EFFIGY BURNING – On June 7th 1897, 37-year-old miner Thomas Berks of Berry's Lane, 38-year-old copper worker Llewelyn Roberts of Watery Lane and John Oates from Moss Nook appeared in court charged with committing a breach of the peace. They'd carried two effigies across wasteland into Sutton Road, poured paraffin oil onto the dummies and then burned them. A noisy crowd of 200 to 300 men, women and children followed the trio rattling tin cans and shouting. During the evening one of the men steeped an old jacket in tar and after placing it on a long pole, carried it through the streets before setting it on fire. The incident was thought to have been connected to a local court case and the defendants were bound over to keep the peace for six months.

ATTEMPTED BEHEADING – On April 10th 1875, Henry Lee armed with a saw attempted to behead a young man named Samuel Wright while he was crossing the bridge at Peasley Cross station. Wright was knocked to the ground by a blow from behind and then felt his neck being cut by a saw. He was cut badly about the head and neck but survived the attack. The reports in the Prescot Reporter, Liverpool Mercury and Daily Post each had the headline 'Attempt To Saw A Man's Head Off'. On May 3rd Henry Lee was fined the full penalty of £5 for what the magistrates said was a "grievous assault".

BESTIALITY IN SUTTON – On December 13th 1889 James Wood of Sutton was found guilty at the Liverpool Assizes of committing buggery with a cow and was sent to prison for 18 months with hard labour. The St.Helens Reporter found the 28-year-old labourer’s offence so distasteful that they spared their readers the details, simply stating that Wood had committed an ‘unnatural offence’. However the court indictment actually said: ‘At Sutton on the 13th October, 1889, feloniously, wickedly, and against the order of nature did carnally know a certain cow, and then with the said cow feloniously did commit and perpetrate the abominable crime of buggery.’

BIGAMY IN PEASLEY CROSS – On August 27th 1894, bigamist James Harrison of Peasley Cross Lane was sent to prison for 21 days for failing to contribute to his first wife Mary's maintenance. He'd married her in 1884 but after they'd separated, Harrison had married another woman. For this he'd served a period of imprisonment but was now back in court owing £2 14s to his legal spouse. Harrison's argument that he'd only worked three weeks during the last year cut no ice with the magistrates. He was arrested upon leaving his work and had £1 3s 7d upon him and was wearing a watch and chain. The magistrate Mr. Oppenheim said "Surely the man can keep his wife", to which Harrison's solicitor replied "Unfortunately, he has got two wives". On June 18th 1895 he was back in court owing £3 to Mary Harrison and was despatched to prison for another month.

BREAKING HIS WIFE'S LEG – On April 7th 1884, George Bain was charged with being drunk and disorderly and causing grievous bodily harm to his wife by breaking her leg. P.C. Mather had arrested Bain for drunkenness but allowed him to enter his home in Edward Street in Sutton in order to put on a coat. Inside the house the constable found Mrs. Bain sat on a chair with her leg broken. Earlier that evening her husband had given her sixpence to fetch a quart of beer but she had not immediately left. This infuriated Bain so he threw his wife to the floor and jumped on her. He was fined 5 shillings for the drunkenness and on May 12th was sent to prison for 2 months with hard labour for the savage assault. This wasn't the end of his wife's troubles. Soon after being released from gaol, Bain attacked her again for which he served another month. Then in September 1885 he was fined 5 shillings for a further assault.

A RUM DO AT SUTTON MILL DAM – On April 10th 1871, James Bradbury appeared in court charged with the unlicensed selling of whisky on Sutton Mill Dam. The glass grinder from Sutton was said to have committed the offence on Christmas Day 1870. However the case was dismissed on a technical point as the evidence submitted to the court showed that Bradbury had actually been selling rum not whisky.

THE FEMALE FIT FAKER – During January 1844, a young woman calling herself Mary Thompson feigned fits at a number of gentlemen's houses to elicit sympathy and be given gifts. When she collapsed at Bold Hall, the young woman was taken inside, given wine and put to bed. After staging a recovery from her faked fit, Mary was given her fare to her home in Manchester. Cunningly at every place she visited, Mary, who was aged about 20, hid most of her clothes before knocking on the door and fainting. This was so she would be given presents of clothes, which she then pawned or sold. Before calling at Bold, Mary had even conned a police sergeant into helping her out. However she tried the stunt once too often and was sent to Kirkdale House of Correction for two months.

