not enter the premises. Sleep Disturbed Neither did she get out at Mercer. When the hold-up occurred, she said, four men took to her husband, and another took the car key, so she had no option but to get out. Asked as to how she and her husband filled m the time between 8 p.m. and midnight, she said her father had a farm at Orini and they wanted to call there, but (hey failed to -locate it. The next thing she knew, was that she was awakened from her sleep by a man whom she now knew as Constable McGruer. They went along to Dr. Martin's where she was put through various tests. Witness then described interviews with police officers m connection with this • case. In answer to a question, she said she had been m New Zealand four years and had never been m trouble, of this kind before. The Magistrate said there was no doubt that a traffic block had occurred. He believed the witnesses for the prosecution, and had no doubt i.that defendant's car was the cause of the blockage. It seemed strange to him, he said, that as defendant had had a previous accident on the journey to Mercer, she had not stopped to

isee what damage had been done. They had collided with another car, and it seemed incredible to him that they had not stopped. It Avas hardly the act of people iri' their right senses. l It Avas apparent, added His Worship, that when ■ the block occurred, both husband and wife Avere under the influence of liquor. The husband had done nothing Avhen his' Avife Avas assaulted, although the wife admitted that he was good with his fists. That feature was a bad one, and his Worship could not help feeling that the husband, at the time, did not realise his responsibility, as he took no steps to shield his Avife. The Avhole affair, said his Worship, was most regrettable. His Worship coiwicted defendant and fined her £10 and costs. He also deprived her of her license to drive for 12 months. On hearing the verdict, defendant declared that she had no assets and her husband was an undischarged bankrupt. She said she would be unable to pay the fine. "The matter of default can be gone into later," Avas the Magistrate's closing remark.