IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 19 - 25 OCTOBER 1926
This week's many stories include the controversy over Liverpool policemen stationed in St Helens, the 36 St Helens miners arrested for stealing outcrop coal, the tram driver charged with negligent driving, the man arrested for booing in Phythian Street and the North Road tobacconist prosecuted for selling cigarettes after 8pm.
For several months there had been fifty Liverpool policemen living in St Helens, mainly on standby to deal with any trouble that might be caused by striking miners. But their continuing presence was controversial, with the Labour-controlled Watch Committee that regulated the police having recently voted to dispense with their services.
At the last meeting of St Helens Town Council it was alleged that the imported police were "having a picnic" and that the £400 a week that they were costing the town could be better spent. The Watch Committee's decision was leaked to the Home Secretary and on the 19th it was announced that he had overruled it and the Liverpool police must now stay.
Later in the week, the Liverpool Echo said the 50 bobbies had been made into a political controversy in the forthcoming municipal elections in St Helens. Labour wanted them to go but the Tories demanded that they remain. The Conservatives admitted being the ones that had communicated the Watch Committee's resolution to the Home Secretary, which had infuriated the Labour Party who denounced the leak of information from a closed committee.
There were more outcrop coal prosecutions this week. These were old mines that outcropped at the surface but still required some know-how to extract its coal. As well as trespassing on other people's land, those involved exposed themselves to danger. But, of course, desperate people do desperate things.
On the 19th a total of 36 unemployed St Helens miners appeared in Wigan County Police Court charged with taking coal from an Ashton-in-Makerfield outcrop mine. Supt Banister told how the police had made a nighttime raid and surrounded the place. They found that the men had already dug out four tons of coal and so they were all arrested.
It was reported that they were taken to the police station in charabancs and soon appeared in court in their working attire with their faces unwashed. All pleaded guilty to doing damage to the old colliery to the extent of £10. Of the 36, 21 had previous convictions and one who had only recently been bound over was fined £5. The other 35 were ordered to pay £4 and damages.
In St Helens County Court on the 20th, Judge Dowdall refused to sign an order against a female debtor that would have legally obliged her to pay the money that she owed. If the woman had failed to do so, she could, ultimately, have been sent to prison.
The woman pleaded that she had no means of paying her debt as her husband had been out of work for a year and her three sons were miners on strike. The judge said: "I cannot make orders against people on strike when they have no money to pay. At the same time I don't know how the shopkeepers can keep their business going, unless they are paid. Everybody is suffering."
Throughout this week an India Exhibition was held at the Brook Street schools in St Helens, which the St Helens Reporter said was attempting to "introduce the real atmosphere of that mystic empire." The paper said it was the first of its kind in the country and described the exhibition as one of the most interesting and charming that had ever been shown in St Helens.
Robert Gresty was a confectioner and tobacconist in North Road who was summoned to court this week charged with breaching the Shops Early Closing Act of 1920. That had been brought in to save on coal and meant 8pm was generally the closing time for shops, although there were some exemptions. PC Leslie told the court that he had entered Mr Gresty's premises in plain clothes at 8:45 pm and bought 10 cigarettes for which he paid sixpence and then walked out.
But he soon returned to tell the shopkeeper that he had broken the law by selling him the cigarettes and that he would be reported. Mr Gresty replied that he had made a mistake as he had forgotten the time. Strangely, the man could legally sell toffees until 9 pm but his cigarette sales had to stop at eight. Mr Gresty's solicitor was critical of the constable for inducing the shopkeeper to commit a crime but he was still fined 5 shillings.
Winston Churchill was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and some months ago he had caused a storm in his Budget by introducing a gambling tax. Although betting was largely illegal, it could legitimately be undertaken on racecourses and through credit accounts in certain licensed bookmakers' offices. And although Churchill's tax was only aimed at the legal gambling industry, church leaders were appalled.
In St Helens the churches had forwarded a resolution to the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, protesting against the levy on the ground that it would "encourage a grave national evil". The 3½% tax came into force this month and licensed bookie Sam Kay of Exchange Street had a large advert in the St Helens Reporter on the 22nd of this week calling it an "unjust measure".
He said he hoped it would be speedily repealed but offered his clients two alternative means by which the tax could be paid. Payment could be made upfront with every bet that was made or only paid on winnings. Churchill's tax was abandoned in 1930, although it established a precedent for gambling taxes.
