LICENSE CANCELLED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 19999, 5 January 1935, Page 5

LICENSE CANCELLED

ECHO OF MOTOR ACCIDENT A fine of £lO and costs, and his driver’s license cancelled for one year, was the penalty imposed on Charles Raymond Pye, of Lyalldale, labourer, aged 27, when he pleaded guilty in the Timaru Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning before Mr C. R. Orr-Walker, S.M., to a charge of being intoxicated while in charge of a car. Defendant was represented by Mr L. M. Inglis. Senior-Sergeant Mathieson said that some time before 7 o’clock New Year’s Night a man named Arnold was driving along Rhodes Street in a northerly direction with the intention of proceeding into Le Cren Street. Defendant was driving down North Street towards town when he smashed into Arnold’s light delivery van, Arnold had his wife in the front seat with him, while in the back were his two children, an elderly man named Toneycliffe and another man Hugh Toneycliffe. Hugh Toneyclifle was injured to such an extent that he had to be attended by Dr. Kingston. The truck was badly smashed, and the car was also damaged. Both drivers were seen by the police. Defendant stated that he had had three or four glasses of beer at the sports in the afternoon. He was placed in the cells, but was bailed out in the sum of £25. Defendant had been before the Court previously having been caught on the licensed premises of the St Andrews Hotel after hours, and some three months ago he had been mixed up in a motor collision. Defendant on that occasion had been told by Sergeant Hodgson that he was satisfied he had been drinking, and told him he had better mend his ways. The SeniorSergeant said it was quite evident that defendant was on the downward course with drink, and it was not safe to allow him on the streets in a car. Mr Inglis said that he did not think the Senior-Sergeant had been quite justified in all the statements he had made. The wheel of the van had certainly been smashed, but that was where it had been struck. The damage otherwise had been very slight. From what the Senior-Sergeant had said, the Court may have gained the impression that the truck was a total wreck, but it was nothing of the sort. There were other contributing factors, and it was possible that liquor had very little to do with the accident. Defendant had not been drunk in the ordinary sense of the word. The doctor’s report was before the Court. The Magistrate: The doctor has not said by any means that defendant was drunk. He says that the symptoms of intoxication were present. The Senior-Sergeant: Defendant was detained by the doctor for an hour and a half.

Mr Inglis said that he did not propose to call evidence as to defendant’s condition, but it was admitted that he had had drink during the afternoon. After the sports he went to the home of well-known people for tea, and they had been astonished when they had heard that defendant had been arrested for being drunk while in charge of a car. It was quite possible that the accident had had something to do with his condition.

Referring to the remarks of * the Senior-Sergeant that defendant was on the down-grade, Mr Inglis said that on the first occasion mentioned there had been no evidence at all that defendant had been drinking. In regard to the St. Andrews hotel incident, defendant happened to be in the hotel, but he had not had any drink. It was quite a wrong impression to give to say that defendant was on the down-grade, because he had not had a single conviction for drunkenness. Defendant was quite a respectable young man, and was working in partnership with his brother as a contractor. He had no means of his own. Mr Inglis submitted that the case might be treated as a minor offence, as defendant had not been drunk in the ordinary sense of the word. Defendant was fined £lO and costs, his license was cancelled, and he was prohibited from holding a driver’s license for twelve months from yesterday.