FANNY FAY AND THE OFFENSIVE PIG – On January 5th 1875 a drunken Henry Clark thumped on the door of his Sutton neighbour Fanny Fay and threatened to 'knock her brains out without any ceremony' and 'knock her head into mince meat'. This was how the Prescot Reporter described the subsequent court case brought by Mrs. Fay. The dispute was caused by a 'very offensive' pig that Clark kept at the rear of his house, which his neighbour had reported to the nuisance inspector. At the court hearing, the defendant promised to 'live at peace and good will with the complainant and all her Majesty's subjects in general.' The newspaper then said that Henry Clark 'submitted a black eye for the inspection of the bench', which he claimed had been inflicted by Fanny Fay's lodger. Clark was bound over to keep the peace by the magistrates.

FELONIOUS KILLING – On February 10th 1879, glassworks fireman George Lanigan was found not guilty of feloniously killing his mate Dennis Duffy. They'd got drunk in a Sutton pub and sparred with one another. Lanigan suffered an internal rupture through a low punch but made a dying deposition in front of a magistrate clearing his friend of any blame.

SHOOTING A BOY – On June 30th 1893, Sutton farmer James Rylance was charged with shooting with intent to murder a nine-years-old boy named Stephen O'Brien of 6 Walker's Lane. A witness said Rylance had deliberately shot him while he was in a neighbouring field. The farmer said it was an accident and the charge was later reduced to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

VOTE RIGGING – On September 29th 1863, James Webster appeared in court charged with 'personating voters and fabricating voting papers'. The offences took place in Sutton during elections for a Prescot Union guardian to replace the late John Smith. After the police had left voting papers at qualifying houses, Webster went round them and obtained the papers from the wives. He then marked the name of Joseph Greenough, one of three candidates and signed each paper with a cross. Webster pleaded guilty but said what he had done was general practice. The Prescot Union requested leniency, so Webster, the retired licensee of the King's Head Inn, was sent to Liverpool's Kirkdale gaol for just 7 days.

POKER KILLING – On March 14th 1895, Thomas Shaw of 39 Burtonhead Road was sentenced to 12 months hard labour for the manslaughter of his wife Elizabeth. The 23-years-old colliery engine tenter denied striking her over the head with an iron poker on November 25th 1894 during a drunken row. Shaw said Elizabeth had aggravated him, so he threw the poker at his wife to frighten her but it bounced off a wall and penetrated an inch and a half into her skull. Shaw's father, Thomas Snr., backed up his son's account, telling the court that his late daughter-in-law had had an "irritating tongue".

SPADE KILLING – On October 29th 1859, Ellen Looney of Peasley Cross struck 28-years-old John Canary over the head with a spade, fracturing his skull. Canary had refused to let her inside his house to see her husband Bernard who was staying there. So 45-years-old Looney threw a pig meat dish at his door, followed by bricks and stones until Canary came outside. She then attacked him with a spade that she'd taken from a pig sty. Canary died four weeks later and Ellen Looney was charged with John Canary's wilful murder. On December 15th at Lancashire Winter Assizes at St. George's Hall in Liverpool, the judge reduced the charge to manslaughter. Looney, who was undefended, was found guilty and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with hard labour.

HORSE THRASHING – An illegal use of a spade was also made in June 1899 when George Mills thrashed a horse in a Ravenhead Glassworks sandpit. Mills, of Sandon Street in Sutton, appeared in court charged with cruelty to a horse by belting it with the flat side of a spade. He claimed that his beating wouldn't have hurt the animal as he was only hitting the fleshy part. Mills was fined 5 shillings.

COCKFIGHTING IN SUTTON – On February 11th 1850, seven men appeared in court charged under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1849. They were part of a large group who on 4th February had been cockfighting in Sutton. Police Constables Ward and Chapman were despatched to stop the proceedings and they arrested John Woodcock, William Banks, George Dingsdale and Daniel Swift from Sutton, plus three others from Parr and Eccleston. The magistrate said he was determined to put a stop to such cruel and disgraceful proceedings and the four Suttoners were each fined 8s 6d.

TROUBLE IN PEASLEY CROSS – On April 10th 1899, John Mynock and Thomas Roddy, both of Appleton Street, appeared in court. Mynock was charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct and Roddy of a breach of the peace by striking Mynock. The latter had had some trouble with a priest in Peasley Cross and a crowd of 1000 people had surrounded him. Thomas Roddy knocked Mynock to the ground and others set upon him. Roddy claimed that he was only attempting to get a knife off Mynock but was fined 2s. 6d. The case against Mynock was dismissed.

WORKING AN UNFIT HORSE – On November 13th 1884, Sutton pig dealer Matthew Booth Lowe was fined £2 12s 6d for driving a horse from Sutton to Warrington that was in a very weak condition. Then on June 21st 1895, Robert Cross of 5 Robins Lane was summoned for working a horse in an unfit state and John Whitfield of Marshalls Cross Road was charged with causing the animal to be worked. Inspector Greatrix of the RSPCA gave evidence that the horse was in a very poor condition and was practically unfit for work. The case against Cross was dismissed and Whitfield was fined 20 shillings and costs. On April 2nd 1898, collier George Cook was sent to prison for a month for working a horse in a "shocking state of lameness, debility, and disease". He'd ridden it for 13 miles from Peasley Cross to Irlam and was about to return home when apprehended. The chairman of the magistrates said "It is the worst specimen of the animal called a horse that I have ever seen."