Tram driver James McMullen of Westfield Street appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 22nd charged with negligent driving. But he denied that he had failed to give the driver of a horse and cart sufficient time to get around another cart. That had led to a collision with his tram in which the horse was injured. Mr McMullen said the animal had shied and the magistrates accepted his explanation and cleared him.
On 23rd John Martin, who was described as a ship's cook from Edge Hill in Liverpool, was charged in St Helens Police Court with attempting to steal from the offertory boxes at Lowe House Church (pictured above). Superintendent Dunn explained how for some time a special observation had been kept at Lowe House because of reports of thefts from the offertory boxes.
On the previous Friday afternoon, the church's caretaker had seen John Martin open one of the boxes. He was arrested and found to be in possession of 18 small keys, a chisel and a screwdriver. Martin was remanded for a week for further police enquiries to be made and at the adjourned hearing he was described as a habitual breaker into church offertory boxes. It was also stated that Martin had been convicted in various towns since serving five years in a reformatory as a boy and the magistrates sent him to prison for three months.
Those who defrauded the dole – or claimed relief payments from the Prescot Guardians that they weren't entitled to – were severely treated by the courts. On the 25th Thomas Smith of Back Liverpool Street in St Helens was sent to prison for a month after claiming £21 in relief money. He had failed to declare that his sons and daughters were collectively bringing over £4 per week into his household.
On the 25th Alexander Cottington of Glover Street in St Helens was charged in the Police Court with shouting and booing at strike-breaking miners as they were returning from work. One might have thought that freedom of speech would have permitted such actions. But the state of emergency that had been created in the UK in April, through the invoking of the Emergency Powers Act of 1920, had imposed limitations on such freedoms.
Evidence was given that on the previous Monday a crowd of 500 had been waiting in Phythian Street in Greenbank to give some of the returning miners a hard time. Cottington had put himself in front of the crowd and had shouted, "Why did you go back to work after what you said last night?" He also called them "blacklegs" and caused the whole crowd to start booing.
Cottington, who denied the offence, was bound over in the sum of £5 and given the option of 28 days imprisonment. It would not be until December 19th that the state of emergency would be lifted – and, presumably, people could then boo each other without being arrested!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the extraordinary Prescot Road blackmail case, the chocolate stealing boy thieves, a boy's brave canal rescue and the Conservative claim that Labour were creating a reign of terror in St Helens.
For several months there had been fifty Liverpool policemen living in St Helens, mainly on standby to deal with any trouble that might be caused by striking miners. But their continuing presence was controversial, with the Labour-controlled Watch Committee that regulated the police having recently voted to dispense with their services.
At the last meeting of St Helens Town Council it was alleged that the imported police were "having a picnic" and that the £400 a week that they were costing the town could be better spent. The Watch Committee's decision was leaked to the Home Secretary and on the 19th it was announced that he had overruled it and the Liverpool police must now stay.
Later in the week, the Liverpool Echo said the 50 bobbies had been made into a political controversy in the forthcoming municipal elections in St Helens. Labour wanted them to go but the Tories demanded that they remain. The Conservatives admitted being the ones that had communicated the Watch Committee's resolution to the Home Secretary, which had infuriated the Labour Party who denounced the leak of information from a closed committee.
There were more outcrop coal prosecutions this week. These were old mines that outcropped at the surface but still required some know-how to extract its coal. As well as trespassing on other people's land, those involved exposed themselves to danger. But, of course, desperate people do desperate things.
On the 19th a total of 36 unemployed St Helens miners appeared in Wigan County Police Court charged with taking coal from an Ashton-in-Makerfield outcrop mine. Supt Banister told how the police had made a nighttime raid and surrounded the place. They found that the men had already dug out four tons of coal and so they were all arrested.
It was reported that they were taken to the police station in charabancs and soon appeared in court in their working attire with their faces unwashed. All pleaded guilty to doing damage to the old colliery to the extent of £10. Of the 36, 21 had previous convictions and one who had only recently been bound over was fined £5. The other 35 were ordered to pay £4 and damages.
In St Helens County Court on the 20th, Judge Dowdall refused to sign an order against a female debtor that would have legally obliged her to pay the money that she owed. If the woman had failed to do so, she could, ultimately, have been sent to prison.
