MAGISTRATE S COURT Youths Convicted For Using Skate Boards

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30962, 19 January 1966, Page 6

MAGISTRATE S COURT Youths Convicted For Using Skate Boards

For the first time in New. I Zealand, it was said, two i youths were convicted in the! Magistrate's Court yesterday on charges relating to the use of skate boards in a street. Brian Betts, aged 20, a clicker, and John Irvine, aged 19, a clerk, were convicted and discharged on charges of operating a vehicle, a skate board, in CMfton terrace in such a manner or in such a condition as to be liable to cause injury to any person or animal or to damage property.

Mr H. J. Evans, S.M., was on the bench. Traffic enforcement authorities and responsible members of the public had been very concerned about the use of skate boards on steep hills, as they could cause death or serious injury to a member of the public or the young persons using the boards, Traffic Sergeant H. J. McMorran said, prosecuting for the Christchurch City Council.

The skate boards could attain considerable speed down a moderate slope, and the only control the user had over direction was to shift his weight and the position of his feet on the board. The speed of the board could not be controlled, as it had no brake. To stop the board the rider and the board had to part company, and then the board was a source of danger until it met an obstruction or stopped. Several youths had been injured while using skate boards, and one had broken a leg, Traffic Sergeant McMorran said.

The traffic department had officers specially employed on week-ends to stop persons using skate boards on the roads. On many occasions the officers had pointed out to persons using the boards the risk they ran and ordered them not to use the boards on the streets. Some of those using skate boards had posted look-outs to warn them when the traffic officers approached, said Traffic Sergeant McMorran. Giving the details of the charges against Betts and Irvine, Traffic Sergeant McMorran said that at 11.50 a.m. on Sunday, November 14, the two defendants travelled down Clifton Hill for about half a mile on skate boards. The road was sealed, but was very uneven in places, and had a number of very narrow and sharp bends. Some parts of the hill were quite steep, and an average car would have to be driven down in second gear to retard the speed Clifton Hill was a residential area and there were a number of T intersections in Clifton terrace. Visability at some of the bends was restricted said Traffic Sergeant McMorran.

The Magistrate said that the facts left him in no doubt that the use of skate boards in a street could cause injury or damage to property. The contrivances were equipped with wheels or revolving runners, and were clearly vehicles. They had no brakes and depended on the nerve or the agility of the rider to stop them. As this was the first prosecution, it would not be right to “take it out on the defendants,” he said. With the concurrence of his fellow magistrates, he warned future offenders that appropriate fines would be imposed. TRAFFIC CASES In traffic cases brought by the Christchurch City Council traffic department convictions were entered and fines imposed as follows, with costs of £1 10s in each case:— Exceeded 30 miles an hour: Dennis John Alsop, £10; John Sanderson Harrison, £5: David Prentice Keir, £5; Gerrit Johan Van Eyk Menk Man, £4, and disqualified from driving for three months; John Robert Warren, £5; Frederick Thomas Bolton. £5: Phillip Andrew Cumming, £2; Joseph Czernohorsky, £5; Malcolm Thomas Darby, £6: Bryan Anthony Davey, £6; John Patrick Inkster, £7; Garrick Thomas Johnson, £7; Paul Anthony Kirk, £3: Frederick Raymond Smith. £5; Jacob Schriek, £4.

Failed to give way to right: Madge Isohel Gleeson, £5; Richard John Mackenzie, £8; John Henry Merfield, £6; Alexander Stark, £S; David Vicars, £10: Stanley Armond Thomas, £10: Henry* Carrick Vincent, £6 10s; William David Armstrong, £B. Failed to stop at compulsory stop: Robert Raeburn Peterson. £7; David Mathew Grey, £5; John Grundy. £4; Douglas Allan Johns, £5; Robert Alfred Kissack. £4: Wayne Joseph McCreanor, £6.

No warrant of fitness: Ernest Harold Bland, £1: Hugh Bazzette Diver. £2; Brian Keeling, £2; Maxwelton McMaster. £2 10s; Pamela Ann McMaster, £2 10s.

Cycled on footpath: Robert John Boyle, £1; Norman Joseph Fuller, £1; Gordon Thomas Hutchinson, £l.

Parking offences: Wolfgang Heinrick Wilhelm Friese, £1; Keith Raymond Hodgson, £3, Failed to comply with directions of traffic lanes: James St. Clair Murray, £5. No safety chain attached to trailer: Lauchlan McMillan, £3.

Failed to give way when turn ing right: Alan Bedford, £B. Insufficient lights: Lawrence Frederick Cadman, £3.

Careless driving: Hilton Glenn Hall, £5; Mason Henry Sharland. £5; George Edward Johns, £5.

Heavy-traffic licence not carried: New Zealand Express Company, Ltd., £5; L. Martin and Company, Ltd., £5.

Parted with driver s licence Peter James O'Halloran, £l5.

Failed to keep to left: Alan Richard Peddie. £3 10s.

Failed to stop for lights at railway crossing: Trevor Alfred Pollock. £5.

