DRUNK AT HIS CAR WHEEL

Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1928, Page 9

DRUNK AT HIS CAR WHEEL

RETIRED FARMER FINED £lO. LICENSE CANCELLED FOR YEAR. George Edward Clout, a retired farmer, of Fitzroy, paid dearly yesterday for being in charge of a motor car while intoxicated.. On being brougl-. before Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., at New Plymouth he was fined £l9, and was disqualified from holding a license for a period of twelve months. In addition he was ordered to pay costs amounting to £1 Is. A week, was allowed in which to pay tho fine. The offence, to which defendant pleadded guilty, took place in Powderham Street at an early hour yesterday morning. Senior Sergt. MeCrorie explained that the constable on night duty saw a car coming along Powderham Street in a very erratic manner. Near the police station the car ran into a fence, and on Investigation the constable found that the driver, Clout, was in an intoxicated condition. At defendant’s request a doctor was summoned, and he certified that defendant was drunk. To the magistrate, defendant stated that the accident happened through the steering gear being loose. The magistrate Said that it was not a question of the accident. The point was that defendant was in a state of intoxication while in charge of a car. It was one of the most serious offences under the Motor Vehicles Act, for which defendant was liable to three months’ hard labour, irrespective of whether there had been an accident.