The woman pleaded that she had no means of paying her debt as her husband had been out of work for a year and her three sons were miners on strike. The judge said: "I cannot make orders against people on strike when they have no money to pay. At the same time I don't know how the shopkeepers can keep their business going, unless they are paid. Everybody is suffering."
Throughout this week an India Exhibition was held at the Brook Street schools in St Helens, which the St Helens Reporter said was attempting to "introduce the real atmosphere of that mystic empire." The paper said it was the first of its kind in the country and described the exhibition as one of the most interesting and charming that had ever been shown in St Helens.
Robert Gresty was a confectioner and tobacconist in North Road who was summoned to court this week charged with breaching the Shops Early Closing Act of 1920. That had been brought in to save on coal and meant 8pm was generally the closing time for shops, although there were some exemptions. PC Leslie told the court that he had entered Mr Gresty's premises in plain clothes at 8:45 pm and bought 10 cigarettes for which he paid sixpence and then walked out.
But he soon returned to tell the shopkeeper that he had broken the law by selling him the cigarettes and that he would be reported. Mr Gresty replied that he had made a mistake as he had forgotten the time. Strangely, the man could legally sell toffees until 9 pm but his cigarette sales had to stop at eight. Mr Gresty's solicitor was critical of the constable for inducing the shopkeeper to commit a crime but he was still fined 5 shillings.
Winston Churchill was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and some months ago he had caused a storm in his Budget by introducing a gambling tax. Although betting was largely illegal, it could legitimately be undertaken on racecourses and through credit accounts in certain licensed bookmakers' offices. And although Churchill's tax was only aimed at the legal gambling industry, church leaders were appalled.
In St Helens the churches had forwarded a resolution to the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, protesting against the levy on the ground that it would "encourage a grave national evil". The 3½% tax came into force this month and licensed bookie Sam Kay of Exchange Street had a large advert in the St Helens Reporter on the 22nd of this week calling it an "unjust measure".
He said he hoped it would be speedily repealed but offered his clients two alternative means by which the tax could be paid. Payment could be made upfront with every bet that was made or only paid on winnings. Churchill's tax was abandoned in 1930, although it established a precedent for gambling taxes.
Tram driver James McMullen of Westfield Street appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 22nd charged with negligent driving. But he denied that he had failed to give the driver of a horse and cart sufficient time to get around another cart. That had led to a collision with his tram in which the horse was injured. Mr McMullen said the animal had shied and the magistrates accepted his explanation and cleared him.
On the previous Friday afternoon, the church's caretaker had seen John Martin open one of the boxes. He was arrested and found to be in possession of 18 small keys, a chisel and a screwdriver. Martin was remanded for a week for further police enquiries to be made and at the adjourned hearing he was described as a habitual breaker into church offertory boxes. It was also stated that Martin had been convicted in various towns since serving five years in a reformatory as a boy and the magistrates sent him to prison for three months.
Those who defrauded the dole – or claimed relief payments from the Prescot Guardians that they weren't entitled to – were severely treated by the courts. On the 25th Thomas Smith of Back Liverpool Street in St Helens was sent to prison for a month after claiming £21 in relief money. He had failed to declare that his sons and daughters were collectively bringing over £4 per week into his household.
On the 25th Alexander Cottington of Glover Street in St Helens was charged in the Police Court with shouting and booing at strike-breaking miners as they were returning from work. One might have thought that freedom of speech would have permitted such actions. But the state of emergency that had been created in the UK in April, through the invoking of the Emergency Powers Act of 1920, had imposed limitations on such freedoms.
Evidence was given that on the previous Monday a crowd of 500 had been waiting in Phythian Street in Greenbank to give some of the returning miners a hard time. Cottington had put himself in front of the crowd and had shouted, "Why did you go back to work after what you said last night?" He also called them "blacklegs" and caused the whole crowd to start booing.
Cottington, who denied the offence, was bound over in the sum of £5 and given the option of 28 days imprisonment. It would not be until December 19th that the state of emergency would be lifted – and, presumably, people could then boo each other without being arrested!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the extraordinary Prescot Road blackmail case, the chocolate stealing boy thieves, a boy's brave canal rescue and the Conservative claim that Labour were creating a reign of terror in St Helens.
