Prisoners Are Sentenced In Supreme Court.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18008, 19 November 1926, Page 7

Prisoners Are Sentenced In Supreme Court.

A few prisoners were sentenced to-dav by Mr Justice Stringer.

JUDGE IS* SCEPTICAL ABOUT INTENTIONS. The excuse offered by Mr Hobbs for Alan Stanton’s house-breaking episode was that he wanted money to put on the races. He could not draw on resources of his own. Mr Hobbs said, sb he broke into a friend's house, stole a watch and chain, and took them to a pawnbroker, expecting to reclaim and return them if he won. Ilis Honor: The road to gaol is paved with those sorts of intentions. Mr Hobbs said that there were other valuables in the house, but Stanton did not touch them. The owner of the watch had offered to bail him out. Stanton was admitted to probation for two years, on condition that he does not attend race meetings, that he refrains from betting, and pays £2 Is costs, and £2 restitution. MORE FOOLISH THAN CRIMINAL. William Charles Drury for breaking into a shop and taking several pairs of boots, was admitted to probation for two years. Mr Haslam said that Drury was seventeen years of age. He had fallen into bad company. lie seemed to be easily led. There was a farm position to which he could go at once. His Honor said that Drury’s action seemed to be more foolish than criminal. NOT A NEW ZEALANDER. Frank Watson M’lvor, for theft, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. His Honor said that M'lvor had been twice sentenced to reformative treatment. “You were born in Tasmania, and New Zealand at any rate has not the responsibility for producing you,” his Honor said.

JOHN CALDER FOUND GUILW.

DROVE NEGLIGENTLY AND KILLED MILNER, FINE OF TEN POUNDS IMPOSED BY JUDGE. John Calder to-day was convicted of having negligently driven a motorcycle on Page’s Road on February 20, and having caused the death of Robert William Milner. Mr Justice Stringer fined him £lO. Mr Donnelly. Crown Prosecutor, said that the motor-cycle carried four men. Milner was in the side-chair. The men had attended motor-cycle races at New Brighton. Their speed was gravely excessive in view of the over-loaded state of the motor-cycle. The driver of a passing motor-car was attracted by the speed. Near the corner of Page’s Road and Cuff's Road, it was alleged, Calder was on his wrong side. lie tried to swerve, and crashed into a motor car. Milner was killed almost at once. Calder himself had come out of hospital only recently. In a statement, Calder set down his speed at about fifteen miles an hour. The road from New Brighton had practically no intersections, and a steady pace usually was observed on it. Oalder’s estimate of his speed was denied by witnesses. His explanation was that he turned off the power and the throttle jammed, and the machine got out of control, turned off the road, and went on to the footpath. An inspection after the accident showed that the machine was on top gear. William A. M'Donald, Swann’s Road, New Brighton, master painter, said that at the time of the accident he drove a car on Page’s Road, doing about twelve miles an hour. There were four men on the motor-cj'cle, two on the cycle and two in the side-chair. The marine was doing between 40 and 45 miles an hour, and was on its wrong side. Witness pulled up to avoid an accident. Calder apparently tried to get his machine under control. It struck the right front wheel of witness's car. Nobody in the car was injured seriously. All the men on the machine except one were injured. When witness got out of his car, Milner was lying on the tramline, apparently dead. Henry J. Jefcoate, Christchurch, blacksmith, said that he was driving a car at fifteen to eighteen miles an hour at the time of the accident. There was rbuch traffic on the road. The motor-cycle passed him at from thirty to forty miles an hour To Mr Sargent: There were eight persons in witness’s ear. Calder seemed to have some difficulty in keeping his machine under control. To Mr Sargent: It was uncommon to see a motor-cycle going at such a speed a, d witness would not like to put such a heavy load on a machine. He would contradict a witness who said that the motor-cycle’s speed was twenty to twenty-five miles an hour. Eva Coe, Timaru. said that the* motor-cycle was doing about forty miles an hour.

Herbert MTntosh, Chief Traffic Inspector, said that the marks showed that the motor-cycle was on its proper side when it reached the curve of the, road, and then it swerved. Mr Justice Stringer: That probably indicates that Calder had lost control of his machine?—That is so. To-Mr Donnelly: Calder’s statement that the throttle had jammed was quite possible* That concluded the case for the Crown. CALDER’S ACCOUNT. Calder said that he had driven a motor-cycle and sidechair for ten vears. He was a motor mechanic. lie was doing about fifteen miles an hour. When he went to shut off the throttle it would not move. He tried to open it and it jammed. He tried to push it, but could not manage it. The machine was going at a%considerable speed near the corner. He tried to use the gear as a brake, but he somehow missed the low gear. By that time he was right on the corner. He tried to turn into the channel. Up to that time he was On his proper side on the tram line. lie then saw a motorcar. He turned his machine slightly. The car was about six vards a wav. That was all he remembered about the accident. To Mr Donnelly: It not a racing machine, and he was not racing at the time. Only one car passed him on the road. He had the brake on. but the machine could not be pulled up in sufficient time. There should have been marks on the road of the effects of the brake. The machine could not do forty miles an hour without the side-chair. Duncan Munro, railway clerk, said that he was driving at the rate of from fifteen to eighteen miles an hour, and Calder was doing twenty to twenty-five miles at the outside. Calder seemed to be driving in quite a capable way. Witness thought* that while Calder was trying to go past the corner his right handle-bar broke. There was a distinct flaw in it. Leslie Frank Williams, motor mechanic, said that he knew Calder.to be a careful driver. To Mr Donnelly: He saw the machine soon after the accident. The clutch was in, and the gear had been altered. Mr Sargent said that the case was not sufficiently strong for a conviction. Mr Donnelly said that Calder's excessive speed had impressed itself on other drivers. Two witnesses said that his speed was so great that he could not avoid the car. Pedestrians and drivers of other cars were entitled to protection against reckless drivers. The Act under which Calder was charged was passed to protect the steadier section of drivers. There was no reason why Calder should leave the side of the road and crash into M’Donald's car, which had been pulled up on the roadside. JURY MUST NOT GIVE SYMPATHETIC VERDICT. His Honor said that there was a natural temptation on a jury’s part to say that the accused had been sufficiently punished in the death of his friend, and in his own injuries, and that the jury should not add to his punishment. His Honor was bound to say that that would be a very improper attitude. The jury was not concerned with the results of the accident to Calder, or to his friend. It had to ask itself simply if it was satisfied from the evidence that Calder was negligent. In motor-cycling, no doubt, there was an insane lust of speed that was most reprehensible, but the jury must not infer that it was so in the present case, unless it was satisfied that the evidence established the fact. The jury must rid itself of all sympathy with Calder, and remember jts duty to itself and to the community. If it believed that Calder was negligent, it must find him guilty. The jury retired at 12.32 p.m. and returned at 12.5 G p.m. with a verdict of guilty. Mr Sargent said that Calder already had had terrible punishment. Counsel asked for leniency. His Honor said that it would be a misfortune if ca?es of that sort were allowed to pass without a conviction being recorded. That had been done in the present case, and his Honor felt justified in taking a very lenient course. The accused would be fined £lO his license to drive would be cancelled, and he would be disqualified from holding a license for three years. The fine only covered the costs of the proceedings. It could be paid in instalments of £1 a month, to begin in June.