Advocate, for Proseuction: Br. JO. Badeley for Defendant.
Before Mr. Paul Scheel, Consul-General; Mr, A. Brondat and Mr. C.J. Knipschildt (Gudgment Reserved)
An urgent plea for leniency was put forward by Mr. J. A. Badeley, Counsel for the defence, at the con clusion of the case against 'N. A.
Kung before Me. Paul Scheel, Danish Consul-General and Charge dA faires, Mr. A. Brondal. and Mr. C.J. Knipschitdt, in the Danish Consular Court on July 22, Mir. Kung is charged with having caused grievous bodily harm to a trooper havildar while unable to drive in a. safe manner owing to alcohol consump tion, the alleged offence having taken place at Avenue Haig before dawn on June 2, The Indian, whose skull was fractured, is now out of danger, although not able to work. Mr.
Bryan, municipal advocate, apeared for the prosecution, Judgment was reserved.
Summing up, Mr. Bryan said that} in his opinion there were three points to be determined in this case, firstly whether the defendant, by virtue of his condition, was able to drive in 'a safe manner, secondly whether the defendant drove in a reckless manner without duo regard for. other persons on the road, and. thirdly whether defendant had, unintention~ ally, caused grievous injury to the Sikh trooper. It was not necessary to prove that the defendant was totally under the Influence of alcohol, oF that he was totally incapacitated, It was sufclent to prove that his condition was such as the result of alcohol that he was unable to drive in a safe manner, To do this the questions to be determined were, did hho consume alcohol, and did he drive in an unsafe, manner, Defendant had admitted in evidence that he had consumed a couple of cocktails at a party, after which he had visited the "Park Hotel, the Paramount, the Metropole and' Del Monte, consuming altogether ten drinks, the effect of which had been made stronger because of the fact that they were mixed. He drank sufficient to put him in such a condition that it was unsafe for him to @rive a motor ear. There was the testimony of the chauffeur of the hire car, who testified that defendant's mind seemed to be clear but his body was swaying, and the evi-dance of Dr, 8, K. Squires, who testified that the defendant had a slight smell of alcohol, "Very Reckless Driving"
'As to the question of whether he was driving in a reckless manner, he was driving at about 45. miles' an hour by his own estimation, After making calculations as to the distance at which it would take a car travelling at this speed to pull up, Mr. Bryan said that the evidence showed that defendant must have been doing some very reckle @riving at the time, The havildar was very seriously injured, and his Pony was killed, and his submission was that there could be no doubt that defendant had consumed alcohol, and that he did drive in a reckless manner, Mr, Badeley said that the essential element of the case was defendant alleged inability to drive safely. The second point, as to his driving in an unsafe manner, had to be admitted by the defence, as it was the duty of every driver to regulate his speed 30 as not to cause Injury to other Persons on the road, and if he did not do so defendant must have been driving faster than was safe. The third point, as to his causing injury to another' person on the road, also was, impossible to contest, In assessing the punishment of the accused, however, he submitted that his posltion should not be prejudiced by consequences (0 the injured party which there.was every hope might not acorus, The injured man had made marvellous recovery. At first, he was not expected to live, but there was now every reasonable hope that he would make a perfect recovery from his injuries, Mr. Badeley then recapitulated the circumstances of the occurrence, and went on to say that there was no evidence upon which the defendant could be convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. That defendant was not drunk at the time was quite evident from the evidence of all the witnesses." Defendant, however, now realized that he had been driving at a pace faster than could possibly have been considered safe. The effect of the alcohol upon him was that it weakened his Judgment to what was a safe speed at which to travel, and. the accident was actually the result of the speed at which he was driving,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.