NEGLIGENT MOTORIST.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 March 1922, Page 5

NEGLIGENT MOTORIST.

FINED FOR MANSLAUGHTER. By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. Gisborne, March 16. In the Supreme Court Albert Edmund Bourgeois, who was found guilty .of manslaughter with a recommendation to mercy, came up for sentence. Evidence was called to show that accused bore the reputation of a careful driver. Mr. Justice Reed said that since the conviction the matter of punishment had occasioned ( him some anxiety. It was not a case of the usual disregard for public safety. It was not a case which called for punishment or imprisonment. Accused had been negligent, and. such negligence brought him under the provisions of the Crimes Act. The jury felt that difference between the negligence of accused and the neg.ligence of others who had done the 'same and escaped with a fine for breach of the by-law, or escaped altogether. It was true that his act caused a collision which resulted in the death of a human being. The jury evidently felt that the circumstances —a dark, drizzling night, added to the poorly lighted vehicle—was a strong contributory cause to the unfortunate result. The negligence called for punishment. A large proportion of motorists habitually disregard the rules of the road and it could not be too widely known that where an accident followed and death resulted the offender was criminally liable. His Honor thought the proper course in this case was to impose a fine of £lOO and order the payment of the coats of the