CONFLICTING EVIDENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1930, Page 7

CONFLICTING EVIDENCE

TAXI-DRIVER’S DEFENCE. ATTEMPT TO PROVE ALIBI. it A conflict of evidence occurred in the it New Plymouth Magistrate’s Court yes--11 terday during the prosecution by the d police.of a taxidriver, Basil R. Black>r hall (Mr. C. E. Monaghan), who pleaded •. not guilty to a charge of driving across .. tne intersection of Weymouth and St. s Aubyn Streets at a speed exceeding 15 3j miles an hoiir. For the defence it was g maintained that Blackhall had been in h his stand at the time of the alleged offence. In. order that additional wit- !_ nesses might be called the magistrate a (Mr.. R. W. Tate, S.M.),' adjourned the j remainder of the hearing until next . Wednesday. j Senior-Sergeant McCrorie stated that at 7.15 p.m. on November 10 Constable a O’Neill was leaving his home in St. g Aubyn Street when he noticed . a car, the driver of which he recognised '/ as Blackhall, travelling towards the town s at a speed of about. 50 'miles an hour. In his evidence Constable O’Neill confirmed these statements. He added that .' the car stopped temporarily after crossing Weymouth Street to allow a sailor to alight. There were several other ' sailors in the car. He interviewed ’ Blackhall later, when the defendant denied knowledge of the alleged offence, ’ and stated he would refer to his notebook. Witness considered there was 1 not a sufficiently good view of the inter--1 secting street to justify Blackhall in 1 crossing without a reduction in speed to 15 miles per houi*. For the defence Thomas Nixon, freezing works manager, said that he and two officers of the s.s. Ferndale had travelled with Blackhall from the wharf Ito the freezing Works on the night in question. A petty-officer from the Dunedin had also been in the cab and had continued bn to the town. Blackball collected his passengers at about half-past seven and left the freezing works at a quarter, to eight. The defendant in evidence stated that at. the time (7.15 p.m.) mentioned in the charge he was on the stand, having just returned- from Strandon. He left the I stand shortly after that' time and went I to the Dunedin, berthed at the Newton | King wharf. He denied that he had any sailors in the car, except the pdtty officer, and maintained that the constable must have been mistaken concerning his identity. The constable might have seen one of Blackhall’s employees in a similar cab. 4 v / Another driver on the stand, Victor Gunson, stated that he saw Blackball on the stand and spoke to him at 7.15 that evening. During the duncheon adjournment the magistrate inspected the intersection. He stated he had no reason to disbelieve the constable’s evidence. There was, he said, considerable difficulty in arriving at the real facts, and as both prosecution and defence were prepared to call fresh witnesses he agreed to adjourn the case. '