Unsafe load: Cecil Charles Edward Ranger, £5: Richard Joseph Hurst-Long, £S. Carried passenger with L plates: Barry John Winder. £2 <rode power-cycle on footpath, £2). Unlicensed trailer: Donald Cargill. £3. Failed to stop at traffic lights: Peter Matthew Grant, £5; Ruby Lois Dutton. £5; George Nelson, £7. Failed to stop at school patrol crossing: Arthur Alfred Terry, costs only. (Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M.) TOOK TRUCK A man who was woken by the sound of his truck being started and driven off gave chase in his car, caught up with his truck and made th* accused drive it

back and kept him until the police arrived. Senior-Sergeant G. M. Cleary said when Henare Paranihi, aged 21. a soldier <Mr K. N. Hampton), pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully taking a truck belonging to Doring Implements, Ltd.. Main South road.

Paranihi was convicted and fined £l5 and disqualified from driving for one year. Mr Hampton said that Para nihi had quarrelled with his girl friend and had drunk some liquor. He was regarded as a good soldier. FOR OBSERVATION Tile accused suffered from a degree of senility and was not capable of looking after himself properly. Senior Sergeant Cleary said when William Albert Gray, aged 72, a pensioner, appeared on a charge of being unlawfully on a property at Southbrook on January 16. Gray pleaded guilty and was remanded for observation until February 1 under the Mental Health Act. DRUNKENNESS Charged with being found drunk in Olliviers road on January 17, Patricia Melrose, aged 52, a housewife, was fined £l. She pleaded not guilty, and admitted having been convicted of drunkenness once in the previous six months.

Pleading guilty to a charge of being found drunk in Moorhouse avenue on January 17, Walter William Conlan, aged 52, unemployed, was fined £2. He was a statutory third offender. TRAFFIC CASES

In traffic cases brought by the Christchurch City Council traffic department, convictions were entered and fines imposed as follows, with costs of £1 10s in each case:

Exceeded 30 miles an hour: David Alfred Adams, £6: Maicotlm Graeme Be a van, £6 and driver’s licence cancelled for three months; John Richard Leslie Morrison. £4; Hugh Kerry Butler, £4: Gregory Stewart Connor, £4; Alan Ross Dawson; £fi; Andrew Albert Dryden, £6: Johnny Andrew Clifford Hagenaar, £5 and driver’s licence cancelled for two months: William James Jeffreys, £5: Leslie Robert Knowles, £6: Albert Leslie Royston Noonan, £4; Henry Palmer. £3; Gordon Charles Rew, £5: Wayne William Thorpe, £5: Ann Lynette Welch, £5; Mervyn Gordon Wilson, £6: Donald Robert Muir, £5: Derek Arthur Overton, £6 (no warrant of fitness, £1: failing to produce licence, £1); Godfrey Stanley Pannett, £4: Robert Victor Fiidgeon, £4; Victor George Powell, £2; Stanley Edward Wills’, £5: Brian Wilson, £4: Stephen John Winters, £4 (failing to produce licence. £2): lan Malcolm Wo-L frey, £5; Veneliin Miteff, £4.

Parking offences: Eiyin Loucas Arvanitis, £3: Kenneth John Blair, two charges, £1 and £2: Roger David Brittenden, £1: John Anthony Brown, £3; Pau) Joseph Collier, £3: Gary David Hampton. £1: Maurice Damain Hurley, £2; Keith Thomas Marriott, £2: Claude Robert MeQuoid, £3: Brian Meredith, £3: Dermot Janies Nottingham, £1: Coleen Christina Parker, £3: David Gordon Reid. £1: Ronald Leicester Scott, £1; Derek William Simpson, £3; Wayne Raymond Wright, £5: John Murray Osiborne, £1: William Tehaere Solomon, £3.

Failing to stop at sign: Pompey Edkna Webster, £3 (rode on foothpath, £1 10s); Russell Evan Turner, £5: Iris Muriel Perham, £3; Harold Allan Rutland, £3: Peter Anthony Scales. £5; Raymond Cyril Sowden, £3 Bruno Vattovez, £3 (no driver’s licence, £2); Frederick Lewis Whall, £5.

No warrant of fitness: Terence Douglas Jay, £1; Wayne Michael Morris, £1; Whizzu Poharama, £1 10s (failed to produce driver’s licence, £2); Charles Henry Jenman Rhodes, £1; Brian Edwin Steventon. £3; Erro'l Montcrief Tapp, £5; John Arthur Vine, £3; Desmond John Villerman, £3; Frederick Michael, £3: Noel Thomas Murphy, £5; Albert Fletcher Reed, £1 10s; Neville Charles Tucker, £2.

No driver’s licence: Trevor Henry Oakley, £5 (no warrant of fitness, £1); Janet Marie Patrick, £5 and driver's licence cancelled for three months.

No safety chain attached io trawler: Jack Vernon Gallagher, £5; Robin Wilkam Hilton. £4; William John Ross, £6: Hermanns Staats, £3.