This week's many stories include the controversy over Liverpool policemen stationed in St Helens, the 36 St Helens miners arrested for stealing outcrop coal, the tram driver charged with negligent driving, the man arrested for booing in Phythian Street and the North Road tobacconist prosecuted for selling cigarettes after 8pm.
For several months there had been fifty Liverpool policemen living in St Helens, mainly on standby to deal with any trouble that might be caused by striking miners.
But their continuing presence was controversial, with the Labour-controlled Watch Committee that regulated the police having recently voted to dispense with their services.
At the last meeting of St Helens Town Council it was alleged that the imported police were "having a picnic" and that the £400 a week that they were costing the town could be better spent.
The Watch Committee's decision was leaked to the Home Secretary and on the 19th it was announced that he had overruled it and the Liverpool police must now stay.
Later in the week, the Liverpool Echo said the 50 bobbies had been made into a political controversy in the forthcoming municipal elections in St Helens.
Labour wanted them to go but the Tories demanded that they remain.
The Conservatives admitted being the ones that had communicated the Watch Committee's resolution to the Home Secretary, which had infuriated the Labour Party who denounced the leak of information from a closed committee.
There were more outcrop coal prosecutions this week.
These were old mines that outcropped at the surface but still required some know-how to extract its coal.
As well as trespassing on other people's land, those involved exposed themselves to danger. But, of course, desperate people do desperate things.
On the 19th a total of 36 unemployed St Helens miners appeared in Wigan County Police Court charged with taking coal from an Ashton-in-Makerfield outcrop mine.
Supt Banister told how the police had made a nighttime raid and surrounded the place.
They found that the men had already dug out four tons of coal and so they were all arrested.
It was reported that they were taken to the police station in charabancs and soon appeared in court in their working attire with their faces unwashed.
All pleaded guilty to doing damage to the old colliery to the extent of £10.
Of the 36, 21 had previous convictions and one who had only recently been bound over was fined £5. The other 35 were ordered to pay £4 and damages.
In St Helens County Court on the 20th, Judge Dowdall refused to sign an order against a female debtor that would have legally obliged her to pay the money that she owed.
If the woman had failed to do so, she could, ultimately, have been sent to prison.
The woman pleaded that she had no means of paying her debt as her husband had been out of work for a year and her three sons were miners on strike.
The judge said: "I cannot make orders against people on strike when they have no money to pay. At the same time I don't know how the shopkeepers can keep their business going, unless they are paid. Everybody is suffering."
Throughout this week an India Exhibition was held at the Brook Street schools in St Helens, which the St Helens Reporter said was attempting to "introduce the real atmosphere of that mystic empire."
The paper said it was the first of its kind in the country and described the exhibition as one of the most interesting and charming that had ever been shown in St Helens.
Robert Gresty was a confectioner and tobacconist in North Road who was summoned to court this week charged with breaching the Shops Early Closing Act of 1920.
That had been brought in to save on coal and meant 8pm was generally the closing time for shops, although there were some exemptions.
PC Leslie told the court that he had entered Mr Gresty's premises in plain clothes at 8:45 pm and bought 10 cigarettes for which he paid sixpence and then walked out.
But he soon returned to tell the shopkeeper that he had broken the law by selling him the cigarettes and that he would be reported.
Mr Gresty replied that he had made a mistake as he had forgotten the time.
Strangely, the man could legally sell toffees until 9 pm but his cigarette sales had to stop at eight.
Mr Gresty's solicitor was critical of the constable for inducing the shopkeeper to commit a crime but he was still fined 5 shillings.
Winston Churchill was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and some months ago he had caused a storm in his Budget by introducing a gambling tax.
Although betting was largely illegal, it could legitimately be undertaken on racecourses and through credit accounts in certain licensed bookmakers' offices.
And although Churchill's tax was only aimed at the legal gambling industry, church leaders were appalled.
In St Helens the churches had forwarded a resolution to the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, protesting against the levy on the ground that it would "encourage a grave national evil".
The 3½% tax came into force this month and licensed bookie Sam Kay of Exchange Street had a large advert in the St Helens Reporter on the 22nd of this week calling it an "unjust measure".
He said he hoped it would be speedily repealed but offered his clients two alternative means by which the tax could be paid.
Payment could be made upfront with every bet that was made or only paid on winnings.
Churchill's tax was abandoned in 1930, although it established a precedent for gambling taxes.
Tram driver James McMullen of Westfield Street appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 22nd charged with negligent driving.
