Quarterly Summary
| Date | 01 October 1958 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835802200412 |
| Published date | 01 October 1958 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Quarterly Summary
(Extended reports
of
some
of
the cases here summarised will be
gi'De1J
in our next issue.-Editor)
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT:
"SPECIAL
REASON"
R. v. Wickins
THE Court allowed an appeal from an orderof quartersessions
disqualifying the appellant from driving for
12
months
and held
that
his ignorance
that
he was suffering from diabetes
which, when combined with his normal quantity of beer,
rendered him incapable of proper control of
the
car he was
driving, was a "special reason" within s. 15 (2) of the Road
Traffic Act,
1930,
for not disqualifying him.
Of
the four
conditions required under
the
test laid down in Whittal v.
Kirby (1947 I
K.B.
194) there was in
the
recent case a
mitigating circumstance, not amounting to a defence to
the
charge, which might properly be considered in imposing
punishment. And
the
Court also held
that
it was directly
connected with the defence for, had it not been for
the
diabetes,
the
offence would not have occurred.
"UNLAWFUL"
SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
R.
v. Chapman
The
Court dismissed an appeal against conviction of an
offence against s. 19 of
the
Sexual Offences Act,
1958,
com-
mitted by taking an unmarried girl under
the
age of 18 out
of the possession of her parent against his will with the
intention
that
she should have "unlawful sexual intercourse
with men or with a particular man", in this case, with
the
appellant himself.
The
Court did not accept his argument
that
"unlawful" meant forbidden by law and that as the girl
was over 16 it was not so forbidden, however immoral it was.
332
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