Driving charge from tragedy
The following defended case was heard by Judge D. Lowe in the Ohakune District Court on April 14. Police Sergeant Neil Coker appeared for the prosecution. Ian Spencer Todd, 41, self-employed farmer of Raetihi, faced a charge of careless use of a motor vehicle causing death to which he had earlier pleaded not
guilty. He was represented by his counsel Mr D.G. Harvey of Ohakune. The first and only prosecution witness was Constable John Robinson of Raetihi. He told the Court that on September 26 last year he was called out at 6pm to attend a motor vehicle accident on SH49 south of the Seddon Street junction. When he arrived at the scene of the accident he
saw a male person, Barry Johns, lying on the road with head injuries. A trestle table top lay nearby and a Toyota Hi-Lux double-cab truck was parked at the site. An ambulance was called and the accident victim was taken first to the Waimarino and Wanganui Hospitals before being flown to Wellington Hospital for emergency surgery. Constable Robinson told the Court that he was informed by Wellington Hospital two days later that Barry Johns had died. On making inquiries, witness told the Court that he understood the defendant and the victim (who were both members of the Waimarino Squash Club in Raetihi) had gone to the Starline Garage to collect some trestle tables for a function at the Club that evening. A Toyota Hi-Lux dou-ble-cab truck with a short tray belonging to defendant was used to transport the trestles and table top. Constable Robinson reported that his enquiries led him to believe that the defendant and deceased had left
the Squash Club to collect the trestle tables only a short time before the accident. They had loaded the trestles onto the tray of the truck first before propping up the tabletops with one end against the inside of the tailboard while the other (upper) end was supported by the rollbar above the cab. Because of the short distance involved (a few hundred metres) and favourable weather conditions the load was not secured. No witnesses Though he could find no witnesses to the actual accident to ascertain how the table top fell from the truck he said that, firom his enquiries, he believed the table top projected about 40% above the driver's cab. He said that when he arrived at the scene of the accident the road was dry, light and visibility were good and there was no evidence of speeding. When the prosecution's only witness completed his testimony, defendant's counsel submitted there was no case to answer to the charge of care-
less use of a motor vehicle causing death. Mr Harvey said that it was not illegal for someone to travel on the back of a truck nor was there any evidence of speed or irresponsible driving. He argued that without any witnesses to the accident it was impossible to be certain as to how the accident happened. It would be natural to assume, as the prosecution had done, that the defendant had, by his driving caused the table top to fall from the truck taking the deceased with it but that would only be one interpretation of the events of that evening.
Another interpretation could be that the deceased might have fallen from the truck while attempting to adjust the load and had grasped the table top, taking it with him. If this second scenario was what had actually happened (and there were no witnesses) the driver of the vehicle could not, argued defence counsel, be held responsible. Summing up In his summing up Judge Lowe did not agree with defence counsel that there was no case to answer. However, because it was impossible to
prove that defendant was responsible for the death of Barry Johns, he had decided to substitute the charge of 'careless use causing death' with one of 'careless use of a motor vehicle', and on his amended charge he found defendant guilty. Defendant was convicted and fined $140, court costs $65 and ordered to retake the Driving Test. At the conclusion of the trial, defendant, through his counsel, said that he publicly wanted to express his sorrow to family and friends of the deceased at the tragic events of that evening. He too had lost a good friend.
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Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 241, 26 April 1988, Page 6
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725Driving charge from tragedy Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 241, 26 April 1988, Page 6
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