BAD LANGUAGE USED

Taranaki Daily News, 7 November 1935, Page 8

BAD LANGUAGE USED

MAN PUT OFF KAPONGA BUS. FINED £lO FOR OBSCENITY. The making of an insulting gesture to a Hawera constable and the use of obscene language on a service bus led to the appearance at the Hawera court yesterday of William James Newman, alias Logan, aged 46 years, farm labourer, Kapuni. He pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a disorderly manner while drunk in High Street and not guilty to the use of obscene language. He was given the option of a £1 fine or a weeks gaol on the first charge and a £lO fine or three months on the second. Mr. R. S. Sage, J.P., was on the bench. Sergeant J. Henry said Newman, who was known to the police, had passed Constable Hollinshead and put his fingers to his nose. When he climbed into the bus he did it again and then in the presence of several passengers .ie used the language complained of. Sidney Harry Crowhurst, bus-driver, gave evidence on the lines indicated by Sergeant Henry, and Donald A. Cameron, a passenger, gave similar evidence. Botn wrote down the language alleged to have been used but Newman denied it. Mr. Sage (to Newman): You phaded not guilty but it is pretty evid nt you did not know what yo” were saying. He had “got into a fluster,” explained Newman. If he missed the bus he would have had to walk 14 miles. Now he had lost his job. He expressed regret at the occurrence. Sergeant Henry said Newman had 13 previous convictions, including a year for assault and 18 months’ for robbery, since 1928. “This man loses control of himself when he has drink,” he added. Newman: I have been going straight for 12 months. Mr. Sage: The trouble is that putting a man like this in gaol only makes him worse to a certain extent. Newman said he could pay a fine if it Were not made too solid and he were given time. Mr. Sage: It seems there is no option for me but to fine you and give you imprisonment in default. I do not want to be harsh but I propose to fine you £1 on the drunnkenness charge, in default one week’s imprisonment, and on the other charge £lO, in default three months.’