Obstructing the highway

At Hertford Borough Sessions on Thursday, John Wright, 37, of The Folly, and William Lawrence, 29, of 4 Davies Street, greengrocers, were summoned for obstructing the highway in Maidenhead Street by leaving a barrow therein for an unreasonable time and preventing people passing along.  The defendants said they never left the barrow.  P.s. Palmer stated that at 9 p.m. on Saturday he received complaints about the defendants and kept observation on them; he saw them remain outside Walker’s Stores hawking fruit for a quarter of an hour.  Lawrence was serving fruit and Wright pushing the barrow.  They were obstructing the street, which was very full of pedestrians.  Lawrence had previously been cautioned and told that he was not allowed to stand in the street with a barrow.  The defendants admitted that they were up and down the street, but thought they were doing no harm in selling a bit of fruit.  P.c. Human corroborated the Sergeant as to the obstruction of the road and footpath.  Supt Pear said he had frequently received complaints from the shop-keepers in Maidenhead Street that they could not transact their business inside on account of the shouting outside.  The defendants were fined 5 shillings each.