COPPER WORKS CLOG KILLERS – On August 18th 1857, Moses and James Woodward were found guilty of manslaughter at the Lancashire Summer Assizes. The brothers had kicked John Robinson in the head at Sutton Copper Works with their heavy clogs after a quarrel. The kicks were so violent that one witness said he "fairly heard the skull crack". Robinson died in the workhouse nine days after the attack.

TROUBLE AT SUTTON OAK – On April 20th 1891, four Widnes men appeared at St.Helens Police Court charged with damaging a weighing machine at Sutton Oak station. William Crowe was also charged with assaulting porter William Spencer. On March 7th the four had attacked the scales and torn down time bills and threatened to "do" a Sutton Oak signal man called Ridgway. They'd pitched him across a room and later struck the porter Spencer a severe blow to his chest. Each of the four was fined 10 shillings and ordered to pay 1s. 6d. for the damage. Crowe was fined another 10 shillings for the assault.

ASSAULTING THE BOSS'S SON – On August 14th 1893, Martin Morrisey of 308 Watery Lane was fined 20 shillings at St.Helens Police Court for attacking Balfour Frazer McTear. He was the 29-years-old son of Major McTear, manager of Sutton's Rolling Mill where Morrisey worked. He went to Balfour's home claiming his wages were short. Balfour was the assistant manager and he promised to see the cashier. But this didn't satisfy Morrisey, who pulled McTear off the doorstep and struck him in his chest and face.

SHERDLEY ASSAULTS – On September 23rd 1851, William Cooke was given a fine of £5, including costs, for trespassing upon Sherdley estate land and severely beating farmer Thomas McFarlane, who'd ordered him and his friends to leave. On August 17th 1864, Samuel Mee from Sutton appeared in court accused of knocking down and giving a black eye to Samuel Leach, Michael Hughes's gardener at Sherdley Hall. Leach had made a citizen's arrest on a man trespassing in Sherdley Park and glassmaker Mee took it upon himself to free him. He was fined £1 3s. 6d., including costs, for his assault.

ASSAULTING A CHILD – On August 17th 1885, criminal proceedings were begun against 58-years-old Joseph Webster for assaulting a four-years-old girl. He was determined not to have the shame of a court appearance, so later that same day he climbed over a fence at St.Helens Junction. Webster then lay on his back, nestled his neck to the rails and waited for a train. He was instantly killed and his body was caught by the life guard of an engine and carried fifty yards down the track.

ILLEGAL SEIZURE OF A WRINGER – On November 28th 1894, George Robinson Harding and his wife Elizabeth sued William Hughes at St.Helens County Court for £10 damages alleging trespass and illegal seizure. Hughes of Junction Lane was described as a wringing machine and cycle maker and he and his staff had forcibly entered the Peasley Cross house of the Hardings to reclaim a wringer. After a lengthy hearing, the defence claim that the machine had been lawfully seized under a hire agreement was accepted by the jury and the plaintiffs lost their case.

DESERTING HIS FAMILY – On October 19th 1897, George Johnson of Peasley Cross pleaded guilty to a charge of deserting his family and leaving them chargeable to the Prescot Union. His wife and two children were left in a destitute condition and had to be admitted to Whiston Workhouse, where they had been kept at a cost of £16 16s. Johnson was sent to prison for two months.

INSANITARY MILKMAN – On October 2nd 1896 Peter Almond, a milk dealer and cow keeper of 20 & 22 Manor Street, appeared in St.Helens Police Court for having insanitary premises. Sixteen pigs, a cow and a horse were kept close to where Almond stored his milk. Medical officer Dr. Robertson, who'd carried out an inspection, told the court that there was a "horribly foul odour" and a midden filled with manure in the yard. Almond said that the description of his premises was "nothing but lies" and on being fined £4 or a month's imprisonment said he'd take the month. On March 15th 1897, Almond was charged with selling milk adulterated with water, for which he pleaded guilty and was fined £8 plus costs. Twenty-two years earlier, on September 30th 1875, Bold farmer John Pemberton had been fined £10 for selling milk containing 26% of water.

SAVAGE ASSAULT – On February 1st 1864, Sutton glassmaker Michael Glover was charged with a savage assault on Joseph Harrison in which seven of his teeth were knocked out. After hearing that a fight had taken place in a beerhouse after a gambling dispute, the magistrates dismissed the charges.