But he denied that he had failed to give the driver of a horse and cart sufficient time to get around another cart.
That had led to a collision with his tram in which the horse was injured.
Mr McMullen said the animal had shied and the magistrates accepted his explanation and cleared him.
On 23rd John Martin, who was described as a ship's cook from Edge Hill in Liverpool, was charged in St Helens Police Court with attempting to steal from the offertory boxes at Lowe House Church (pictured above).
Superintendent Dunn explained how for some time a special observation had been kept at Lowe House because of reports of thefts from the offertory boxes.
On the previous Friday afternoon, the church's caretaker had seen John Martin open one of the boxes.
He was arrested and found to be in possession of 18 small keys, a chisel and a screwdriver.
Martin was remanded for a week for further police enquiries to be made and at the adjourned hearing he was described as a habitual breaker into church offertory boxes.
It was also stated that Martin had been convicted in various towns since serving five years in a reformatory as a boy and the magistrates sent him to prison for three months.
Those who defrauded the dole – or claimed relief payments from the Prescot Guardians that they weren't entitled to – were severely treated by the courts.
On the 25th Thomas Smith of Back Liverpool Street in St Helens was sent to prison for a month after claiming £21 in relief money.
He had failed to declare that his sons and daughters were collectively bringing over £4 per week into his household.
On the 25th Alexander Cottington of Glover Street in St Helens was charged in the Police Court with shouting and booing at strike-breaking miners as they were returning from work.
One might have thought that freedom of speech would have permitted such actions.
But the state of emergency that had been created in the UK in April, through the invoking of the Emergency Powers Act of 1920, had imposed limitations on such freedoms.
Evidence was given that on the previous Monday a crowd of 500 had been waiting in Phythian Street in Greenbank to give some of the returning miners a hard time.
Cottington had put himself in front of the crowd and had shouted, "Why did you go back to work after what you said last night?"
He also called them "blacklegs" and caused the whole crowd to start booing.
Cottington, who denied the offence, was bound over in the sum of £5 and given the option of 28 days imprisonment.
It would not be until December 19th that the state of emergency would be lifted – and, presumably, people could then boo each other without being arrested!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the extraordinary Prescot Road blackmail case, the chocolate stealing boy thieves, a boy's brave canal rescue and the Conservative claim that Labour were creating a reign of terror in St Helens.
For several months there had been fifty Liverpool policemen living in St Helens, mainly on standby to deal with any trouble that might be caused by striking miners.
But their continuing presence was controversial, with the Labour-controlled Watch Committee that regulated the police having recently voted to dispense with their services.
At the last meeting of St Helens Town Council it was alleged that the imported police were "having a picnic" and that the £400 a week that they were costing the town could be better spent.
The Watch Committee's decision was leaked to the Home Secretary and on the 19th it was announced that he had overruled it and the Liverpool police must now stay.
Later in the week, the Liverpool Echo said the 50 bobbies had been made into a political controversy in the forthcoming municipal elections in St Helens.
Labour wanted them to go but the Tories demanded that they remain.
The Conservatives admitted being the ones that had communicated the Watch Committee's resolution to the Home Secretary, which had infuriated the Labour Party who denounced the leak of information from a closed committee.
There were more outcrop coal prosecutions this week.
These were old mines that outcropped at the surface but still required some know-how to extract its coal.
As well as trespassing on other people's land, those involved exposed themselves to danger. But, of course, desperate people do desperate things.
On the 19th a total of 36 unemployed St Helens miners appeared in Wigan County Police Court charged with taking coal from an Ashton-in-Makerfield outcrop mine.
Supt Banister told how the police had made a nighttime raid and surrounded the place.
They found that the men had already dug out four tons of coal and so they were all arrested.
It was reported that they were taken to the police station in charabancs and soon appeared in court in their working attire with their faces unwashed.
All pleaded guilty to doing damage to the old colliery to the extent of £10.
Of the 36, 21 had previous convictions and one who had only recently been bound over was fined £5. The other 35 were ordered to pay £4 and damages.
In St Helens County Court on the 20th, Judge Dowdall refused to sign an order against a female debtor that would have legally obliged her to pay the money that she owed.
If the woman had failed to do so, she could, ultimately, have been sent to prison.
The woman pleaded that she had no means of paying her debt as her husband had been out of work for a year and her three sons were miners on strike.
