Supreme Court Man Denies Driving Car That Hit Cyclist

Press, Volume C, Issue 29504, 4 May 1961, Page 11

Supreme Court Man Denies Driving Car That Hit Cyclist

The main question for the jury to answer, it was agreed by counsel in the Supreme Court yesterday, was whether Stewart Christie Forrester, aged 65, a retired car salesman, was the driver of a ear which knocked Wenda Jane Greatrex, married, a nursing sister, from her bicycle, breaking her leg, in New Brighton road on December 14, 1960. Forrester pleaded not guilty to a charge of negligently driving his car on that date, thereby causing bodily harm to Mrs Greatrex. The Crown sought to prove that Forrester drove the car that struck Mrs Greatrex. The defence denied it was Forrester, and sought to show that it must have been another driver and car which caused the accident. The trial, before Mr Justice Macarthur, will conclude today. All the evidence has been given. Mr C. M. Roper conducted the case for the Crown. Mr W. F. Brown appeared for Forrester. Crown’s Case Whether Forrester was the driver of the car which struck Mrs Greatrex was very much in dispute, said Mr Roper in opening the case for the Crown. The accident occurred about 10.30 p.m. Mrs Greatrex was cycling towards the city in New Brighton road and had almost reached the intersection of Locksley avenue. She intended to go along New Brighton road. She noticed a stream of three or four cars coming along New Brighton road from the city. The leading car had its trafficator out, signalling its intention to turn right into Locksley avenue. A Christchurch Transport Board bus was following Mrs Greatrex. “Into this peaceful and orderly scene came the car that the Crown says the accused was driving,” Mr Roper said. “Mrs Greatrex will say that she saw the lights of this car approaching. It was travelling fast and in the middle of the road, as it passed the stream of cars approaching her. “Mrs Greatrex will say that this car swerved right over on the wrong side of the road as it passed the car beginning its turn into Locksley avenue. She will say the car swerved into the entrance of Locksley avenue and out again, in an arc round the turning car, and then knocked her off her bicycle,” Mr Roper said. “Bus Forced Over” “The driver of the bus, David William Nutira, will say that this car, a blue Volkswagen, forced him right over to his incorrect side of the road. Nutira will say that a blue car came back along the road and did a U-turn to park in front of the bus which Nutira had stopped.’ Mrs Greatrex would say that she came to lying on the road. She suffered compound fractures of both bones in her lower right leg. A man came over to her. She would say it was the accused. “Mrs Greatrex will say this man came from a blue car. The bus driver had written his name and address oo an envelope. Mrs Greatrex will say that she gave the accused this envelope and he wrote on it and handed it back. Later the accused asked for it back. She gave it to him and she did not see him or the envelope again that night. ‘“Hie bus driver. Nutira. will say the accused told him that ‘another chap tried to have me on as I passed.' ” Mr Rooer continued. Mr Roper said that the driver of the car which had signalled to him into Locksley avenue. George Little Moultrie, a grocer, was now in England. He had given evidence at the lower Court hearing and had been crossexamined by defence counsel “Mr Moultrie said in evidence. which will be read to you. that he clearly saw the driver of the blue car that passed him. This man. shortly after the accident, came up to him and said. ‘You b fool, you caused that accident.’ Moultrie later identified this man as the accused and the man who had driven the blue Volkswagen which had struck Mrs Great! ex. “At this identification parade at the Central Police Station on March 8. 1961, Mrs Greatrex identified the accused from 13 men as the man who had spoken to her