DRUNKEN CYCLIST – On January 19th 1934, John Ernest Parsonage used "strong language" when P.C. Hurst pulled him and his bicycle from the path of a double-decker bus in Marshalls Cross Road. So reported the constable when Parsonage appeared at St.Helens Police Court charged with being drunk in charge of a pedal cycle for which he received a fine.

ASS BEATING – On February 29th 1856, the Liverpool Mercury reported the following: 'On the information of the Rev. Mr. Vallancey, of Sutton, Demetrius Laurenson was fined 20s. and 6s. 6d. costs for cruelly beating his ass with a stick'.

BLINDING A FARMER – On April 17th 1882, Bold farmer James Pemberton appeared in St. Helens Police Court charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Thomas Lowe. On Saturday night the 18th March, Lowe of Maypole Farm in Bold had enjoyed a few drinks in the Wheatsheaf Inn. Pemberton was also drinking there and he followed Lowe when he left the pub, which was then situated in Lionel Street. While passing through a ploughed field, Lowe heard running footsteps immediately behind him. The farmer was in the act of turning round, when he received a hard blow to his right eye and was knocked down to his knees. Lowe was confined to bed for a fortnight and lost the sight in his eye. The St. Helens bench committed James Pemberton for trial at Liverpool Assizes where he was convicted and fined £25. Then on August 2nd, Lowe took out a civil suit against Pemberton and a jury granted him £150 damages.

HORSE THIEF JAILED – On January 16th 1884, 42-years-old carter Frederick Anson was found guilty of stealing a horse from 68-years-old Elizabeth Wigglesworth's 81 acre farm near Sutton Road. He also took a harness and as he had previous convictions, Anson was jailed for 10 years.

RUNAWAY APPRENTICE – On July 19th 1897, John McCovey appeared in St.Helens Police Court for failing to carry out his apprenticeship indentures. The youth, who resided in Appleton Street, was employed at Cannington Shaw but had left to enlist in the army. The youth had claimed when he signed up that he wasn't apprenticed and at Warrington had been given 14 days in prison for the falsehood. Now in the St.Helens court, McCovey's employers asked for the case against him to be adjourned for a month, so he could attend to his work. The bench pointed out that apprentices were compelled to perform their duties. If McCovey failed to do so, there would be serious consequences for him. Then on June 27th 1898, another Cannington Shaw apprentice, James Lowe, was charged by the bottlemakers with "neglecting his work" and was sent to prison for 7 days with hard labour.

BATHING FINES – On May 30th 1884, what were described in the Liverpool Echo as "eight small boys" were each fined 7 shillings for bathing in ponds at Sutton and Parr. Then on July 11th, thirteen boys aged between 8 and 14 years were summoned to appear in court. The eleven who appeared were charged with bathing in the pond at Sutton's Rolling Mill and in a brook at Dentons Green Lane. They were each fined 1 shilling and 6s 6d costs, apart from the two who didn't show whose fine was 2s.

A FEROCIOUS DOG – On April 29th 1898, Thomas Lowe of 8 Reginald Road was charged with keeping an unmuzzled ferocious dog. Twelve-years-old Ralph Cleworth of 227 Robins Lane told the court that the dog had bitten him and thirteen-years-old Albert Lowcock said he'd been bitten by it at the end of January. As it was claimed that the boys had teased and even stoned the animal, the charge of ferocity was dismissed. However the owner was fined 5s. for not muzzling the dog and was warned by the magistrates to keep it fastened up in future.

SLANDER IN SUTTON – On September 22nd 1884, Margaret Lewis and Mary Galvin from Victoria Buildings in Sutton were summoned by Jane Bradbury of Blinkhorn's Row for slander. On the previous Wednesday night the complainant had visited a shop kept by a man named Clarke. She told the court that he had grabbed her by the waist after his wife had left the shop but she had pushed him away. Next day Bradbury heard that Lewis and Galvin were telling neighbours that she was "guilty of gross improprieties" with Clarke, which they repeated to her face. In court the single woman admitted that she had had three illegitimate children by one man. It was argued by the defence solicitor that this was a case for the High Court and not for the magistrates and the summonses were dismissed.

BEGGING IN MARSHALLS CROSS – On March 8th 1898, Thomas Goulding and James Reynolds appeared in court charged with begging. P.C. Littler told the court that on the previous evening, the pair had stopped several women in Marshalls Cross Road and asked them for money. When they refused, Goulding and Reynolds had used bad language to them. They were each sent to prison for a month.

ILLEGALLY MOVING SWINE – On June 10th 1898, Peter Woods and Elizabeth Bold appeared in court for breaching the New Movement of Swine Order. Woods had been seen by Sergeant Jackson on June 1st driving a cart containing a pig along New Street without a licence. The order had only come into force five days earlier. So the magistrates dismissed the charges against Woods and fined Mrs. Bold, his employer, just 2s. 6d. The order was introduced to restrict the spread of swine fever.

