INTOXICATED MOTORIST

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20910, 15 September 1939, Page 7

INTOXICATED MOTORIST

MILK VENDOR FINED GREAT WAR BATTLES RE-FOUGHT PENALTY OF £lO IMPOSED “This man met an old companion of Great War days and-re-fought the old battles and the present war in the hotel for some time,” said Mr W. P. Gray, when appearing before Mr S. L. Paterson, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court, Hamilton, today on behalf of Ralph Griffiths, aged 41, a milkvendor, of Frankton, who was charged with being intoxicated while in charge of a motor-van in Commerce Street on September 14. Griffiths pleaded guilty. Accused was arrested in Commerce Street at 6.15 p.m. yesterday when he was seen to leave his vehicle and walk with an unsteady gait across the road, said Senior-Sergeant G. H. Lambert. A constable saw him go to post a letter and, seeing that he was unsteady on his feet, interviewed him and found that he was intoxicated. The man had not previously been in trouble. Not Previously In Trouble For the last 13 years Griffiths had been building up his business as a milk vendor and, although he averaged about 30,000 miles a year, he had never previously been in trouble, said Mr Gray. The business was a oneman affair which would not stand the employment of an assistant. The suspension of the licence would mean the ruination of the whole business. Griffiths admitted that he was addicted to liquor, but if the magistrate would allow him to retain his driver’s licence he was prepared to give an undertaking not to enter an hotel. He was a married man with a family. A plea for the imposition of a fine in preference to a prison sentence was entered by Mr Gray. Accused was fined £lO and was ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution. In addition, his driving licence was endorsed and he was ordered to take out a prohibition order.