and to whom she gave the envelope. Mr Moultrie had identified the accused as the man who had driven the blue car and called him a fool. "The bus driver, Nutira, identified the accused as the man who did the U turn in the blue car: Kelvin William Peters, driver of the car following Mr Moultrie, identified the accused as the driver of the blue Volkswagen; Kenneth Arthur Black, a passenger in the bus, identified him as the driver of the car,” Mr Roper said. Police Interview The accused had left the scene of the accident when the police arrived and the list of witnesses had disappeared. Four days after the accident, the witness, Black, would say, he saw the accused in his car and gave the number of the car to the police. “On December 21. 1960, the accused was seen by the police. He admitted being at the scene of the accident. He made a long statement to the police to the effect that he had been driving east along the road and had seen a bus stopped on the wrong side of the road, a woman lying on the road and a cloud of dust. The accused said he pulled up in front of the bus and said he went across to see if he could assist the woman. Accused said he had arrived at the scene after the accident,” Mr Roper said. "It is your job to reconcile this statement with what the Crown witnesses will say and the fact that five of them identified the accused as the driver of a blue Volkswagen which one witness will say he saw hit Mrs Greatrex and others will say turned and came back straight after the collision. If you accept the Crown evidence, I suggest you will consider the accused was guilty of as negligent a piece of driving as you have heard of,” Mr Roper concluded. Evidence was given along the lines of the opening address for the Crown. Cross-examined by Mr Brown, Mrs Greatrex said she knew it was a blue car that struck her. She did not know what make it was at the time. Mr Brown: The accused will give evidence that a woman, gave him a list of witnesses to add his name to, but this woman was standing up. Could ft have been some other woman at the scene? The witness: It could have been. The list was being handed round. But I am auite sure that I gave Mr Forrester the list myself. I handed it to him twice, once when he asked for it back. To further questions. the< witness said she knew the accused had been drinking that night. Accused was not drunk, but he was not sober He was excitable and irrational. Defence Case The defence was, simply, that the accused was not the driver of the car which hit Mrs Greatrex. said Mr Brown in his opening address to the jury. “The accused will tell you in the witness box that he is not the driver of the car which knocked this unfortunate woman from her bicycle. It is patently obvious. I think, to all that Mrs Greatrex and the other witnesses for the Crown are decent people who have come here to tell what they honestly believe to be the ease. But they are capable of being mistaken and. after you have heard all the defence evidence you will feel there is a doubt about the matter, and that an honest mistake has been made. “It is one thing to be accused of negligent driving, but as he maintains that he is not the driver, the accused's integrity and honesty are at stake. He will tell you he has never been in trouble before. He had an excellent record and was decorated in World War I. “You have got to believe, to find him guilty, that he not only knocked this woman down but returned to the scene and behaved, in a most despicable manner. I do not think, after you have seen and heard him. that you will believe he did this,” counsel said. The accused would say he went that evening to visit his sister, a widow, and then went to a cycling meeting at English Park, Mr Brown said.

The accused would say that when returning to his home in Union street he saw a cloud of dust, 'and a bus parked on the wrong side of the road. He pulled up to see what was wrong and walked across the road to see if he could help the injured woman. "Car Unmarked” “The accused will say that while he was approaching the scene of the accident two cars passed him, a yellowish one and a small car. He will say that he was at the scene of the accident about 20 minutes.” The accused would say his car was in very good condition. He had it greased at a garage two days later and a salesman would give evidence about seeking to buy the car. Both witnesses would say the car was unmarked. Five days after the accident a Mr Dodd ran into the back of the accused’s car. Mr Dodd would give evidence of this incident. Insurers had paid for the damage to be repaired. Evidence would be given, said Mr Brown, to show the number of turquoise blue Volkswagens sold in Christchurch and district to prove it would not be a great coincidence for two of them to be on the same road at once. It would not be a great coincidence if both were driven by elderly men. “Some time. later, the accused will say, he was approached by the police. He willingly made a statement, and later willingly attended an identification parade. The accused has always said he was at the accident after it happened, and has always said he was not the driver of the car that hit Mrs Greatrex,” counsel concluded. Accused’s Evidence The accused gave evidence along these lines. He denied that Mrs Greatrex had given him an envelope. He said another woman had, and, after writing his name and address on it, he handed the envelope and pen back to this woman. He denied telling Moultrie that he was the cause of the accident Cross-examined by Mr Roper, Forrester said he did not know what happened at the accident. He had put his name on the envelope because he thought the two ears which passed him might have been involved in the accident. Mr Roper: You could not identify those cars? Accused: No. It was dark. You have had a lifetime dealing with cars’—Yes. If the small car had been a blue Volkswagen, would you have recognised it’—Not necessarily. The accused denied volunteering to a constable that he had been run into from behind after the accident. He said he told the constable this after the constable had pointed to damage to his car. The accused denied having a row with Moultrie or talking to him. He denied blaming Moultrie for the accident. He also denied speaking to the bus driver or with Peters. Mr Roper: Did you see another man, looking like you, having a row with Mr Moultrie or anyone else? Accused: No, sir. Did you see another man like yourself?—No sir. I didn’t take any notice. Did you see another car like your own?—No. sir. Did you park on the north side of New Brighton road to the east of Locksley avenue’—Yes sir. Witness here said the men they spoke to had his blue Volkswagen parked there. Did you see any other blue Volkswagen in that area?— No. sir. To Mr Brown, the accused said he did not take any notice of any other car at the scene of the accident.