PETROL REGULATIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 February 1940, Page 9

PETROL REGULATIONS

SERVICE STATION OWNERS FINED. RATHER DIFFICULT TASK IMPOSED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. February 9. Charged with a breach of the oil fuel regulations, Norman Francis Aborhart. a service station proprietor, did not appear in court when his name was called and counsel said his client was electing to receive summary jurisdiction and was pleading guilty. The magistrate said the defendant had to appear and gave him half an hour to attend, refusing to grant a remand till the afternoon. The client, obeyed the summons in the time given and pleaded guilty. The prosecution stated than an inspection of the service station in November disclosed that there was a deficiency of 181 gallons, for which defendant could not account, and at the end of the month the deficiency amounted to 110 gallons. Counsel submitted that the breach was technical and stressed that defendant was one of those who suddenly had undertaken duties amounting to those of an accountant without having had previous qualifications and training. The magistrate concurred in this view saying: “This is a sudden duty imposed by the Government owing to the war. and it may take some time for garages to get machinery ready to deal with rim matter." A fine of £2 and costs was imposed. Matthew Ellis faced three charges, one in regard to disposal of fuel and the other two in regard to the supply of schedules. He was fined £2 and costs in the first charge and £1 and costs on the other two. Counsel submitted that the last two charges were trivial, that the shortage disclosed was not great and that actually at the end of the month defendants' sales balanced exactly. The police agreed with this statement.