Bribes and the birch

Saturday January the 10th - 1920

My great grandfather had only been a Police Officer for less than a year when an offending motorist tried to bribe him.

James Banes, of RAF Cranwell, drove his motor car past the Angel and Royal hotel, Grantham, on the 29th of December 1919. Despite it being quite dark, he was not displaying any lights on his car. He was stopped by PC Bramhall, who told him that he would be reported for not having any lights.

"Make it alright for me, policeman?". It would appear that PC Bramhall was not inclined to "make it alright".

Banes returned half an hour later, and attempted to "bargain" with the officer to let him off with the offence. The result? A ten shilling fine (not including costs).

In the same column, there's a tale of a 12 year old school boy who had stolen a sixpence from the desk of his school teacher, Miss Andrews, of St. Mary's Roman Catholic school. She'd been given two sixpences by another child for a savings account, and upon putting both on her desk, when she returned after a short break, she found one had gone missing.

She did what any teacher would do. She...erm...searched the pockets and shoes of every boy in the class. Our defendant was found with the penny in his boot, and claimed that another boy must have dropped it into his shoe. They also found a ten shillings note on the boy, which his father claimed to have given him. Incredibly, the court decided this had to be untrue because his father was "working class people", and therefore the boy must be "...addicted to pilfering".

He was sentenced to four strokes of the Birch, administered by the Chief Constable.

IN OTHER NEWS: The New Bishop of Lincoln gives his views on temperance ("...drink is still a cause of real misery, and we should be careful not to submit to the conditions which were in evidence before the war")

ADVERT OF THE WEEK: WINTER SALE OFFERS - Suspenders, Hat Bands, Overalls, Bags, Blouses and Hose (Griffin and Spalding of Nottingham)