CYCLING IN SUTTON – On March 28th 1898, William Derbyshire, a well-known St.Helens cyclist, was fined 5s. for riding along the footpath on Marshalls Cross Road. Derbyshire had previously been fined 10s. for "furiously riding" his bike.

DRUNK IN CHARGE OF A HORSE AND LURRY – On January 17th 1898, farmer John Almond was fined 9 shillings for being drunk in charge of a horse and lurry. The latter was an alternative spelling for lorry, which in those days meant a four-wheeled wagon without sides. Almond, who lived at Brookfield Farm in Sutton, had been arrested by Sgt. Jackson on the previous Saturday after coming out of a pub in Peasley Cross Lane. He was very drunk and P.C. Adams said he "behaved like a madman".

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – On August 15th 1884, George Parish of Moss Nook in Sutton was summoned for assaulting Violet Ringrose. She'd lived with him for 9 years and they'd had 6 children, despite not being married. Four days earlier Parish had returned home and after exchanging a few words with his common-law wife, threw her out of the house. He then slung a brick at Violet which struck her between the shoulders. Parish didn't show up in court and the magistrates warned that a summons would be issued.

CHILD NEGLECT – On December 18th 1896, chemical labourer Henry McLoughlin and wife Mary of Appleton Street appeared in court charged with child neglect. There was just one bed in the house for the couple and their six children and the only furniture was a small, round table plus a stool. The children and their clothing were infested with vermin and the latter was "hanging in shreds". When the NSPCC had arrived at the house, they found the couple were drunk. The bench said it was a "dreadful state of affairs" and they sent the McLoughlins to prison to serve three months each.

MUTTON STEALING – On November 4th 1884, a young married woman called Sarah Heyes was fined a guinea for stealing 1½ lbs. of mutton from Sutton butcher's Frederick Fletcher. "I must be guilty. I had had some beer, and did not know what I was doing", she told the court.

MARRYING IN HASTE – On October 1st 1884 in St.Helens County Court, William Brownbill of Sutton sued Stephen Ramsdale, his nephew by marriage, for £5. The plaintiff was described as an old gentleman who had retired from business and was a friend of the younger defendant. He'd lent Ramsdale the money eight months earlier and he gave £4 of it to his fiancé who purchased a wedding dress and a ring. The newly-married couple soon separated which led to the dispute over the loan. In a report in the Liverpool Echo entitled 'Marrying in Haste to Repent at Leisure - Extraordinary Case at St.Helens', it was explained that this was a re-trial and the Judge ordered Ramsdale to repay Brownbill £1 a month.

HATCHET ATTACK – On December 17th 1895, Alphonsus Eden was charged at St.Helens Police Court with assaulting John Pennington, a manager at the British Plate Glass Co. at Ravenhead. He struck him with a hatchet at night while Pennington was making his way home. Eden had worked for the glass company but had decided to quit a couple of weeks prior to the assault. He later asked Pennington for his job back but the company had already taken on a replacement. However Eden was promised that work would be found for him at the first opportunity. This didn't satisfy him, so he carried out the assault for which Eden received two months in prison with hard labour.

MURDER IN ROBINS LANE – On October 3rd 1924, 23-years-old Frederick Ernest Sneyd battered to death his aunt, 43-years-old Agnes Roberts, at her Robins Lane home. The unemployed labourer had been living in the house for some years and after committing the murder wrote a suicide note and took poison. Colliery fireman John Roberts made the grisly discovery of his wife and nephew's bodies upon returning to his home at 3pm.

COAL STEALING – On February 10th 1863, two children named Bernard Woods and Catherine Killooley, as well as adults Mary Fagan and Ellen Killooley, were charged with stealing coal from wagons at Ravenhead Colliery. The children were considered instruments of the others and discharged but the two adults were given 3 months hard labour. On October 5th 1894, Elizabeth Dudley and two girls named Mary Ellen Cain and Mary Cairns appeared at St.Helens Police Court charged with stealing coal from Phoenix Colliery. The magistrates criticised the arresting officer, P.C. Hall, for being in plain clothes saying: "We do not think it is a proper thing for the police to go there and wait and catch them in a trap". The three offenders were fined 2s 6d. each, having already spent a night in the police cells. On April 7th 1902, Charles Glen was fined 20 shillings for stealing coal from a Lea Green colliery siding. It was stated that over £100 of coal was stolen in this way from Lea Green over the last year.

SPEEDING BIKERS – On June 1st 1938, neighbours Harold Howard and William James Fletcher of 113 and 115 Robins Lane, respectively, were each fined 10 shillings in Tamworth Police Court. The Sutton lads were on a day trip to the town and riding on separate motorcycles when they broke the speed limit. Howard's excuse that he was following his pal and as he didn't have a speedometer didn't know he was speeding, fell on deaf ears!

