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Canterbury Journal, Kentish Times and Farmers' Gazette, Saturday 18 November 1911.
Alleged wholesale robbery from a Canterbury Hotel.
A German committed for trial. Prisoner hides in a cupboard all day.
The young German, Lexi Sagert, who was at one time employed at the
"County Hotel," Canterbury, as a waiter, was placed in the dock, on
remind, at the Canterbury Police Court, on Tuesday last, before Messrs.
F. Hart (in the chair) T. L. Mourilyan, F. T. Gentry, and E. G. Hammond,
charged with entering the "County Hotel, High Street, sometime between
the 17th and October and 18th October and stealing there from a pair of
gents boots, a pair of gents Oxford shoes, a gent's light fawn overcoat,
a lady's gabardine striped mackintosh, a gent's striped mackintosh coat,
14 boxes of cigars, 12 tins of cigarettes, a gent's suede vest, a gent's
dress coat, a pair of white flannel trousers, white socks, a large brown
portmanteau, a small brown leather handbag, 2s, worth of penny and
halfpenny stamps and £2 5s., in money, of the total of £43 17s.
Henry Laurence Prior, Netherfield, Stanstead Abbott, Hertfordshire, said
he was staying at the "County Hotel" on the evening of October 17th and
he left his coat in the sitting room upstairs, and on the following
morning about 8:30 he found the coat was missing. The coat (produced)
had his initials stamped on the inside. He valued it at 50s.
Frederick Alan Tompkins, son of the proprietress of the "County Hotel,"
said that on Tuesday, 17th October, at 7 p.m., he closed the wine office
store, leading to the High Street and locked it. The wine office
adjoined the hotel and he also locked the door leading to the hotel. On
the morning of the 18th he found the two doors had been opened and he
also found the till, which contain £2 overnight, had been emptied. He
also found that a window hotel office had been forced and found three or
four marks from 1/4 inch to an inch on the window which had evidently
been made by a chisel. He found that the key of the door leading to the
wine office from the hotel and also all the keys for the interior of the
wine office had been taken off the keyboard in the hotel office. He
examined the till in the office and found about 5s., in money and about
2s., in penny and halfpenny stamps had been taken. He then examined the
inner hotel office and found about a dozen boxes of cigars and about the
same quantity of cigarettes missing from a shelf. From the hat rack in
the hall he missed a gent's tweed motor coat and a green silk scarf. He
then went upstairs into his own dressing room and discovered that the
leather portmanteau with C. T. in black letters was missing, also a
leather handbag, a dress coat, a dark brown hunting waistcoat, a dress
waistcoat, a pair of white flannel trousers, a pair of white socks, a
pair of patent boots, a pair of Oxford leather shoes, a fawn overcoat
with velvet collar, a ladies Barbary mackintosh, and a dress shirt. From
a sitting room on the next floor he missed a green stripe gent's
mackintosh (identified by previous witness), and two pairs of gloves. He
then went into a small cupboard on the first floor and found on the
floor the postcard produced addressed to prisoner, also the pair of
boots, produced. The prisoner was employed at the hotel from August,
1910, to February 1911, as second coffee room waiter. Witness was
prepared to swear to all articles produced, which belonged to him. The
two overcoats belong to guests.
James Charles Stringer, Park Hill, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, stated that
on the 17th October he was in the "County Hotel" to dinner and handed
his overcoat to the hotel porter. About 9:45 the same evening he was in
a hurry and took the wrong coat. On the following morning he brought it
back and his own coat could not be found. The coat produced was his
property, valued 65s.
Ernest Joseph Buttersby, pawnbroker, 80 Newgate Street, London stated
that on the evening of the 18th October, prisoner came into the pledge
office with the coat produced and marked with initials H. L. P. He
identified prisoner in Court. Witness examined the coat and lent him
10s. He gave the name of Parker, 66, Guilford Street. On 24th October
prisoner came again with 6 boxes of cigars produced and asked 30s. for
them. Witness asked him if they were his property and he said they were.
Witness asked him where he got them from and he said he was a dealer in
cigars and he bought them at auction sales. He wanted this temporary
loan to release more cigars he bought at an auction sale. Witness
examined the cigars and advanced prisoner 30s. on them. Prisoner gave
the name old Parker, 44 Upper Bedford Place. On 27th October prisoner
came again and had 9 more boxes of cigars, 275 in all and said he
required 50s. on them. Witness asked him if he had a business card and
he produced the card with "Descombes" on it with the address, 44 Upper
Bedford Place. Witness advanced him 50s. on these cigars.
