MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Southland Times, Issue 23228, 17 June 1937, Page 7

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

WEDNESDAY (Before Mr W. H. Freeman, S.M.) Mr H. M. Hopper, Inspector of Factories, proceeded against William Graham for failing to keep a wages and time book. Mr Hopper said that the defendant conducted a pie cart in Esk street and there was no record of entries in the wage book for two employees. He had been previously warned about this matter. It was not suggested that defendant was deliberately failing to observe the regulations, and he believed it was carelessness. Defendant was fined £2, costs 10/-. Herbert James Fairweather was charged with making a false statement under the Employment Promotion Act 1936 by failing to answer correctly the questions set out on form E.P.-179 with regard to his financial position, and was fined £lO, costs 10/-. James Robert McKinlay Erskine was charged with making a false statement to secure additional sustenance, and was fined £5, costs 10/-. PARENTS FINED The School Attendance Officer proceeded against Janet Orlowski and Louisa Anderson for failing to enroll their children on a school register. Mr Gosling, for the Education Department, said that one of the defendants was a widow and the mother of the other defendant. The Magistrate remarked that they had previously been fined £1 each for

failing to enrol the children. This time he would make the fine 30/-, costs 12/-. Thomas Harris was charged with negligently driving a motor-car and damaging a telegraph pole. Senior-Sergeant Kelly said that defendant was driving a car from Wallacetown at 2.30 p.m. on March 19 when he struck a girl, Miss Buckingham, riding a bicycle on the North road near the Waihopai bridge. The car then struck a picket fence and ran into a telegraph pole, doing a considerable amount of damage. He suffered a broken leg and cuts to his arm, and the girl received a broken right arm, injuries to her left arm, a cut mouth and also injuries to her arm and leg, while the owner of the car was also injured. It was raining at the time, but the visibility was reasonably good. Defendant admitted having had four drinks, but it was not suggested that he was intoxicated. The driver of a car which defendant passed estimated his speed at between 45 and 50 miles an hour. The evidence showed that he was capable of driving and he had a driver’s licence. Mr G. J. Reed said that defendant suggested that the girl was not actually knocked down by the car, but in attempting to avoid the car she had skidded in the tram lines and was thrown off her bicycle long before contact with the car. There was no suggestion that defendant was .drunk. He had simply been asked to drive, the car for another man who was not in a condition to drive. “He was going out of his way to drive this drunken man home,” Mr Reed said. “The drunken man will have to pay the fine then,” said the magistrate. Counsel said that defendant, was on sustenance and was a married man with one child. He had been in hospital off and on ever since the accident, and was not discharged yet. He was unable to do any work and was altogether up against it It was stated that the damage to the telegraph pole amounted to £5 7/6. There was no chance of defendant paying this. “The defendant can’t expect to go scot free,” said the magistrate. “It is unfortunate that he is .on sustenance. It is most difficult to fix any penalty. He has been most severely injured.and would not have been in this position but for a drunken driver.” Mr Reed said that defendant could not now get sustenance as the authorities would not give sustenance to any man who was not. fit for work. He was receiving charitable aid. The defendant was convicted and ordered to pay costs in each case, totalling £1 2/-. NEGLIGENT DRIVING CHARGE “It is fortunate for him that no one

was injured,” said the magistrate in fining John Alexander Collinson £5 for negligently driving a motor-car in Dee street on April 23. Senior-Sergeant Kelly said that while the defendant was proceeding south along Dee street at Gladstone he ran into a car that was backing across the street. There were two other men in the car and they had been out to Wallacetown. Two bottles of beer were found in the car, but none of the occupants claimed ownership of them. Defendant, in evidence, said that his companions had been drinking but he had had nothing. The magistrate said he refused to believe this, and in addition to the fine defendant was prohibited from driving for six months. David Brewster, of Oreti, was charged with negligently driving a motor-car in Dee street. Senior-Sergeant Kelly said that defendant had knocked down a lamp standard at midnight. His explanation was that he was looking at the Post Office clock at the time. Defendant was fined £l, costs 10/-. Eric Clarence Taylor pleaded not guilty to charges of negligent driving and failing to report an accident. Mr G. J. Reed appeared for defendant. Isobel McQuarrie said that she had alighted from a tram car and stepped behind it to reach the footpath. She saw a motor-car about two chains away and it struck her before she was able to reach the footpath. Defendant said ’hat he had seen the woman run across the street when he was a chain away from her. She was taken into the house of Mr Charles Trim and witness heard Mr Trim ring the police and the ambulance. Mr Trim told the police by telephone that

it was evidently a “hit and run” case, and witness then told him that he was the driver of the car. Apparently Mr Trim did nqt hear him. Defendant, who was a garage proprietor, had gone to his garage to await the return of a rental car. There he rang the police and was told he had better go in and report personally. The magistrate said defendant should have been able to avoid the accident from a distance of a chain, and the fact that he did not showed that he was negligent. He would be fined £l, with court costs £1 4/- and witnesses’ expenses £1 12/-. The charge of failing ; to report would be dismissed. LEFT ON RAILWAY CROSSING Whether the leaving of a motor-car . in the middle of a railway track could form the basis of a charge of negligent ' driving was a question raised by the magistrate when Angus McDonald,. a marine engineer, was charged with negligent driving in leaving his car at ' night on the railway track at Tweed , street. Senior-Sergeant Kelly said that deendant had driven from Bluff and had left his car, a light English make, on the railway track at Tweed street. He ’ had then gone to the pie cart for a cup of coffee, and after that he went to . the police station and reported that his ’ car was missing. While he was away [ a train had come along and had pulled 1 up just in time, pushing the car up the track some distance. Mr G. J. Reed, who appeared for defendant, said that the defendant had, ’ while in Bluff, been asked to take back I to town a man and a woman who had ■ missed the last train. He had a load of brass in the back of his. car, and after his passengers had alighted he was crossing Tweed street when he became stuck in a small pot hole on the railway track. He endeavoured to get in touch with the garage from which he had rented the car, but there was nobody there, so he went to the i pie cart for a cup of coffee. He was an absolute stranger to that part of the town and on returning for the car found that it was not there, as the engine had moved it further along. It was a very bad night and visibility was poor, and it was also possible that he had mistaken the crossing. After hearing evidence from defendant and the driver and fireman of the train, the magistrate dismissed the case. Alexander G. MacMillan, John Page, Arthur Horace Robins and Ella Gridler were each fined 5/-, costs 10/-, for cycling on the footpath, and Erel Alexander Cameron, for. a similar offence, was fined 5/-, costs 12/. Edward Corbett Tapley, for being the owner of an unlicensed radio set, was fined 10/-, costs 10/-. George McAlpine was fined 2/6, costs 10/-, for allowing a chimney to catch fire. Alfred John Thomson, for casting offensive matter in Esk street, was fined 10/- and costs.