MOTORIST FINED £20

Southland Times, Issue 23991, 5 December 1939, Page 2

MOTORIST FINED £20

Intoxication Charge MANHANDLING OF ACCUSED ALLEGED For being intoxicated while in charge of a motor-car, Richard Francis Clough, a married man, with two children, was fined £2O, in default 14 days’ imprisonment, in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. His licence to drive was cancelled for one year and he was ordered to pay doctor’s expenses £l/12/6. Mr R. C. Abernethy, S.M., was on the bench. The accused pleaded not guilty. He was represented by Mr N. L. Watson. Senior Sergeant W. T. Kelly prosecuted. Traffic Inspector J. C. Edwards stated that at 5.15 p.m. on November 6 he was travelling towards Bluff and was passing the Awarua wireless station when he saw two cars coming towards him. One car passed the other and swerved on to its correct side in an unusual manner. When this car was passing, the witness thought there was something wrong with the driver and he turned and followed him. The vehicle pursued an erratic course and almost hit another car. When the witness stoppea the car he asked the driver to get out. The driver got out but would not teh tne witness his name, address, where he worked, or what he had been doing during the day. There was a particularly strong smell of liquor about the man. The accused refused to walk a distance down the road when requested to do so by the witness and said You are not going to make a goat out of me.” The accused got into his car, but the witness took the key and asked him to get into his car and see a doctor. This he would not do, requesting that he be allowed to drive. The witness suggested that they go to the doctor in the accused’s own vehicle, but he would not agree to this arid they continued to argue the point on the road. Stopping a car going to Invercargill, the witness asked the driver to call at the Police Station and ask a constable to come down. During the time they were talking the accused said repeatedly that “I was making the biggest mistake of my life” in arresting him. The witness recognized a constable sitting in a bus that was passing and signalled to the driver to stop. The constable came over and force had to be used to get Clough into the car. On the way to the Police Station the accused was very abusive both to the constable and to the witness. Clough stumbled when getting out of the car and the constable saved him from falling to the ground. “I have evidence that more force than necessary was used," said Mr Watson. “That is not so,” the inspector said.

' EVIDENCE OF DOCTOR Dr W. J- Barclay said he arrived at the Police Station about 6.7 p.m. to examine the accused. At first the man would not give his name, but later he became more talkative. He said that he had three beers at lunch and left the Ocean Beach works about 4.45 o clock. The accused’s pulse rate was 120. Ihe pupils of his eyes were dilated and reacted moderately to light. Although the man was excited, his speech was coherent and he came to the conclusion that he was not unfit to drive a car. Constable E. D. Monk said that the bus in which he was travelling stopped when the inspector signalled and he got out. He observed the inspector on the roadside with another man, who was intoxicated. He was unsteady on this feet and. smelled - strongly = of liquor. THe accused refused to get nito the inspector’s car, and iorce nad. to be used. During the journey to the Police Station the accused was very argumentative and commented on the inspector’s driving. He came to the conclusion that the man was intoxicated and not'in a fit state to be in charge of a car. To Mr Watson: Clough did not reply when he was asked about his name. He did not see a sack on the back ot the accused car. • . Constable Cyril Maynard, who was on duty at the station when the accused was brought in, also gave evideiicG. Richard Francis Clough said in evidence that he left the Ocean Beach works at 4.45 o’clock and was accompanied in the car by two other men. They went down to Bluff and ne naa a couple of drinks at one of the hotels. When he left the hotel he had no passengers, but he had a bag of manure weighing slightly more than a hundredweight on the back of the vehicle. There was a distinct swaying sensation in the car, which he attributed to the weight of the manure. When the inspector ,stopped him, he yelled at tne witness to get out. The witness was then asked by the inspector, in a manner as if he were not serious, what was his name and-address. The witness said he did not know that he would tell him. When he was asked to get into the car, he did not resist, although he may have been slow in his movement. At one stage of the journey to Invercargill, the speedometer registered 53. At the station, the constable grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the car. His right arm was twisted behind his back and pressure applied. In his opinion he was manhandled. . Archibald Murdoch McKenzie, a passenger in the bus, said that Clougn appeared to be walking quite all ri B“t. He attempted to get into the bus, but was prevented from doing so by the inspector. The witness did not get out of the bus and did not speak to the accused. ARM TWISTED Henry Bradshaw, fish merchant, of Invercargill, gave evidence of being stopped by the inspector and being asked to call at the Police Station. There was nothing about Clough s condition that made the witness think he was intoxicated. When he got to the station, the inspector’s car arrived. The constable hauled the accused out and twisted his arm. Clough went down on one knee and the constable grabbed him by the collar arid hustled him along. To Senior Sergeant Kelly: When the inspector gave him the message, the accused asked the witness not to let him down. He did not make any complaint about the treatment the accused received. . After evidence testifying to the accused’s character, Mr Watson said the handling received by the man was unjustified and would prejudice the opinion formed by the constable and the doctor in the station. He submitted that the Court could well meet the case with a fine and cancellation of the licence. The Court would be quite justified in inflicting the lesser penalty rather than a term of imprisonment. The accused was married and had two children. “I am satisfied that the accused has not told the truth in the witness box,” said the Magistrate. “I have not the slightest doubt about this. I am also satisfied that he resisted or was difficult to handle when first arrested. I am not satisfied that he was handled to an excessive degree at the Police Station. He may have been hauled out of the car and the constable may have done a little more than necessary, but if the accused had been injured he would certainly have made a complaint.

He may have suffered a small injury to his arm, but I have no doubt that he was a difficult man to deal with. It is unfortunate that the»accused had not had sense to do what a sober man would have done and been civil to the inspector.” . , The accused was given six weeks m which to pay the fine.