A ticket to ride

Hertfordshire Mercury, 1st August 1914

Transcript

At Hatfield Petty Sessions, Christopher Betters, of Little Heath, was summoned by the GNR for an offence against their by-laws on 28 June.  He did not appear.

Walter E Hart, a porter at Hatfield Station, said that on 28th June, at about 1:10am, he was on the up-platform collecting tickets when he had asked the defendant for a ticket as he had arrived by train.  The defendant became abusive and refused to give up a ticket.  He had argued with the porter for about an hour.  After hitting the witness in the face, he had thrown an ink bottle at the witness which had struck a lamp and had broken it.  The defendant had had drink but was not drunk.  The defendant had snatched the ink bottle up from the inspector’s table in the office.

Detective DJ Curnock produced a copy of the Company’s by-laws.  Henry Pritchard, an Inspector with GNR, gave corroborative evidence and said that the defendant could not find a ticket when he had got into the office.  The defendant had threatened to punch the witness’s head, and said that he had already given up his ticket.

After he had hit Walter Hart, the porter, and had thrown the ink bottle at him, the defendant had tried to pull down the telephone in the witness’s office, and had picked up a staff key which he had then brandished about.  Detective Curnock said that the defendant was a vine dresser in regular employment.

The Bench fined the defendant 5s and 9s 6d costs.

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