AN EXPENSIVE COLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 231, 30 September 1929, Page 10

AN EXPENSIVE COLD.

MECHANIC DRINKS RUM. "PRACTICALLY DRUNK" IN CAR. NOT THE OLD SOLDIER'S YARN. The cold which Harold Francis O'Grady contracted on Saturday was of the expensive variety, for after drinking some run he was arrested at 10.30 on Saturday night on a charge of being in a state of intoxication while in charge of hie motor car. O'Grady, aged 33, a mechanic, who pleaded guilty, was fined £10 at the Police Court this morning by Mr l< 1 K Hunt, S.M. ' ' ' Sub-Inspector McCarthy said O'Grady drove to a restaurant in Queen Street on Saturday night in company with two sailors. "All three were practically drunk, and they were refused admission to the restaurant," said Mr. McCarthy. Mr. J. J. Sullivan, who appeared for accused, said O'Grady was an industrious man. "O'Grady had a bad cold, and he took some rum on Saturday," said counsel. "Remarkable as it may seem, it was not like the old soldier's yarn, for O'Grady had a genuine cold. Not given to liquor, the rum he took evidently affected him, although he was not drunk. The two sailors hailed him as he was driving along in his ear and he took them to the restaurant. O'Grady is a married man with a family, and as he is a mechanic I would ask your Worship not to cancel his license." "I don't know what we are going to do with these intoxicated men in motor care," said the magistrate. '"They are coming here almost daily now, and fines seem to have little effect." The sub-inspector said that the case was not a serious one. "I will fine him the same as I did the last man who was before me—his was not a bad case," said Mr. Hunt, in imposing a fine of £10. "O'Grady can choose between having his license cancelled and taking out a prohibition order." O'Grady preferred to go without drink rather than pose his license. He was allowed one week in which to pay the i fine. ' I