'BLACK, CUSTOMERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 215, 11 September 1944, Page 3

'BLACK , CUSTOMERS

WOMEN ARE FINED

FRUIT BARROW MARKETEERS

LONDON. Two Mayfair women were convicted at Bow Street Police Court of buying strawberries at double the controlled price. Their cases were the first in a drive by the Ministry of Food to punish the customers of the black market as'well as the trader. The Ministry said that they considered a woman who paid an excessive price just as guilty as the trader who accepted her money. In every case coming to their notice in future where a man or woman has willingly paid an excessive price for goods they are going to prosecute. They hoped suitable publicity would be given to convictions. "There would be no black market traders if you had not people willing to pay the black market price," a Ministry of Information official said. Mrs. Beatrice Vyse, of Cork Street, Mayfair, was fined £3 and ordered to pay one guinea costs at Bow Street when it was alleged she had bought from a street trader 7ilb of strawberries at 5/ a lb. The controlled price is 2/6 a lb. It was also stated that Mrs. Vyse bought 31b of tomatoes at 3/ a lb instead of 1/6 a lb. Also charged was Miss Norma Young, of the same address. She was fined 40/ for buying 211b of strawberries at 5/ a lb from the same barrow. Mr. Claude Hornby, prosecuting for the Ministry of Food, said that people who paid utterly exorbitant prices gave encouragement to barrow men. , The magistrate, Mr. Dunne, said that he wished people would be more careful in dealing with street traders. Some of them were most persistent breakers of the law.