HARD LABOUR FOR MOTHER OF FIVE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17745, 15 January 1926, Page 10

HARD LABOUR FOR MOTHER OF FIVE.

STOLE PEARS WORTH PENNY AND JERSEY AT 15/6. LONDON, December 12. A month’s hard labour for stealing fourpennyworth of apples and a jersey valued at 15s 6d was the sentence passed upon Dagmar Campion, a widow with five children, by the Bedford magistrates. It her first offence, and the severity of the sentence caused a good deal of indignation locally. According to the evidence produced, the thefts were committed from baskets on bicycles left unattended outside shops. Mrs Campion said she had taken the goods on the impulse of the moment. She pleaded with the magistrates to punish her by inflicting a fine instead of sending her to prison, which, she pointed out, would mean that her children would suffer. The magistrates, however, were adamant. The widow was removed from the court in a state of collapse. The chairman of the Bench (Sir George Rovle) said, in an interview: “ The Chief Constable said in court that a great many similar cases had been reported, and the police wanted to stop them. The woman pleaded guilty and the Bench retired. I. as chairman, asked the other magistrates what was their decision, and they decided unanimously that this was a case where the woman ought to be sent to prison for a month. When we came back to the court T announced this decision, and the woman asked us to fine her instead. T appealed to the other magistrates and asked them whether they would retire again to reconsider the case. Their reply was: ‘No, it is our duty, and we think our decision is the right one.’ ”