DRUNK IN CHARGE OF CAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 189, 12 August 1938, Page 8

DRUNK IN CHARGE OF CAR

AN UNUSUAL CASE DOCTOR'S EVIDENCE NOT THE DECIDING FACTOR DEFENDANT CONVICTS HIMSELF [Per Press Association.] HAWERA, Aug. 11. Archie Leslie Ogilvy was fined £2O for being intoxicated while in charge of a car and his licence was cancelled for a year by Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., in the Hawera Court. Until recently, Mr. Ogilvy was official Labour candidate for the Stratford seat, but he resigned on account of ill health. Mr. Ogilvy pleaded not guilty and the circumstances of the case were unusual. Ogilvy was proceeding in a Car from Wanganui to Hawera. He was seen to be driving erratically and, when stopped by a motorist, said that he was feeling unwell. A passenger in the other c?,r then offered to drive Ogilvy to Hawera and the offer was accepted. In the meantime the Hawera police were advised to look for Ogilvy on account of advice from Wanganui as to the manner in which he was driving the car. Ogilvy was seen at an hotel and was taken to the police station where a doctor pronounced him unfit to drive a car. Next day Ogilvy made a voluntary statement to the effect that he had been ill in Wanganui and had had two brandies as a stimulant. Three miles out of Wanganui he had felt worse and when a motorist stopped him he gratefully accepted the offer to drive his car. This was at 1.30 and he did not drive the car again. He was examined by a doctor at 5.30 p.m. In the meantime he had had five brandies. “This is a case where the medical evidence is not the conclusive factor, as is usually the case,” said Mr. Salmon. “A doctor examined the defendant at 5.30 p.m. and. found him unfit to drive a car, there being evidence that he had consumed a quantity of liquor after he had given over charge of the car to another driver. , I cannot accept the doctor’s evidence as to his condition prior to 1.30 p.m. iOn his own statement made to the , police, the defendant convicts himself. ] He said that when he felt the effects of alcohol coming or. he pulled to the side of the road, but the evidence was that he had swerved across the road in front of another car four times on a hill. A man does not drive in this manner when he is ill and the defendant’s conduct was that of a drunken driver and not that of a man suffering from illness.” Security was fixed for appeal.