Frances Pfarr, assistant to Mr. R. Pocket, pawnbroker, 35 Grays Inn
Road, London, said that on the morning of the 18th October prisoner came
to the pledge office with his kit bag produced and offered it to pledge.
He lent 5s. on it and prisoner gave the name of Frank Thompson, 66
Guildford Street. he could not identify prisoner as the man. He was
foreign by his accent. Prisoner ask no questions of the witness.
Sergeant Swaine stated that at 7:30 on Saturday evening, 4th instant, he
received prisoner into his custody from the City Police, Snow Hill
station, London. Witness said to prisoner "I am a police sergeant and
you will have to accompany me to Canterbury on a charge of entering the
"County Hotel," Canterbury, between the night of the 17th of October and
the morning of the 18th, and stealing there from the articles enumerated
in the charge." Prisoner replied, "I know nothing of the robbery. I
admit that I did at one time work at the "County Hotel." The articles
produced, consisted of 5 penny stamps, 5 empty cigarette tins, a white
dress shirt, and a pair of white socks were handed to witness by the
police in prisoners presents which were found by the Police in
apartments occupied by prisoner at 40, Balsover Street, London. Prisoner
said "Yes they are mine, I have had them some time." When arrested he
was wearing the gents coat, produced, brown vest, and the gents pair of
button boots. Prisoner said "They are mine. I have had them for some
time. The waistcoat I bought in America." On the way to Canterbury
prisoner said: "I admit I did commit the robbery at the "County Hotel,"
and I am sorry for what I have done. I was out of employment and 'hard
up," and I walked from London to Canterbury. I went into the "County
Hotel" that morning at 7 o'clock. I went upstairs to a cupboard, where I
remained until 12 o'clock at night. I came out, had something to eat,
and then obtained the articles, which I placed into bags. I let myself
out of the hotel wine department. I unlocked the doors from the keys I
obtained in the office from off the key rack. I left the hotel about
twenty minutes to six. I threw the keys away over a fence on the way to
the station. The cigars you will find pledged at Baterby's, just outside
Holborn station. I pawned them in two lots. One for £1 10s., the other
£2 10s., in the name of either Parker or Descombe, Upper Bedford Place.
I also pledged an overcoat at the same place for either 8s. or 10s. I
pledged another overcoat at Thompson's, pawnbroker, Oxford Street. I
also pledged the small handbag at a pawnbrokers in Grays Inn Road, on
the left hand side as you come from Holborn. The large brown leather
portmanteau together with the other articles you'll find in my apartment
at 23, Monmouth Road, Westbourne Grove. The cigarettes I have smoked and
the pawn tickets I have destroyed." On Wednesday last, 8th inst the
lady's mackintosh coat produced, witness recover from Harvey and
Thompson Ltd, in New Oxford Street, where it had been placed in the name
of Lexi Thompson for 8s. on 18th of October. The same day witness went
to 23, Monmouth Road and into a bedroom which had been occupied by
prisoner where he recovered the brown leather portmanteau which
contained a gent's overcoat produced, they gent's dress coat, a suede
vest, a pair of flannel trousers, pair of gents Oxford shoes, pair of
brown kid gloves. The portmanteau had a label attached addressed "Mr.
Sagert, 23, Monmouth Road, Westbourne Grove, from Victoria Station.
The Chairman:- Has all the property stolen been recovered.
Superintendent Dunk:- Yes sir, practically all, except the cigarettes,
which prisoner has smoked.
Mr. Tompkins:- It is all recovered except the 500 cigarettes and one box
of cigars, valued about £3, your worships.
Prisoner upon being charged had nothing to say and said "I reserve my
defence."
The Chairman to prisoner:- What nationality are you?
A German.
How long have you been in this country?
About 2 years.
The Chairman:- This is a very serious charge and the Magistrates have no
other alternative than to send you to Maidstone Assizes to be held on
November 22nd.
The Chairman asked if the keys have been found and Chief Constable Dunk
said they had looked for them but had not found them.
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From the Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, Saturday 22 April, 1944.
FOOD OFFENCES BY CANTERBURY HOTEL PROPRIETOR.
MAGISTRATES' SYMPATHY FOR HIM IN HIS DIFFICULTIES.
