Magistrate’s Court Two Men Each Fined £35 For Durunken Driving

Press, Volume C, Issue 29497, 26 April 1961, Page 12

Magistrate’s Court Two Men Each Fined £35 For Durunken Driving

rtaea M 4UB Wara U—oMd ii Mi '■'H«r»dß « ttwJ—fS- c< gate's O>^, m' JMMaRy~PO M charm <4 dziyRIIJMM WBile si undae: tte WlMMriat dKftk tc tto ter. af« », • hand. H £35 Bna orrterlni Ms driver's ii licence to b*i Cancelled for h io yreOttk p. Blair. Sic., t told Pbetar that in i—inc p a fine iiutead at il*iris on- b men: he ares taking into sc- o count Fosteea etfMWto fight 1 alcoholism. v The Magistrate Mid that h Foster had a prewus con- r viction for the sand* sttance s and normally imprtaontnent v would have been Mnod.,, t Sergeant K. S. TUcOjidto t prosecuted, said e cott— aint t had been *—&* a c car in BarbedMß Rtreet swerving across MjO>ML A "■ constable arrested roster In t the yard of the Star and c Garter Hotel. When he was I aCrested Foster beaifeMng « and asked for anotbSMpde. c At the Central PrtiiKton ‘ Foster rr flitert to h-’AkbwH>»M ’ by Dr. iiVtaft. " ' ’ i Mr A. Ream. wttoaß—sted ' for Foster, satd-4hafy*tcr .was ’4WV'Mc*belMraiKKd mad* : -getting eS&rS.ftpt i his wwlesn. "/TW|HgW>t t horapMdre he —a artWd i Fogter had felt ad alcoholic c crista was coming <Mb Shd he 1 gc ? In touch with hta doctor. 1 who gave him tranguiliser tablets. When the craving for < alcohol became worse he took t all the tablets. This over-dose I of tablets could have ex- > plained Foster's unstable be- 1 haviour when he was ar- 1 rested. i Asking for a fine rather « than imprisonment Mr Hearn < said Foster's driving licence 1 would be cancelled for 10 1 years, and as he had to go to work early in the morning ' that would be a punishment. ’ Because of his alcoholism 1 'Foster was a sick man, and 1 gaol would not help him. Albert Henry George Tuckey, aged 52, a tractor : driver, was fined £35 and his ' driver’s licence was cancelled ! for three years. He pleaded guilty. 1 Sergeant Tuck said that at 6.15 p.m. on April 15 a traffic officer had seen the accused’s 1 car going east along Rlccar- i ton road. It was weaving from side to side, but near Ham road it swung to the ! wrong side of the road, forcing an approaching car over ' to its left, and it then swung i back to the left-hapd kerb. , Mr J. H. F, Macfarlane. , who appeared for the ac- j , cused, said that Tuckey had ' ■ hardly touched liquor before J that day because he suffered , from a urinary defect, and • had to be careful with the ; quantity of liquid he took. i The offence was induced by . the deep emotional stress he • had undergone that day, and ; his incapacity to drink what . could normally be drunk by • a man of his years proved [ too much for him. , The steering of the car was > slightly sticky, and this could ’ have contributed to the , weaving of the car. He was > driving at only 20 miles an ’ hour and was keeping well ' to the left. » THEFT OF MATTRESSES t Gordon Lewis Spriggs (Mr > L. G. Holder) was convicted [ on a joint charge of stealing three mattresses, valued at > £1 10s, the property of the > Presbyterian Bible Class As- > sociation, at Dunsandel on > February 23. A charge Of wil- > ful damage to a pane of glass, > valued at 9s. against Spriggs » was dismissed. He pleaded > not guilty to both charges. : On the evidence of John , Fonotea the accused was 1 clearly implicated in both J offences, said the Magistrate. L However, Fonotea was an ac- > complice, and he had to treat t his evidence with care, f Fonotea’s evidence was con- > tradicted by both a girl, f whose name was suppressed, L and by George Maurice, who > said that the accused rel mained in the car while the r wiqdow was broken and the > mattresses were taken. t Maurice said in evidence 1 that the accused had met > Fonotea and helped him to 7 carry one of the mattresses, f but under cross-examination s he said he was not sure about F this. ? “There is sufficient evidence S to establish beyond reason- > able doubt that the accused ? was aware that the mattresses S had been taken unlawfully, > and he was implicated by ? transporting them in his car,” 5 the Magistrate said. “I agree F with counsel’s submissions on ? the other charge, and that S will be dismissed.” > Spriggs was remanded to 2 May 8 for sentence. 5 THEFT OF MONEY 5 A man employed as a 5 driving instructor had failed' 2 to pay to his firm various J amounts given to him by K pupils after lessons had been J completed. said Sergeant K Tuck. Raymond Arthur Griffiths, unemployed, pleaded guilty t to a charae of stealing £52 K 15s by failing to account to KSSSU2 «“S ,®E3 18. He was remanded on ' bail to l|ay 8 for sentence. ■- Griffiths was employed by the Blackbum Driving School as an instructor, and he left without notice on February 13. Sergeant Tuck said. His employer checkel through his records, and found discrepancies. Bills h»d been sent out to various clients, and they said that had paid the money to 1 Ito matter was reported tn the poHce and it was found that Griffiths had left Christchurch. On April 20 be caller at the C.IH. office and said he wanted to get the matter eleaned up. Griffiths said to had had domestic trouble, but there tod been a reconciliation. He had three children, said Sergeant Tuck. THEFT Of EAPIO "It was a pretty mean > sort of tttog te sc— from ■> yowr rog— nteMlOpld the ' teneing

