Quarter Sessions
| Date | 01 January 1951 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835101500102 |
| Published date | 01 January 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Quarter Sessions
PLEA
OF
GUILTY
AFTER
ACQUITTAL
T
HE
unusual spectacle of two prisoners pleading guilty
to
an
offence in respect of which
they
had
been ac-
quitted only six days previously was witnessed
at
Walsall
Borough
Quarter
Sessions on
the
12th October, 1950, when
Thomas Lilley and
John
Alfred
Pugh
were charged with
stealing 15 cwts. of sheet lead of
the
value of £65.
The sequence of events which resulted in this
rather
strange position
at
Quarter Sessions was briefly as follows :-
On
the
morning of
the
19th September, 1950, two
Walsall police officers were given certain information as a
result of which
they
went
to
a hedgerow surrounding
the
local golf course where
they
found anumber of large pieces
of lead strewn about in a ditch, some of
the
pieces being
completely concealed
and
others
partly
so. The constables
hid
themselves from view
and
kept
watch
and
some little
time
later
they
saw
the
two prisoners approach
the
ditch in
afurtive manner
and
go straight to
the
place where
the
lead was lying. The accused
then
commenced to throw
the
pieces of lead into one heap
and
to cover
the
lead with pieces
of hedgerow
and
stubble which was lying around. The
officers left their place of concealment
and
the
two prisoners
immediately scrambled from
the
ditch
and
ran
away, where-
upon
the
officers gave chase
and
caught them. When told
by
one of
the
constables
that
they
were suspected of having
stolen
the
lead, one of
the
accused said
"We
found it, you
saw us,"
and
the
other replied
"That's
right." They were
arrested
and
appeared before
the
Walsall Magistrates' Court
on
the
following
day
when
the
prosecution asked for their
remand to enable further enquiries to be made.
After two subsequent adjournments
the
case finally
came before
the
Justices on
the
6th
October, 1950, when
the
two accused were charged jointly
with
two offences as
follows:
1. Between
the
1st
June
1950 and
the
19th September
14.
To continue reading
Request your trial