RIGHT TO STEAL—IF RICH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 2597, 5 July 1928, Page 3

RIGHT TO STEAL—IF RICH.

'"Tlic right to steal it yon are rich has been established by ii jury. - ' Such is the heading which a Paris newspaper places over its report of a remarkable trial before the Seine Ais sizes. As stated in the Daily Chronicle, recently. Georges Andre Lefebvre, a. wealthy man earning more than £3OOO a year, was charged with having embezzled £IOO,OOO and with havin.tf scoinmitted 169 forgeries. The jury found 362 questions to an- ! swer in giving their verdict, and the ' replies amounting to a rejection of the charges of fraud and only retained those of abuse of confidence. For the first time in the history of French law the jury gave its idea of what the sentence should be, and demanded that the judge should exer- ' cise his right to suspend sentence. 1 The judge accordingly sentenced Lefebvre to five years' imprisonment, but bound him over to be of good behaviour, 'otherwise he Would be galled upon to serve tlio sentence He was ordered to restore £70,000 to his employer and to pay £4OO damages. The result of the trial lias called forth some strong protests, newspapers ashing if the judge, jury and proseciiition would hove been as kind-heaa-fc-ed and complacent if the prisoner had not been a rich man,