FROM PULPIT TO POLICE COURT

NZ Truth, Issue 1189, 13 September 1928, Page 12

FROM PULPIT TO POLICE COURT

\ „ ' ■ -'■'•,' ■ ■ ■ ■'■ ■ • ' '■ ■ ■■' ■ ■ - . ■. .*■ ■ .' ■ ■ . (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) Y^A, it is a Jong jump from the church *o the police court; but scenes sometimes change suddenly, as Joseph Duffy, a priest, found when ■ he drove, his car, on a "zi g - 2a g, f course," according >to a traffic inspector, along Grey Street, Auckland, after partaking 1 of lunch; and a", "spot" last . week. ■" :■'.'/•■ ;. T . '..' .. ... '■ - •".:■■•• ■■' ' •■'■; ;"■.-•■ ■•.■'■■■■'■ ' ' " .••■ , An attack of influenza and the awkwardness of the gears of the car he was driving, were said to be two of the reasons for ■ his appearance before Magistrate Hunt, but the police were of the opinion that he ;■.'.. W,as drunk while m charge of the car, and ffather Duffy pleaded guilty t' : '--' to that charge. : : .' : ' : - ■ ■■'■■ ■.■ ■.• ■ • ■■ ' '. ■■■■.;•'■ ■■• .' \ . ■■'■ ; ' ".'■■'■/ ;. •■'"■ ■ "The line separating intoxication froni sobriety has often been described as thin, and on this occasion opinions differed as to the overstepping of the, line; Dr. Tewsley, who examined Father Duffy, vvould not saythat he was drunk, but he did say, m a report submitted to the •> S.M., that he was of the opinion that, he"had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol;" and that "he smelt. strongly" of it. The inspector/ however, expressed the opinion that he had had too much liquor to be m ■ ■■ charge of the car. ; ; ',''■: '■■ . ; ; ■: v •■•...• ''■ '- : ■'' .-\" - "■ ■ " '"■.'■' ' : ; Father; Duffy did not deny, the charge when he appeared m court, but his counsel, Lawyer J.J. Sullivan, brought sidelights on to the sub*, ject. The gears pf the car were strange to his client, he said, and he had had trouble with^themi • Sub-Inspector McCarthy said that Duffy had driven anything but a straight course when, going up Grey Street, and had ' had a narrow escape from a collision. : Th6, trouble, defendant experienced with the gears, and the "fact that the car had left the straight and narrow path ; had been two large factors leading to his arrest. . t . , ; '■'■ ; "This is not a serious case,", said counsel. "My client had lunch; " s in town'i'and was, suffering from influenza genuinely. He had l one ; drink ' > after lurichi" Then counsel put m a plea for ; the suppression of defen- -.:'! dant's name.. "It 'isn't any class distinction," he said, "but only the week before last! appeared- for a man; m a similar occupation, and Mr. . McKean suppressed .his name, and |. ask that you seriously consider /suppression here. This is one of the cases where the statute provides . for, and I ask that you not cancel his license. ' : ;. His^vvorship: Oh, I won't cancel his license; no more than I would with a.doctor, unless he had been before^the court two or three times. > 'The doctor's certificate was a very light one, said S.M. Hunt. ■■] If it h a d not been for the trouble with the gears of the car defendant would not have been seen, but anyone driving a car should not have any, liquor at all. "It is certainly the lightest case I have had," he concluded. .'■'■':, "I am not going to make any distinction one way or the other," he ■ said, regarding the application for the suppression of defendant's name, . adding that a .taxi-driver or anyone else might be up on a . similar charge ''''any 'time. He would leave the publication of defendant's name' to the discretion of the Press., Father Duffy was fined £S. :