MADE HIMSELF A LICENSE STICKER: APPRENTICE FINED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 10, 6 January 1948, Page 4

MADE HIMSELF A LICENSE STICKER: APPRENTICE FINED

What was described by Traffic Inspector N. E. Colville as probably the first case of its kind in New Zealand, was heard in the Mosgiel Magistrate’s Court when a young apprentice mechanic," formerly a draughtsman, appeared before Mr A. E. Dobbie, S.M., charged with placing a licence sticker, made by himself, on a motor cycle which he was repairing.

The defendant, Douglas John Farrell, of Green Island, said that the motor cycle was the property of George Roy Taylor, who bought it from the Army Department at Burnham. Taylor decided to sell the machine, and the defendant undertook to overhaul it so that it would find a buyer more readily. Taylor had lost the registration papers for the machine some weeks before the offence, and thought he would be forced to return to Burnham to register it again, continued the defendant. One day he saw a magazine cover which was the same colour as the current green licence sticker, and on a piece of this paper, cut to the appropriate size, witness copied the printing on an expired licence.

Traffic Inspector Colville said that not only was the licence sticker a false one, but the warrant of fitness had also been altered. The date of issue was altered from February 24, 1947, to May 24, 1947. Although it had not expired, the warrant was so dirty that it was hard to decipher. Farrell was fined 10s and costs (10s) for altering, the warrant of fitness; 10s and costs (10s) for using a motor cycle without a licence; and £2 and costs (10s) for using a licence likely to be mistaken for a genuine licence. The owner of the motor cycle, Taylor, was fined £2 and costs (10s) for aiding and abetting Farrell in using an improper licence, and 10s and costs (10s) for using an unlicensed motor cycle.