YOUNG MAN’S LAPSE.

Wairarapa Age, 18 May 1932, Page 7

YOUNG MAN’S LAPSE.

CONVERSION OF CAR WHEN INTOXICATED. BENCH IMPOSES FINES. A resident of Masterton, Charles I John McLean, a married man, 22 years of age, pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, to' charges of having been in a state of intoxication while in charge of a car, and to converting to his own use a car valued at £35, the property of Allan McLean Rayne. Messrs. E. G. Eton and W. G. Lamb, J.’sP., were on the Bench. “The Court does not know what to do with you and does not wish to send you to prison,” said the presiding Justices. “The offences are very serious, and ones which not only endanger the life of yourself but that of other people. You will be fined £5 on the charge of intoxication and 20s. on the charge of converting the car to your own use, and think yourself very fortunate.” On the application of Sergeant Dyer, accused’s driving license was cancelled for a period of three months. The Bench expressed surprise at accused coming before the Court on such charges. Accused had placed himself in a serious position and was liable to a maximum fine of £lOO or three months’ imprisonment. Detailing the circumstances leading to the charges, Sergeant Dyer said that in consequence of information received on Monday night, Constable Ellis and himself proceeded to Wickens’s garage in Chapel Street and found the accused there under the influence of liquor. The , complainant, Allen McLean Rayne, identified the accused as the person whom he had seen driving his car a few minutes previously. Complainant was a service car driver on the run between Masterton and Wellington, and before leaving Masterton on Monday morning for Wellington he put his car into Wickens’s garage to have the side curtains repaired. On returning for it i at 7.15 o’clock on Monday night he found that the car was missing, and at about 7.50 p.m. noticed his car being driven along Lincoln Road in the direction of the Railway Station. When opposite Trustee Street the car was turned round and complainant, the owner, stepped out on to the road and tried to stop the car but was nearly run over. He followed the car back to the garage and on arrival found the accused sitting in the driver’s seat in a very drunken condition. There was another man in the car with him at the time. Sergeant Dyer stated that the accused was a married man, at present out of employment. It was the first time he had been before the Court charged with any offence. When asked by the Bench if he had anything to say, the accused said that he had repaired the curtains of the car, and thought that the owner would come for it at 5 o’clock but did not do so. He went to the garage later on Monday night on the off chance of catching the owner. There was no one about, and he just drove the car up the road and never thought there would be any trouble about it. He had worked for Mr. Wickens for the past seven years, but there was very little work at present. The Bench expressed a desire to hear Mr. Wickens in regard to accused’s character, but it was stated that Mr Wickens was out of town and not available. “Complainant,” said Sergeant Dyer, states that, according to the meter reading, his car had been driven over 20 miles on Monday.”