FIRST OFFENDER
VATICAN CITY COURT
SENTENCE FOR ROBBING
ALMS BOX
. (Received 30th January, 2 p.m.) VATICAN, 29th January. Giuseppe Paolis, who was caught extracting coins from the alms box at St. Peter's with a piece of whalebone smeared with birdlime, the first, offender to be tried in the Vatican Court, obviously enjoyed the sensation until a sentence of three months' imprisonment caused his smiles to fade. The Courthouse is yet to be erocted, and the trial was held in a small room in Papal gendarmerie barracks. A crucifix surmounted the Pope's portrait hung behind the President's chair. The President, Judges, and counsel were arrayed in rich, black velvet togas lined with crimson. The prisoner, a small, thin man, was escorted by two magnificent gendarmes. The Judges paid no heed to the defending counsel's plea that the Italian law, which prescribed, three months' imprisonment for the offence, sliould be mitigated by canonical mercy, and ordered the whalebone to be confiscated.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 25, 30 January 1930, Page 10
Word Count
159FIRST OFFENDER Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 25, 30 January 1930, Page 10
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