HEAVY PENALTIES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 343, 3 October 1932, Page 6

HEAVY PENALTIES

DRUNKEN DRIVER FINED £15 AND LICENSE BARRED FOR THREE YEARS OFFENCES ADMITTED Heavy penalties were inflicted upon a Taupo Maori named Jack Kahu who was given a good character by the police when he admitted four charges in connection with intoxieatiacg in a car, on Saturday morning in the Rotorua Court. Messrs A. G. Holland and Tai Mit- ] chell, Justices of the ueace, fined defendant £15 on the charge of drunkenness in charge of a car and prohibited hina from obtaining a driver's license for three years from date. Kahu who was represented by counsel was charged with being drunk in charge of a car on the HamiltonRotorua Road on Friday afternoon and with having no driver's license. He also was faced with charges of driving an unlicensed car and with affixing wrong number plates to it.

The police, for whom Semor Ser.geant Carroll conducted the case, said that on the receipt of information from the Borough Traffic Inspector, I Mr. D, M. Ford, accused had been found drunk and arrested. The other charges arose out of the same set of eircumstances. Kahu was a bushman working near Taupo and his friend who 'had a car wanted some repairs done to some of the parts and offered to lend Kahu his number plates if he would drive his own old car into Rotorua and get them fixed. Kahu did so and when in town could not resist the temptation to go into the hotels. Kahu bore a good character, had some war service and was a married man with three small children. He was a good worker and had not been in any trouble before.

The Senior Sergeant asked that his license be dealt with. Counsel said that he had little to add to the eulogies of the police. The facts were that like most Maoris Kahu did not realise the gravity of the offences when he put on the wrong plates and did not understand that he was doing so many wrong things. The bench said that the offence of being drunk in charge of an unregistered car was one of exceeding seriousness in view of the insurance position had he struck anyone. There was no possibility of any redress for anyone injured and the banch propcsed to deal with the matter seriously. On the first charge Kahu was fined £15 and on the other three convicted and discharged, whilst he was prohibited from obtaining ,a driving license for three years from date. Default was fixed at a month's imprisonment.