lent term for mf jriCtol- « Willed ®t y ;SSbafWJ/rSdL J ing, and the accused toM Wn d he tod taton it to i -««%» * but Hoepo kept punto# W» v ]- .i*««**4 q a caretaker of a WftWj ton- I venience while he Wtot to c the pictures. When he to* o ssrSrtaSMHfisSia j collected the radio. . i “There is no trace of i •Johnny 1 and to « S»4J&ab®wS! .ssisaamrej instructions. Hoepo has pre- | vioua convictions* . ? MONTH’S GAOL t Francis Lewi* Gibsen. aged « 54, was sentenced to toe month’s imprisonment when , he pleaded guilty to a charge 1 of theft of ah electric abavtr « from Terry Janies Large on t a from the * dock the accused claimed < that the theft .was an to- t pulsive act caused by .the c influence of think and that he was an alcoholic. . The < Magistrate told him there < was nothing" to stop him 1 from having treatment, but i Gibson replied that be did 1 not have the willpower to take it. ' . . Louis Albert Upton, who ( was jointly 1 charged with ’ Gibson, pleaded not guilty, and the charge was dismissed. FINED £5 Pleading guilty to stealing £2 10s on October 12, 1959, John William Aubrey Simpson, aged 45, a driver, was fined £5 and ordered to make restitution pt £2 10s. PROBATION Charged with obscene exposure, Peter Richard Evans, aged 22, a farm labourer, was admitted to two years' ; probation. On a charge of being idle and disorderly, he was fined £lO. < CHARGE DISMISSED A charge of driving While , under the influence of drink or drugs against Thomas Henty Blaek, aged 34. a labourer (Mr 8. 3. Drake), was dismissed. Sergeant Tuck said that a , complaint had betn received that a van that Black was driving had atrtick a parked car in Opawa road, then swerved across the road, narrowly missing an oncoming car, and stopped-in the middle of the road. The three women in the car that was .hit gave evidence that Black smelt of liquor and his Speech was slurred. Mr Drake said that Black had had nd Sleep the previous night. He had had only six glasses of beer, and the accident was caused by bis tiredness, not the effects of liquor. Dr. F. L. Scott said he had examined Black at the Central Police Station and considered he was fit to drive a car. The Magistrate told Black that it was obvious to had been drinking during the time before the accident, but as it appeared to be a bor-der-line case Black would be given the benefit of the 1 doubt that existed whether 1 liquor had affected Black's 1 driving. YEAR’S GAOL “Your counsel has overemphasised the drinking aspect in your crimes. I am not ’ satfafled thia was only « ; drunken spree; there la evi- . dence of some careful plan* , ning,” said the Magtotrate ; sentencing Briaft Dudley Churcher. aged 30. and Robert . Roy Inman, aged 30. to U t months’ imprisonment on , three charges of shopbreaking and theft. [ Mr G. R. Lascelles, who api peered for Churcher and Inman. said that the thefts , were spontaneous and not ; planned, being carried out I while the two men were . drinking heavily. He said that the Clarendon Hotel was broken into at 7.30 > p.m., a time when guests and , staff were about, while the ; theft at Armstrongs, Ltd, was t done at 5.30 p.m. These times showed just how stupid the , offences were. Asking for a fine rather than imprisonment Mr .Im* celles said ttat Churcher had ’ many financial commitments, 1 and his wife and family 5 would suffer if he was to--7 prisoned. Inman tod admitted 1 being the instigator of the 1 crimes, but hie loyalty And affection to his sick de fketo '• wife showed he tod Some I good in him. “ Churcher and Inman were ’ in pamership as scrap metal ’ dealers and were .good • workers, and if fined had a 1 chance of making something . of the buaineM, Mr Laacelles j submitted. i £lO FIN® j For stealing goods valued at £1 8a from A bouse at Crtegieburn Russell Ivan Downey (Mr G. R. Laacelles) was fined £l# and.ordered to s make restitution of the stolen t property. Downey pleaded a guilty- - v .■ Mr LuceUeo Mid that » Downey bad shown signs of i rehabilitating himself after a bed start when he was younger, and asked for t fine rather than impHsontaeflt r RBMANDKD ' William Shepherd -NAwtnan -> was remanded on bail to May - 1 on e charg* of Ctoeans eae posure on April 34. agea io. was rctnanaM on b bail to May 1 to a Chart* of n disorderly behaviour on April e A g Rgymond Petrick Bdyl*. a aged 18, * freeing works

XrWMrrtU: of being under the influence Mataura. He had been found asleep in a car oh a parking St off the street, and he doubted whether the police Would be able to sustain the manded on bail until May 1 <m a charge of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs on April 22. Desmond Levavasseure (Mr B. J. Drake), was remanded db bail to May 1 on » charge of driving while under the ibfluence of drink or drugs < *Tw> > breSers, aged 20 and 18, were remanded to May 1 on a charge nf stealing a galop of petrol valued at 3s 4d. An interim order for suppresMon of their names was re* Owed. Cyril Edward Bergman was remanded cm bail to May ' on chargee of being found Sunk on April Id and in asr<stsBs« as or drugs. John Stanley York, aged », Was remanded on bail to May 1 on a charge of being in charge of a motor-ear while under the influence of drink or drugs on April 18. John Valentine Spencer (Mr B. J. Drake) was remanded on bail to May 1 on charges of arson and theft. On a charge of driving a ear while under the influence S drink or drugs David eDonald Gillespie Finnic ras remanded on bail to May