" Perverse 39 Ruling in Petrol Case
Page 36
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DISSENTING from the view of the majority of five judges of the King's Bench Divisional Court that a police appeal in a " red" petrol case should he dismissed. th.e Lord Chief Justice (Lord Goddard) described as "perverse" the decision of Hatfield (Hells) magistrates, who had dismissed five summonses against a taxicab proprietor for having commercial petrol in the tanks of five private cars.
"It is, however, to be hoped that the decision will not he cited to other benches as an authority that a defendant of hitherto good character charged with this offence has only to swear that he did not know that there was commercial petrol in the tank of his car for it to be found that he hail thereby discharged the onus which the Statute had placed upon him, for the Act then will become a dead letter," said Lord Goddard. Mr. Justice Humphreys also dissented from the .court's decision.
Lord Goddard also said that when the appeal was first before the court (which was differently constituted), it had been remitted to the magistrates with a direction that samples of the petrol had been properly taken. For reasons which appeared to be completely preposterous, the magistrates had held that the samples had not been properly taken.
"From that decision," added Lord Goddard, "it would appear that they had made up their • minds not to eonvict.".
Other members of the court" were n2
Mr. Justice Byrne, Mr. Justice Morris and Mr. Justice Finnemore,
The Hatfield magistrates had accepted the contention of the defendant, Mr. Herbert James Clark, of White Hart Garage, Welwyn, Herts, that he had discharged the onus placed upon him under the Motor Spirits Order, 1948, to show he did not know the petrol was in the tanks. They found he had never been in trouble before and were impressed by his bearing in the witness box.