Comment on accident

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 6, 8 July 1986, Page 2

Comment on accident

Dear Sir, To our self appointed Argus of Ohakune and those who thought his/her literary effort published in the Waimarino Bulletin of 1 July was in any way witty or meritorious, I feel I must point out that making public comments from the anonymity of a pseudonym is neither particularly novel nor convincing. It is indeed a dangerous situation when a citizen chooses to criticise the judicial system from a position supported only by secondhand information and hearsay. The fact that any accident occurs is unfortunate. In this incident the accident was not serious and was handled in a professional manner by Police, Ministry of Transport and Fire Brigade who attended. Unlike Argus the Police and Ministry of Transport were in a position to fully investigate the circumstances pertaining to this incident. T o suggest that the efforts of the Police and Ministry of Transport fell short of accurately detailing the full facts to the Court is negative and unfair. Further to suggest that having heard the full facts the Court imposed a penalty not equal to the charge is a serious attack on our judicial system. To make the

comment in the public forum of a newspaper makes it even less defensible, and I am sure in many people's opinions repugnant. I would suggest to Argus that if he' was really concerned about the matter that he should have got in his car and "driven three blocks" to the Ohakune Court House. He would then have understood some of the facts concerning the case. Indeed details of one defence submission were given in confidence to the bench and were not made known to the public in the court. The bench imposed a fine which was at the lower end of the scale for an offence of this nature after hearing evidence from the prosecution and submissions from the defence and thankfully not street corner gossip.

W.G.

Thomason

Ohakune

Dear Sir, A comment on last weeks letter concerning an accident in town. I hope readers did not miss the point that Argus drove half a km from home to sightsee at the scene of an accident. I can assure Argus that his ghoulish behaviour would not be appreciated by accident and emergency services had they been required to attend what unbeknown to him, might have been a serious accident. The Oxford dictionary defines Argus as a person with one hundred eyes. I would suggest therefore that the writer use the pseudonym Cyclops on future correspondence.

Ghoul

Buster

Ohakune