FOOTBALL FINES – On April 26th 1889, three Sutton lads, Charles Smith, John Gilleney and George Stirrup, were summoned for damaging Farmer Lewis's field. They'd been playing football with about 23 other boys and the Sutton farmer claimed they'd destroyed his grass. They were fined 6d each and 7s. 6d. costs. What their fathers had to say about it isn't recorded!

CUNNING THIEF – On August 12th 1911, 25-years-old Patrick Blaney of Sutton Heath Road pleaded guilty to offences under the Prevention of Crimes Act. The Chief Constable of St.Helens declared him one of the most cunning thieves he had dealt with. Blaney had been found at midnight by Constable Taylor on a shed at the back of a pub with his stockings and clogs off. His excuse that he was trying to get into a yard to get some sleep, cut no ice. Blaney had ten previous convictions and was sent to prison for twelve months.

VAGRANCY BY A CHILD – On October 14th 1865, nine-years-old Ralph Rigby and adult James Makin appeared in Liverpool's County Magistrates Court charged with vagrancy. The boy was from Sutton and his father was employed in sinking pits in the township and was described as "miserably poor". The father told the police that the child had been missing for three months and was thought to have been abducted. Young James had apparently been begging in the St.Helens district. Makin was sent to prison for three months and the boy was remanded to jail while the magistrates decided what to do with him.

PC BEATS UP HIS INSPECTOR – On November 17th 1913, P.C. William Weaver of Mill Lane, Sutton appeared in court charged with assaulting Inspector William Jackson who was in charge of the Sutton district. Jackson lived in the police house and has previously been referred to as Sgt. Jackson on this page in the years before his promotion. On the previous Saturday night at midnight, the inspector had found the constable on his beat "in a condition which led him to think he was not fit to do duty." He instructed Weaver to return to the police station in Sutton Road but instead he assaulted him, breaking the inspector's nose and putting the 48-years-old in St.Helens Hospital.

CLOCK FACE CHILD NEGLECT – On March 17th 1914, John Thomas Morgan and his wife, Louisa, were sent to gaol for six months for neglecting their children. The couple rented a bedroom in Jersey-street, Clock Face, and their two boys aged seven and eight had not been able to leave the room for more than two months as they had no clothes to wear. There was only an old filthy bed in the room which they shared with three siblings and their parents.

SMASHING SCHOOL WINDOWS – On June 4th 1894, young lad John Fenny appeared at St.Helens Police Court for smashing some of the windows of the Ravenhead Schools. These had been run by the London and Manchester Plate Glass Company who had closed the schools two years earlier. Out of 36 window panes, there were only three that were intact. Fenny wasn't the only offender but he was the one who was caught in the act by P.C. Adams and received a fine of 7s 6d. which included damage and costs.

CRUELTY TO A PIT PONY – On May 10th 1875, pony boy Patrick Jennings was fined 2s. 6d. plus costs for sticking the hook of a safety lamp into the body of a pony at Ravenhead Colliery. On August 29th 1892, collier Joseph Carey was fined 20s. for blinding a pit pony down Phoenix Colliery. He'd deliberately thrown a piece of coal at the animal which was hauling a train of boxes. It was pointed out in the court hearing that the value of the pony had dropped by £3 through its injury.

INNOCENT MAN CLEARED – On November 24th 1903, Aaron Triolett appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with stealing tools from a cabin in Sutton Road belonging to Thomas Baxton. Two witnesses said Triolett had sold them the tools but Edwin Davies, superintendent of Sutton Oak Sheds, gave evidence that at the times of the theft and the sale, the accused was working in the sheds. The bench in dismissing the charge said that the police ought to have investigated a bit more carefully.

SLAVE LABOUR IN SUTTON MOSS – On March 1st 1901, the Lancashire Moss Litter Company were prosecuted for employing 7 women and 2 girls out of prescribed hours. It was said that some girls worked at the company's premises in Sutton Moss until 2am. However, most women worked from 6.30am until 9pm for which they only received 1s. 2d. per day, less than 1½d. per hour. Although none of the company's employees had complained about their hours or wages. The firm was fined £9.

FEMALE PICKPOCKETS – On September 17th 1862, three "fashionably attired females" were charged with picking pockets in Sutton and St.Helens. It was alleged that the gang had stolen a purse containing two £10 notes and a sovereign from a Rainford woman who was shopping in St.Helens market. The three women from Manchester were arrested at St.Helens Junction station and Sutton beerseller Mrs. Marsh also claimed that the trio had robbed her of 4s. 2d.

