Wednesday morning, before Mr. G. W. King, Police Magistrate, Albert Sopher, of No. 486 Avenue Joffre,' was charged by the French Municipal Police with having driven a motorcar on Great Western Road at 4.30 p.m on August 14 without having first obtained a permit to drive.
Owing to the late arrival of the representative of the French Municipal Police, the hearing of the charge was delayed for half an hour, and when Sergt, Kersulec arrived to give evidence, His Worship pointed out to him that the hearing of the charge had had to be put back at some inconvenience, out of courtesy to the French authorities. Had it been a case of a private prosecution the charge would probably have been dismissed in the absence of the complainant.
In reply, to His Worship, the defendant adultted that at the time mentioned he was driving without a permit. The fact that a Chinese child was knocked down was due to the bad condition of the road.
Sergt. P. J. Kersulee gave evidence that a report was brought to the Police Station with reference to a motor-car accident, in conse-nonce of which he went to Great Western Road. There he saw a crowd of Chinese and was told that a Chinese child had been knocked down by a motor car, that the child had been taken to the Red Cross Hospital, and that the driver of the car had given the child $5. A letter from the Central, Garage had been received stating that the driver of the car, Mr. Sopher, wns being instructed ye. Witness ascertained that Mr. Sopher had received no permit to drive a car.
In reply to His Worship, witness said that there were roads on which aman could get permission to learn how to drive, and Great Western Road was one of them: but permission must first be obtain= ed to use the road for that purpose. In this case Mr, Sopher had received no permit and only applied for one two days after the accident. The French Police were merely charging Mr. Sopher with driving without a permit. The father of the injured child had made no complaint to the Police.
In reply to his Worship, the defendant said that he arrived in Shanghai recently and did not know that it was necessary to obtain a permit to learn to drive.
was necessary, he applied for As soon as he Found out that it permit and obtained one.
His Worship said that he would inflict a fine of $5 on the charge of driving without a permit. This had nothing to do, however, with any civil action Which the parents of the injured child might decide to bring against Mr. Sopher.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.