Summoned at Canterbury Police Court on Friday, for food offences, Mr.
Frank Mason, of the "County Hotel" Canterbury was represented by Mr. J.
Thompson Halsall. Mr. Halsall expressed the opinion that a superhuman
mathematician was needed to cope with food regulations. He pleaded
guilty on behalf of Mr. Mason to (1) using an excessive amount of sugar
per person per meal, between November 14th and January 8th. (2) using an
excessive amount of fats per person per meal between the same dates; and
(3) recklessly making a statement, under the Food Rationing Order, which
was false, on January 18th.
Mr H. Gardner Wheeler, prosecuting for the Canterbury Food Control
Committee, said that Mr. Mason was the proprietor of the "County Hotel"
which was known in Food Office circles as a catering establishment and,
as such, received from the Food Office authorisation to buy food during
eight-weekly periods. That quantity could not be exceeded. The
establishment had to keep a return and a record of all meals served and
at the end of the period, a form had to be sent in, showing how many
meals and hot beverages had been served and the quantity of rationed
foods obtained by the establishment and on the back of the form, a
statement of stock. That was to enable the Food Office to check that
there had been no excessive obtaining of food and that the establishment
had not used more food than it was legally entitled to do.
It was alleged by the prosecution that during the eight-weeks period in
question. Mr. Mason had shown his quantity of sugar obtained as 196lbs.,
whereas, in point of fact, the quantity was 224lbs., and the quantity of
preserves obtained as 158lbs., when it was actually 162lbs. It was
agreed that the total amount of fats which had been over-used was 88lbs
and of sugar 36lbs.
Mr. Halsall said Mr. Mason had been in the trade for thirty-five years
and had been twenty-five years at the "County Hotel." In normal times
his son ran the business, but he had been in the Army for three years,
leaving his father who was not particularly youthful, to carry on. There
had been staff complications and Mr. Mason had been working day and
night. In practice the forms were completed by Mrs. Mason and Mr Mason
signed them and accepted responsibility.
He (Mr. Halsall) was in a difficulty as to whether to plead guilty or
not guilty, because the degree of "recklessness" was exceedingly small.
The preserves were only 4lbs. over for the eight weeks, which, he
submitted was not due to recklessness, but was purely accidental. Since
the proceedings were started, it had been found that one invoice for
that quantity which should have been sent to Mr. Mason by the supplier
had, in fact, not been sent. The supplier had apologised, but that was
what had given rise to the omission of the 4lbs.
Mrs. Mason’s system was to make up the forms from the invoices received
and in that period she omitted an invoice for 36lbs. of sugar. She
agreed that she had been careless and that she should have noticed that
she was taking in seven instead of eight invoices.
Mr. Halsall emphasised that the amount of fats, etc., which could be
supplied to each individual customer was arrived at by an extremely
complicated calculation. Whoever wrote the order had been a great friend
to chartered accountants! What could be given to one customer at one
time was complicated enough, but for the 13,941 meals which had been
served at the hotel in the period it required rather a superhuman
mathematician to be precise. It was in that way and in defendant's
overworked state that the miscalculation was made. Eighty-eight lbs. of
cooking fats might seem rather a large figure, but it had to be
remembered that the "County Hotel" was a catering establishment in
general and not really a place where meals were served. A considerable
number of cakes were made for functions and it was extremely difficult
to calculate those amounts so as to keep within the limit. Mr. Mason had
done his best.
In no single instance, emphasised Mr. Halsall, had Mr. Mason bought
anything like his allocation. He would have been entitled to 313lbs. of
preserves, but bought only 162lbs. and other figures were: Fats 487lbs.
bought 282lbs: butter 162lbs., 88lbs.; sugar 336lbs., 224lbs.; and
cheese 200lbs. 85lbs. His general attitude was one of the utmost care
and precaution and he went too every length within his capabilities and
did not take up his full allocations, but in every instance
under-bought.
After a retirement, the Mayor said that in the cases of sugar and fats
there would be a fine of 20/- in each instance. In regard to recklessly
making the statement, the Bench felt that in view of the other two
fines, justice would be met by imposing no penalty. They had a
considerable amount of sympathy for Mr Mason in his difficulties,
especially in view of the fact that in no case had he used the amounts
of food which his permits would have allowed him to buy.
Defendant had to pay 25/- costs. |
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