SUTTON SLANDER – On July 29th 1886, Mary Critchley received £5 damages from Edward Brownbill for slander in the Nisi Prius court at Liverpool Summer Assizes. 43-years-old Mary was the wife of bricklayer William Critchley, whose uncle Edward lodged in the couple's home at 148 Robins Lane. The plaintiff said that 79-years-old Brownbill had made allegations to her husband of "immoral conduct" by her, although the retired farm worker denied saying anything. In fact the defence argued that the couple had colluded to get money from Brownbill after he'd changed his will. Critchley had demanded £200 damages but had to make do with a fiver.

FEMALE THIEF – On May 4th 1883, 36-years-old Catherine Walker was found guilty at Liverpool Assizes of stealing some property belonging to Emma Holmes at Sutton. This comprised a purse containing 5s 6d, a pair of earrings and a pawn ticket. Reinforcing the suggestion that women in court could be treated much more harshly than men, Catherine was sentenced to 18 months hard labour.

MINE SAFETY – On December 29th 1890, colliers Edward Briers, Henry Atherton and James Molyneux were prosecuted by their employers at Sutton Heath & Lea Green Colliery for failing to "set sprags and holing props". The manager Mr. Pennington had gone down no. 1 pit's potato delf mine on December 16th where he'd discovered the alleged safety failings. Pennington did though admit in court that it had been 2 years since he'd been down the pit and the three colliers claimed they'd worked the mine in the same way throughout that period without accident. Their solicitor characterised the prosecution as "disgraceful" and the miners were each given nominal fines of 2s. 6d. plus costs.

SUING FOR RENT – On 2nd April 1884 at St.Helens County Court, Miss Eden Haslam of Sutton sued Mrs. Elizabeth Hyatt for £13 8s. 10d. This was for rent arrears from the late Miss Fairhurst who had been the tenant of Miss Haslam's house. She died owing the rent money but left £55 worth of property. Mrs. Hyatt, who was the executor of her will, had spent £25 of it on the funeral. The judge T.P.E. Thompson made an order for immediate payment of the debt but criticised the cost of the burial, saying it was a "sad waste of money", adding that Miss Fairhurst should have been cremated.

THREE IN A BED – On March 28th 1854 at the fortnightly petty sessions at St.Helens Town Hall, lodging house keeper William Abernethy of Bold was fined 2s. 6d. with costs for allowing on the 15th instant three persons to sleep in a single bed.

STREAKING SUTTON SINKERS – On July 10th 1855, pit sinkers Reece Davis and Thomas Richards were fined a shilling each for obstructing the highway by "running a race in a state of nudity".

ON A VIOLENT SPREE – On May 9th 1854, Sutton butcher Richard Baxter was charged with assaulting John Latham, butler to George Tomlinson. It was an unprovoked assault in the street when Latham was returning home at 11pm. Baxter struck him, tore his clothes then clasped his hand around Latham's mouth so his screams wouldn't be heard. However PC Mather had heard him call for help and came to his rescue. Baxter told the constable that it was just a "spree", but the bench fined him £2.

DANGEROUS AMUSEMENT – On August 7th 1897, eight Sutton boys called William Butler, Alfred Barton, Francis Byrne, Henry Pennington, Robert Grice, Stephen Pepper, William Flint and Harold Wilson were caught by Sergeant Jackson pushing bricks down a disused pitshaft at the old Sankey Brook colliery. This was owned by the London & Manchester Plate Glass Company. In a Liverpool Echo article entitled 'A Dangerous Amusement at St.Helens', it was revealed that the "batch of boys" were each fined 2s 6d.

STATE OF TERROR – On October 1st 1897, William Higham of Worsley Brow was charged with persistent cruelty to his wife. It was claimed that she'd been in a "state of terror" for years with her husband regularly threatening her with a knife. She was so affected that she had been taken into Rainhill Asylum for two months.

FAMILY FENCES – On July 2nd 1915, domestic servant Lily Knapper of 367 Sutton Road appeared in court charged with stealing a gold chain and two £1 notes from the house of her employer. He was butcher James Fletcher and Lily gave 9s 3d of her ill-gotten gains to her mother. The latter was fined £1 7s and the girl was bound over for 3 years. Then on January 22nd 1916, Maud Beirne of 1 Edgeworth Street, Sutton was sent to prison for 3 months with hard labour for receiving stolen goods from her 10-years-old son Gilbert and a boy called Unsworth. The pair had been on a nicking spree from local shops. The chairman of the St.Helens magistrates said it was the worst case of receiving he had known and the sentence was nothing like Beirne deserved. Four months earlier Gilbert's 15-years-old sister Mary had been sent to a reformatory for 3 years for receiving stolen money from her friend Eliza Davies. The girls had used the money to visit Manchester where they were arrested after behaving in a "depraved manner". Maud Beirne had been given 10 shillings of the stolen cash and had been fined 39s 6d. Then on April 26th 1917, Ellen Barratt of Sandon Street was given 3 months for receiving 28 skirts stolen by her step-daughter.

