Notes on Recent Crime
| Published date | 01 July 1934 |
| Date | 01 July 1934 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3400700301 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
VOL.
VII.
NO.3
JULy-SEPTEMBER
1934
Notes
on
Recent Crime
Nosociety can tolerate bribery and corruption, and yet
remain healthy. Wherever this evil rears its ugly head,
it must be most vigorously stamped on.
The
case of Captain
Miles, head of the London Salvage Corps at a salary of over
£1000
a year, plus perquisites, has been quite the worst case
of recent years. He was proved to have been in the regular
pay of Leopold Harris, head of an arson gang, for a con-
siderable time, and to have had his bank account guaranteed
by him up to
£1000.
The
maximum penalty was two years,
but
Hawke
J.,
under the Hayley Morris Act which provides
for a cumulative sentence where more than one offence is
proved, sent Miles to four years' penal servitude.
Another bad case was that of Knight, an R.S.P.C.A.
Inspector in the East-end of London, who for some years had
regularly taken bribes from horse owners to let them down
lightly in the police courts. He was sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment.
The
task of the police in this type
of case is a difficult one.
If
the person bribed or the person
bribing is unwilling, a trap of course can be set as in a
blackmail case, and all then is plain sailing. More often, the
two parties are not at all unwilling,
but
in league, to gain an
unfair advantage. A course of bribery may and does go on
for years, till one party out of spite or remorse tells tales
about the other. Such aperson is clearly an accomplice and
a
jury
must be warned that it is unsafe to convict on his
evidence unless it is corroborated. Miles' case provides an
interesting example of such corroboration. Notes were
traced from Harris' account to
Miles';
Harris' original guar*
antee at the bank was produced. Miles was then called upon
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