"MENACE TO SAFETY"

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19891, 20 March 1939, Page 4

"MENACE TO SAFETY"

HEAVY PINE INFLICTED CHARGE AGATNST MOTORIST INTOXICATED TN CHARGE Found intoxicated in charge of a motor van in Lowe street on Saturday afternoon, a labourer, John Thomas Harvey, appeared before Mr. E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court this morning and was fined £2O. Harvey, who was not represented, pleaded guilty, the prosecution being conducted by. Senior-Sergeant J. F. H. Macnamara.

Senior-Sergeant Macnamara said that the defendant had been drinking in town on Saturday and had been turned out of two hotels. Constable Teece had seen the accused get into a motor vehicle and start it up. The constable went up to Harvey and finding he was in an advanced state of intoxication, had arrested him. He was later certified as being intoxicated by a doctor.

Menace to Safety

"The motor van is a menace to the public safety," commented the seniorsergeant, adding that Harvey had two young children in the van with him. A warrant of fitness had been issued for the vehicle, subject to adjustments being made to the brakes. Harvey had been before the court previously for negligent driving and was not a competent driver. Even when sober lie was not fit to hold a license. Commenting on the defendant's past record for drunkenness and negligent driving, the magistrate fined him £2O. His driving license was cancelled and he was prohibited from obtaining another for two years.