The judge said: "I cannot make orders against people on strike when they have no money to pay. At the same time I don't know how the shopkeepers can keep their business going, unless they are paid. Everybody is suffering."
Throughout this week an India Exhibition was held at the Brook Street schools in St Helens, which the St Helens Reporter said was attempting to "introduce the real atmosphere of that mystic empire."
The paper said it was the first of its kind in the country and described the exhibition as one of the most interesting and charming that had ever been shown in St Helens.
Robert Gresty was a confectioner and tobacconist in North Road who was summoned to court this week charged with breaching the Shops Early Closing Act of 1920.
That had been brought in to save on coal and meant 8pm was generally the closing time for shops, although there were some exemptions.
PC Leslie told the court that he had entered Mr Gresty's premises in plain clothes at 8:45 pm and bought 10 cigarettes for which he paid sixpence and then walked out.
But he soon returned to tell the shopkeeper that he had broken the law by selling him the cigarettes and that he would be reported.
Mr Gresty replied that he had made a mistake as he had forgotten the time.
Strangely, the man could legally sell toffees until 9 pm but his cigarette sales had to stop at eight.
Mr Gresty's solicitor was critical of the constable for inducing the shopkeeper to commit a crime but he was still fined 5 shillings.
Winston Churchill was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and some months ago he had caused a storm in his Budget by introducing a gambling tax.
Although betting was largely illegal, it could legitimately be undertaken on racecourses and through credit accounts in certain licensed bookmakers' offices.
And although Churchill's tax was only aimed at the legal gambling industry, church leaders were appalled.
In St Helens the churches had forwarded a resolution to the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, protesting against the levy on the ground that it would "encourage a grave national evil".
The 3½% tax came into force this month and licensed bookie Sam Kay of Exchange Street had a large advert in the St Helens Reporter on the 22nd of this week calling it an "unjust measure".
He said he hoped it would be speedily repealed but offered his clients two alternative means by which the tax could be paid.
Payment could be made upfront with every bet that was made or only paid on winnings.
Churchill's tax was abandoned in 1930, although it established a precedent for gambling taxes.
Tram driver James McMullen of Westfield Street appeared in St Helens Police Court on the 22nd charged with negligent driving.
But he denied that he had failed to give the driver of a horse and cart sufficient time to get around another cart.
That had led to a collision with his tram in which the horse was injured.
Mr McMullen said the animal had shied and the magistrates accepted his explanation and cleared him.
Superintendent Dunn explained how for some time a special observation had been kept at Lowe House because of reports of thefts from the offertory boxes.
On the previous Friday afternoon, the church's caretaker had seen John Martin open one of the boxes.
He was arrested and found to be in possession of 18 small keys, a chisel and a screwdriver.
Martin was remanded for a week for further police enquiries to be made and at the adjourned hearing he was described as a habitual breaker into church offertory boxes.
It was also stated that Martin had been convicted in various towns since serving five years in a reformatory as a boy and the magistrates sent him to prison for three months.
Those who defrauded the dole – or claimed relief payments from the Prescot Guardians that they weren't entitled to – were severely treated by the courts.
On the 25th Thomas Smith of Back Liverpool Street in St Helens was sent to prison for a month after claiming £21 in relief money.
He had failed to declare that his sons and daughters were collectively bringing over £4 per week into his household.
On the 25th Alexander Cottington of Glover Street in St Helens was charged in the Police Court with shouting and booing at strike-breaking miners as they were returning from work.
One might have thought that freedom of speech would have permitted such actions.
But the state of emergency that had been created in the UK in April, through the invoking of the Emergency Powers Act of 1920, had imposed limitations on such freedoms.
Evidence was given that on the previous Monday a crowd of 500 had been waiting in Phythian Street in Greenbank to give some of the returning miners a hard time.
Cottington had put himself in front of the crowd and had shouted, "Why did you go back to work after what you said last night?"
He also called them "blacklegs" and caused the whole crowd to start booing.
Cottington, who denied the offence, was bound over in the sum of £5 and given the option of 28 days imprisonment.
It would not be until December 19th that the state of emergency would be lifted – and, presumably, people could then boo each other without being arrested!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the extraordinary Prescot Road blackmail case, the chocolate stealing boy thieves, a boy's brave canal rescue and the Conservative claim that Labour were creating a reign of terror in St Helens.