DRUNK IN CHARGE CASES DISMISSED BY MAGISTRATE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 92, 8 September 1948, Page 5

DRUNK IN CHARGE CASES DISMISSED BY MAGISTRATE

Holds Evidence Not Sufficient

Two police charges of intoxication in charge of motor vehicles were dismissed by Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Whakatane yesterday. His Worshijp also dis- ' missed a charge of cruelty to a horse brought against a Maori. In a case against Kenneth Edward Francis, Internal Affairs Department ranger/ the Magistrate held that ‘there was no evidence that Francis. had been near the vehicle in question when it was involved in .the accident out of which the charge arose. Medical evidence was that he had been only slightly intoxicated. The Police case, presented by • Constable R. F. Julian, was that a truck crashed a parked taxi in the . early hours of the morning of August 8. First on the scene was Stanley McLeod, of the company that owned the taxi. When he got there the driver of the truck was not present. Nor was he there when the Police, called by McLeod, arrived. Constable Julian said he found Francis at Dr Maaka’s house nearby and took him to the Police station . for examination. Dr R: N. Akel, who examined the , defendant,® said all the tests relating to co-ordination were, good and his' state of intoxication was only slight. Mr B. S. Barry, for the defendant, submitted there was no evidence . that his client was near the vehicle when the accident happened. His Worship agreed, and dismissed the information.