Divisional Court Cases
| Published date | 01 July 1944 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834400800303 |
| Date | 01 July 1944 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Divisional Court Cases
'ENCLOSED
AREAS'
UNDER
THE
VAGRANCY ACT, 1824
Knott v. Blackburn
THE charge of being in
an
enclosed area for
an
unlawful
purpose is a common one in courts of
summary
juris-
diction,
yet
decisions to explain these words are stillwanting.
Knott v. Blackburn (60
T.L.R.
92) begins
the
task
of eluci-
dation
but
trails behind
it
several inconclusive
obiter
dicta.
The
familiar section 4 of
the
Vagrancy Act, 1824, creates
anumber of offences, this case being concerned
with
the
provision
that
"every
person being found in or upon
any
dwelling-house, warehouse, coachhouse, stable or outhouse,
or in
any
enclosed yard, garden or area, for
any
unlawful
purpose .....shall be deemed arogue
and
vagabond within
the
true
intent
and
meaning of this
Act".
The
respondents were charged
under
the
section
with
being found in
an
enclosed
area-namely,
railway
sidings-
for
an
unlawful purpose. The justices for
the
county
borough of Warrington dismissed
the
charge
and
an appeal
by
way
of case
stated
was brought
by
an officer of
the
railway police.
The
justices found
that
the
persons were
there for
an
unlawful purpose
but
that
the
sidings were
not
an
'area' within
the
meaning of
the
section. The two
men happened to
have
been employees of
the
railway
company
but
they
had
no
duty
to be on
the
sidings
at
the
time.
The
sidings consisted of
the
usual lengths of
track
with stop blocks
at
one end of them,
and
points
at
the
other
end joining
the
sidings
with
the
main line. There was a
fence on every side, except
that
where
the
railway
lines'
went there was no fence placed across
the
lines for
the
obvious reason
that
any
such fence would block
the
running
of
the
traffic.
They
were in no way different from
ordinary
railway sidings.
Counsel informed
the
Divisional Court
that
different
meanings
had
been giving.to
the
statutory
word 'area' in
18i
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