MOTORIST FINED £20

Southland Times, Issue 24227, 10 September 1940, Page 11

MOTORIST FINED £20

INTOXICATION CHARGE CERTIFIED BY DOCTOR AS UNFIT Thomas Alexander Morton, a married man, of Thornbury, pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning to being in a state of intoxication while in charge of a motor-vehicle. He was represented by Mr R. T. Meredith. Mr R. C. Abernethy was on the Bench.

Senior-Sergeant W. T. Kelly said that Inspector Edwards saw the accused driving along Elies road on Saturday afternoon. He was driving in an erratic manner, though not fast. The inspector apprehended him and noticed that he smelt strongly of liquor and he was unsteady on his feet. He told the inspector he had had six “shandies” at a hotel.

The accused was examined by a doctoi- at 3 p.m., 20 minutes after he was arrested, and he was certified as unfit to drive a car, added the seniorsergeant. Mr Meredith said the accused was a dairy factory employee with a wife and a family of four young children. If the penalty imposed by the Court 1 was one of imprisonment the accused would lose his employment and a hardship on his family would be caused. The case was not a particularly bad one and he asked the Court to consider making the penalty a monetary one. “It is well for you to know, and others, too, that I am concerned but not over-concerned about the loss of your job,” said the Magistrate, addressing Moi-ton. “In future I won’t hesitate to take away a licence and order imprisonment even if it may mean the loss of a man’s job. That is a warning for others as well. I do not regard your case as one of the more serious ones.” The accused was fined £2O and his licence was suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay 12/6 medical expenses. The accused was given four months to pay. Mr Meredith asked the Court if it would date the disqualification of the accused’s licence from today to enable him to get his car home. The Magistrate: No. He will have to get his car home the best way he can.