WITH KEG AT FEET

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 863, 6 January 1930, Page 11

WITH KEG AT FEET

young man arrested AND FINED £5 IN CAR AT MILFORD Sitting in a motor-car outside the Picturedrome at Milford a few minutes to midnight on Saturday with a three-gallon keg at his feet, Sydney James Page was arrested. He was charged at the Police Court this morning with being intoxicated in charge of a car and was fined £5. Page, a clerk, aged 20, was represented I)3' Mr. L. Adams, who entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. Sub-Inspector McCarthy pointed out that the traffic in Milford Road, where accused was arrested, was heavy, as -here were several places of amusement in the vicinity. He outlined the circumstances of the case and called Constable Woods, who had arrested the man. According to Constable Woods, the ca r had nearly collided with another vehicle on its way to the Picturedrome, hut he could not see who was •hen driving. When the car stopped three men got out. Witness heard accused go over to a man on the footoath and ask for a match, as he wanted to look at the Ignition. Witness had then spoken to him, but he aaid the driver was in having a dance. told him not to go near the car, as he was aider the influence of liquor," added the constable. "As the car was narked iii such a position as it obstructed ‘.he road. I told him to find the driver. I waited until nearly mid nirht and then Page came out, climbed into the car and switched on the lights l went over to the car and he was sitting in the driver’s seat. There was a three-gallon keg at his feet. As soon as he saw me he shifted from the driver's seat. He said he had no intention of driving. He could not drive and did not have the ignition v e v The owner later told me that no'key was necessary. I arrested accused and took him to Devonport." Mr. Adams: Would you have arrested the man had he been on the footpath? ~ The Constable: No, I would have cautioned him. They have to b* pretty bad at Milford before we arrest O’Brien, of the Devonport police, said that when Page was brought in at 12.45 a.m. he was too intoxicated to be in charge of a car. Mr. Adams said that accused was a young man, employed as an operator at a North Shore picture theatre. On Saturday he had completed his duties at 10.30 and had then been picked up by a man named McMullan. He had had three glasses of beer and was then driven to Milford, where McMullan went in to have the last dance. Page had been following him in but realised that he was in his working clothes so returned to the car, largely as a place of concealment. He had switched on the lights by accident and was not really sitting behind the wheel. “Page has no licence aud has never driven a car in his life, said counsel. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.: A motorcycle? . ... Counsel: No, .he rides a push-hike. Mr. Adams held that the onus of proof that Page was the driver lay with the prosecution. The Magistrate: It is as if a man with a gun to his shoulder and who was drunk said "I have no intention of shooting.” Mr. Adams: I also have an analogy. A service-driver has a drunken passenger. He leaves the car, and the passenger is arrested. The Magistrate: That is not the same. This man was behind the wheel.

Counsel then called Page, who said that he would tell the whole story with all the details.

The Magistrate: No. you won’t. Life is too short for that. You will just answer questions. Page corroborated his counsel's statement, urging that he could not drive and never had done. George McMullan said he was the driver of the car. The Magistrate: You will soon find yourself without a licence if you carry kegs round with you. Witness: The keg was almost empty. “It Is quite clear what happened,” said Mr. Hunt. “This young man went to the theatre to find his friend. He wanted the car .driven away as the constable had told him it was obstructing the road. He could not find ) him so decided to shift it himself. There are very few young men of 19 in this country who don’t know how to handle a car.” After the fine of £5 had been imposed, Mr. Adams asked for suppression of the name. "No,” declared the magistrate. "I would publish it in large letters if I could.” ’ LICENCE CANCELLED DRUNKEN MOTORIST’S FATE Press Association INVERCARGILL, Today. John Charles Paget, for being intoxicated in charge of a motor-car *'hich collided with an electric-light had his licence cancelled and *as disqualified for holding a driver’s licence for five years, at the InvercarSUI Police Court today. Accused agreed to thd issue of a prohibition °rder. Liquor found in his car was confiscated