Recent Book: Law and Procedure in Magistrates' Courts: Stone's Justices' Manual
| Author | J. Daniel Devlin |
| Published date | 01 July 1965 |
| Date | 01 July 1965 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6503800706 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
There was a further charge against Lomax, Fearn and Porritt of
being accessories after the fact. With the exception of Fearn, all the
accused were remanded in custody. There was a technical hitch when
on the first day of the committal proceedings Walford was found to
be suffering from German Measles, and a certificate from the
Governor of the prison was produced in court. This necessitated
separate subsequent committal proceedings in his case.
In view of the abortive attempts to free Reading from gaol,
special security precautions were taken during the period the accused
were in Rochdale.
The trial at Manchester Crown Court occupied three weeks; five
Queen's Counsel were engaged and the cost to Rochdale ratepayers
was estimated at £20,000. One cannot help but reflect on a recent
statement in the Justice
of
the Peace Review that crime has become a
major industry.
Judge Crichton passed prison sentences totalling 55 years on the
four male principals and the woman, who immediately collapsed in
the dock. Reading's sentence of 10 years was ordered to commence
at the end of another 10 years he is now serving for robbery. All had
pleaded not guilty with the exception of Walford.
The only Rochdale men charged, viz., Lomax and Fearn, were
found not guilty of being accessories.
At the conclusion of the trial Judge Crichton warmly thanked
Detective Chief Inspector Porritt, Detective Inspector Allcock and
Detective Constable
Walsh"
for their long and difficult investigation
which required an enormous amount of effort in the public interest ".
He also described the robbery as " a cynical and cruel
one",
and
excused the jury from further such service for 15 years. But police
even then had not finished with the job. One of the robbers had
written to a famous woman M.P. whilst awaiting trial and the chief
constable was asked by the Home Office to furnish a report on the
case.
RECENT
LAW AND
PROCEDURE
IN MAGISTRATES' COURTS
JAMES
WHITESIDE
and J. P.
WILSON
(Editors): Stone's Justices' Manual, 1965.
Butterworths. £6 ISs.
What an excellent work is Stone!
One never ceases to marvel at the
wealth of knowledge it contains. Each
year it arrives with such unfailing
regularity that, if one isnot careful, it is
easy to think of it as a naturally
July 1965
recurring phenomenon, like the spring
thaw. In fact, of course, it is the result
of the herculean labours of the editors
who, both being magistrates' clerks,
must have precious little spare time
left after their annual monumental
326
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