Used vehicle while certificate of fitness suspended: Arnold Charles Hamar. £l5.

Failed to stop at lights: Les- ' ter Raymond Swan, £3 Carried pitllion passenger while restricted: Michael Rowan Harper, £3 (did not display current licence label, £3). Unable to stop in half clear distance ahead: Murray Edward Ma’Jlock, £6. Failed to supply information: Maurice Clifford Chapped, £5: Kevin Moana Jarden. £5. Failed to carry heavy-traffic licence: Writs am George* Smith, l £2. Failed to give way: Brian [John Moore. £8; Colin Edward Robinson, £5; William Tufflev, | £lO. Failed to signal turn: John Thomas Shields Park. £4. No certificate of fitness: Douglas Eric Giilchrist, £5. Failed to display heavy-traf-fic licence: Rh.nds Transport Lyttelton, Ltd., £2. Vehicle in dangerous condition: Gary Malcolm Hutton, £lO and driver’s licence cancelled for three months. Unsafe vehicle: Gerald Austin Quirke, £2. Unlicensed vehicle: John Berryman, £5 (no warrant of fitness, £1). CIVIL CASES (Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) JUDGMENT SUMMONSES The following orders were made on judgment summonses: Arthur R. Walker, labourer, Trafford street, to pay Drainage Services (S.L), Ltd., £9, in default 10 days’ imprisonment, warrant suspended while £1 a week is paid; B. Smith, labourer, Boyne avenue, to pay National Insurance Company of New Zealand £36 18s 2d (38 days or £1 a week); William D. Coulston, slaughterman, Rowses road, to pay Beath and Company, Ltd., £8 (10 days or £1 a week): J. M. Watson, labourer, Tonks street, to pay Modern Grocers, Ltd.. £7 19s 9d (nine days or £1 a week); A. Mikoloff, workman, Sharlich street, to pay Victoria Furnishers, Ltd., £5l 4s 7d (55 days or £1 10s a week); R. Newall, workman, Yarmouth street, to pay P. S. Marriott £7 14s (eight days). Dennis M. Bunz, farmhand. Ensign street, to pay New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association, Ltd., £l4 15s 2d (16 days or £1 a week); Kelvin Gilbert James Chapman, shoe repairer, Wimborne crescent to pay Commissioner of Inland Revenue £ll7 6s (three months or £1 a week); A. Ford, St. Asaph street, to pay B. E. and A. L. Stevenson £l4 (16 days or £1 a week): B. H. Wilkinson, joiner, Memorial avenue, to pay J. E. Elley £2 (three days). Basil Heaton Wilkinson. Memorial avenue, to pay Baylis Brothers (Leeston), Ltd., £2 ‘l7s 8d (three days), and the Bell Cycle and Motor Company, Ltd., £1 Os Id (three days), and F. Drury and Son, Ltd., £1 10s 8d (three days), and Miss Feaver the Florist £1 9s lid (three days): Graham James Palmer, workman, Checketts avenue, to pay Gwladys Palmer £6l 10s 6d (65 days or £2 a week). Jan Willem Levy, restaurant proprietor. River road, to pay Barry Clifford Gatehouse £l9 12s 5d (22 days or £2 10s a week): lan Hamilton, trading as Perfect Gardeners, Langdons road, to pay R. C. Horsley. Ltd.. £lO 7s (12 days or £1 a week): M. E. T. Wilson, workman, care of Mount Torlesse Station, Springfield, to pay Carpet and Linoleums (Christchurch). Ltd., £29 5s 6d (30 days or £1 a week).

R. W. Pickett, drainlayer, Blankney street, Hornby, to pay G. J. Roud and Son, Ltd., £7 6s lOd (eight days); J. A. Patterson, Sherborne street, to pay Gold Band Services, Ltd., £4 10s (six days); P. L. Graham, farm worker. Lyttelton street, to pay Central Canterbury Electric Power Board £l4 16s 4d (16 days or 10s a week): G. H. Hudson, company employee. Virgil place, to pay G. G. Graham and D. W. Jones £26 15s (28 days or £1 10s a week). Edward John Lawrie Drew, postal official, Willryan avenue, to pay N. and E. S. Paterson. Ltd., £B4 15s (three months or £2 a week); Reginald Taylor, railway employee, Kirwee, to pay A. Tong £34 9s 5d (36 days or £2 a week): Sydney George Isherwood, trading as Danefield Kennels, Neill road, to nay Taranaki Newspapers, Ltd., £2 10s (three days): J. Cross, labourer. Langdons road, to pay Wilkinsons Garage, Ltd., £9 19s 9d (11 days or £1 a week). Pauline Parks, married

woman. Peterborough street, to pay Dorothy Una Bell £5 0s 6d (six days or 10s a week): Alan Johnson, merchant seaman, Wembly street, to pay Catherine Daley £315 Is (three months or £3 a week): Lyndsay Kerr, agricultural worker, Bryndwr road, to pay Noe! and Shirley Clarke £127 13s (three months or £2 a week).