Thanet Advertiser, Friday 01 July 1932.
MASQUERADED AS A WOMAN.
BIRCHINGTON HOTEL SCENE.
POLICE COURT SEQUEL.
There was a sequel at the Cinque Ports Petty Sessions, at Margate, on
Monday, to a disturbance at the "Beresford Hotel," Birchington, on
Sunday evening.
Captain Stephen Phillips, aged 35 years, of Graywalls, Birchington and
Gordon Douglas Hobson, aged 23 years, of Mayfair Hotel, London, were
fined £5 and £3 respectively for being disorderly on licensed premises
and refusing to leave when requested to do so.
A second charge of being drunk and disorderly in Spencer road,
Birchington, at 11.54 p.m., on Sunday, was preferred against both
defendants, but was withdrawn at the request of Inspector Beer.
Ernest Remnant, chairman of the company controlling the "Beresford
Hotel," said he was at the hotel when the defendants refused to leave.
He was in the ballroom when he noticed one of the guests take the floor
with a person who was obviously a man masquerading as a woman. He saw
them dancing together, and, at the conclusion of the dance, the man who
was disguised as a woman, fired off a toy pistol. They were laughing and
shouting and making a noise and he immediately approached the pair. He
lifted the hat worn by the “woman” and said “Who are you?” and
immediately recognised the defendant Phillips, whom he had previously
told not to visit the hotel again.
Declined to Leave,
Witness told Phillips that he would not have a man in the hotel
masquerading as a woman. The other man, who was not Hobson, was very
excited and dared him to have Phillips put out of the hotel. Both men
were under the influence of drink and were as insolent as they possibly
could be. As there were a large number of ladies in the ballroom and the
men adopted a threatening attitude witness intimated that he had no
alterative hut to call the police. He asked the men to leave the
premises, but they declined to do so and made a considerable amount of
noise, used insulting and obscene language and wanted to fight.
Phillips had previously broken the rules of the hotel on several
occasions and had been informed that he would not be admitted again, and
Hobson, who was not in the ballroom at the time, had also been warned
out the previous night.
Replying to Phillips, witness repented his statement that defendant
wanted to fight and added that Phillips intimated that he was going to
make short work of him (witness) when he met him outside the hotel
premises.
Witness denied that he suggested that Hobson was keeping Phillips and
the other man and that his remark was the cause of the trouble. What he
did say was that Hobson had given Phillips and his companion their drink
and that Hobson would not have been in trouble were it not for the fact
that he was egged on by the other two. It was a fact that Phillips’
companion attempted to strike witness, but only succeeded in knocking
his pipe out of his mouth. Witness stated that he intended summoning the
other man for that assault. Witness added that Hobson did not come into
the ballroom. He was in the entrance to the hotel and remained there
until Phillips gradually made his way out of the ballroom. At the hotel
entrance both Phillips and Hobson declined to leave the premises and the
police were informed.
A Fighting Attitude.
Mrs. Susanne Austen, manageress of the hotel, said she had retired for
the night. At about midnight she was aroused by a noise beneath her
bedroom window, and, donning her dressing gown, she went downstairs and
saw Phillips and Hobson at the lintel entrance. She asked the men, who
had obviously been drinking, to leave the premises', but they flatly
refused. They were shouting and laughing and making considerable noise.
Witness later went to Broadstairs police station in her dressing gown.
P.C. Giggins, who went to the hotel in response to a telephone message,
said he saw the two defendants sitting outside the hotel entrance. They
were both requested to leave, but refused and adopted a fighting
attitude and threatened to enter the building. Witness arrested them and
took them to Broadstairs police-station. The defendant Phillips was
dressed as a woman and on the way to Broadstairs he threw certain
articles of clothing out of the window. Witness produced a lady’s frock
and other garments which he recovered on the way back from Broadstairs.
In the car he found a lady's handbag which contained a large slip of
paper on which was printed the words "Looking for trouble." On the way
to the station the defendants were very noisy and made use of disgusting
language.
P.C. Mount, who accompanied P.C. Giggins to Broadstairs, said both men
were swearing and using awful language.”
Inspector Beer said the men were the worse for drink when be saw them at
Broadstairs at 2 a.m. They made a terrible noise at the station,
shouting and swearing, and disturbed practically nearly all the
residents in Gladstone-road. At 2.50 the defendant Phillips asked to see
a doctor. A doctor subsequently examined the man and expressed the
opinion that Phillips was not then drunk.
An Alleged Frame-Up.
“It is an absolute frame-up from the "Beresford Hotel" point of view,”
declared Phillips, in the witness box. “We were accused of being drunk
and asked for the police. Remnant made a remark and my companion struck
at him, but, unfortunately, did not hit him properly.”
The Clerk (Mr. O. C. Maughan):- You think he should have been assaulted
properly?
Defendant:- I most certainly do!
“They have framed the whole thing,” Phillips continued, “for we were not
drunk. I only had one beer and one whisky from six o'clock. We were not
trying to get a drink at the hotel, for we were aware that the bar was
shut at eleven o'clock. We simply went there purely as a joke. That was
the reason I had the woman’s clothes on.”
The Chairman of the magistrates (Mr. D. T. Evans):- You went there
looking for trouble. (laughter.)
Defendant:- We went there purely as a joke, only some people cannot
understand jokes.
Replying to one of the magistrates, defendant said he certainly did
swear in the car when they were being driven to Broadstairs. He took
exception to the driver of the car for reasons which he preferred to
keep private. There were no women in the car, only the two policemen,
and he told the driver exactly what he thought of him.
Defendant added that he did not know what the second charge meant for
they went to the hotel by car and left it by car. When outside the hotel
entrance they were in the hotel grounds.
Phillips said he had no occupation.
In the witness box Hobson told the magistrates he had no occupation.
Phillips and another gentleman went into the hotel on the previous
evening and he waited at the entrance. Remnant suggested that Phillips
and his companion were scroungers and were scrounging on him. He had
about five drinks during the evening, and he refused to leave the
premises. Phillips’ companion was a perfect stranger to him.
The Clerk:- Why do it? You would not do these things in cold blood.
Defendant:- I was certainly not excited by drink.
The Chairman:- The weather?
Defendant:- No, I don’t think so.
Magistrates’ Warning.
Bertram Harold Benjamin, of Park-street, London, who described himself
as a gramophone manufacturer, said he entered the hotel accompanied by
Phillips, who was dressed as a lady. They danced together, and may have
been making a little noise, but were certainly not making themselves a
nuisance. They were simply laughing. The whole of the trouble was caused
by the unfortunate remark made by Remnant. Remnant suggested that
Phillips and he were being kept by Hobson, and witness struck at Remnant
and knocked the pipe out of his mouth.
The Chairman said the Bench considered that a hotel of the character of
the "Beresford Hotel" had to be protected. It was exceedingly unfair
that such disturbances should be caused by people who had had too much
to drink.
The magistrates, continued the Chairman, considered that Phillips was
the ringleader of the little gang and he would be fined £5. The
magistrates regretted that the maximum penalty was not more. In view of
the statement made by Mr. Remnant concerning the other defendant, the
bench had decided to fine Hobson £3. The magistrates suggested that the
defendants, Phillips in particular, should keep away from the premises
in future.
They felt it was very easy to get into trouble without going about
looking for it.
In conclusion. Mr. Evans declared that people coming down to the seaside
from London should not think they could behave exactly as they pleased,
for the magistrates were going to put a stop to it.
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