The Police and the Law
| Published date | 01 October 1939 |
| Date | 01 October 1939 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3901200401 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
VOL.
XII, No. 4
POLICE JOURNAL
OCTOBER-DECEMBER,
1939
The Police and the Law
LOTTERIES
SIN CE the law relating to lotteries was brought more into
line with public opinion by the Betting and Lotteries Act,
1934, there have been less flagrant breaches of this branch of
the law. However, ingenious attempts are still made to dis-
guise as some other kind of transaction what will be found on
closer analysis to be nothing
but
a lottery,
that
is, " a distribu-
tion of prizes by lot or chance." Some years ago attempts were
made to
run
lotteries in the pretence that they were sales of
articles to persons who could earn " commission " by them-
selves acting as salesmen of the articles. This type of enter-
prise appears to have come to an end when the
Lord
Chief
Justice (in Director
of
Public Prosecutions v. Phillips (1935)
1K.B. 396) described the scheme as having
"the
word
,
lottery'
written all over
it."
A more recent device appears to
have been to wrap up a lottery with a genuine offer to engage
in credit betting. This is what was done in Barker v. Mumby
the action of the Hull City Police in taking proceedings against
a local printer for unlawfully printing tickets in a certain
lottery contrary to sec.
22
of the Betting and Lotteries Act,
1934·
The
scheme consisted in the printing of cards which were
to be offered to the public, the cards being such that they
could be folded and fastened at the perforated edges like a
post
office
letter-card. On the front of each card was set out
anumber of bets and inside was a list of jockeys.
It
was stated
on the cards: " We lay you the following credit bets against
your credit stakes of rd. that the three jockeys suggested by us
(being three of those named in the list) do not win whole or
part of ante-post bets offered herewith." There was also
385
THE
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