£25 FINE FOR "RAT" DOUBLE
"We are getting far too many of what are called minor bookmaking cases, and I think we'll have to exterminate this 'rat' double," said Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court today, before fining Alfred William Sparks, painter, 43, £25 for carrying on business as a bookmaker. SeniorSergeant G. Paine said that at 5.20 p.m. on Friday, when the police were making an inspection of hotels in Willis Street, the defendant was seen with a group of men round him making notes in a book. The book disclosed that he was running a "rat" double of £6 10s for a shilling on the races in Christchurch. In all, 144 entries had been made. It was the defendant's first appearance.'
Mr. H. A. Kennard, who appeared for the defendant, said that, although the number of bets appeared large, actually no more than the prize money had been taken. The defendant had been running the double for the benefit of members of the ' staff on which he worked and had not been touting for bets in a hotel —it was regarded as a sort of friendly raffle. It was only the third or fourth time he had done anything of that nature, and the last few winners had given a large part of their winnings for parcels for men overseas.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 34, 9 August 1943, Page 3
Word Count
225£25 FINE FOR "RAT" DOUBLE Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 34, 9 August 1943, Page 3
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