FLOODED FIRELIGHT MAN – On January 10th 1916, Sutton Moss firelight merchant Walter Barrow appeared before St.Helens magistrates for using a cart without his name on. P.C. Robinson told the bench that the words 'Sutton Moss' were on the cart but the name had gone. Barrow interjected that there is "More than that gone. We have been nearly washed away down at Sutton Moss. We have been just the same as Robinson Crusoe on an island". The constable who served the summons said there was three feet of water in Barrow's house. The firelight man was fined half-a-crown to add to his troubles.

A SAVAGE POKER ATTACK – On October 11th 1864, brothers John and Samuel Woods were charged with attacking James and Mary Brown of Watery Lane, Sutton with a poker. After the drunken pair had assaulted a number of passers-by in the street, 30-years-old James Brown remonstrated with them. The brothers, who lived at their Dad's beerhouse in Watery Lane, followed Brown home and then burst through his front door. They picked up a poker and struck Brown's wife on the forehead inflicting a severe wound. They then hit her husband on the head, cutting it badly. John Woods, a 20-years-old coal miner, was later fined three guineas.

PUPPY PINCHING IN CLOCK FACE – On February 9th 1916, soldier John Martin was sent to prison for two months for stealing a prize-bred fox-terrier from the Clock Face Hotel. Martin had brazenly entered the hotel yard and walked off with the puppy.

EARLY OATS – On August 9th 1918, farmers John H. Heyes of New Street and Robert Kinnell of Lea Green appeared in court charged with cutting oats before they were fully matured. They both stated that they had deliberately sown them alongside other crops on their farms for use as fodder for their horses and didn't realise it was illegal. The bench said it was a serious offence but would only impose a nominal fine of 10 shillings each as a warning to all farmers.

UMBRELLA STEALING – On July 18th 1916, 10-years-old Alice Richards of 44 Walkers Lane appeared in court charged with stealing an umbrella from the cloak room at Sutton Manor Mission Room. The girl's father was fighting in France and her mother was employed at the 'blue' works. The Chief Constable told the court that as a result Alice and her siblings were not under proper control. The girl was put on probation for three years.

RECIDIVIST OFFENDER – On November 1st 1897, Michael Finnan made his 73rd appearance before St.Helens Police Court. He was charged with being drunk and disorderly and assaulting PC Littler. He was arrested by the constable in Appleton Street, Peasley Cross, where he was breaking windows with a poker. On the way to the Town Hall Finnan called out to some men "Will no one come and help me to lay on this policeman? We will kill him, and put him in the canal". He was fined 10 shillings for being drunk and jailed for a month for the assault.

BIKE KLEPTOMANIAC – On June 29th 1916, 17-years-old Ralph Ashcroft of 8 Graces Square, Sutton was sent to prison for three months for repeatedly stealing bicycles. One of his thefts was a bike belonging to Robert Baxter of Burtonwood which had been left in a shed at Bold Colliery. Ashcroft sold the bike for 10s. using the name of a youth employed at the pit. The latter was visited by the police but was exonerated by the stolen cycle's buyer. Ashcroft had two previous convictions for bike theft and had been discharged from the 3rd South Lancashire Regiment for being under age.

BUSTED BOOKIES – On April 28th 1916, two pairs of bookmakers were separately charged with using the Commercial Athletic Football Grounds at St.Helens Junction for the purpose of betting. At a sports event on Good Friday, the police had seen Thomas Hanson standing on a platform of bricks and wood which raised him 7-8 inches off the ground. Albert Cunningham was seen stood beside him doing the clerking. However Hanson claimed that he suffered from rheumatism and was not trying to make himself conspicuous to the crowd. He was simply standing on the platform to avoid getting his feet wet! The pair from Manchester were found guilty and Hanson was fined £20 and Cunningham £10. William Haigh and Charles Harris from Liverpool were also fined £20 and £10 respectively. The police said that Haigh was using a square piece of iron and a railway sleeper as a platform to attract pundits. Another bookmaker who got into trouble was James Davies of Tennyson Street who was fined £10 on June 29th 1928. It was said in court that as the police were chasing him, Davies swallowed a betting slip.

A NOBLE DEED THAT BACKFIRED – On December 6th 1918, Thomas Coates licensee of the Bowling Green Inn and miner William Carey of Highfield Street, Sutton were each fined 10 shillings in St.Helens Police Court. They'd been collecting cash for some time to send to wounded soldiers at the front. There was no suggestion of impropriety, but the pair hadn't obtained a police permit and so were prosecuted.

A FOWL DEED – On September 19th 1864, Daniel Quail was sent to prison for two months for stealing two hens from Elizabeth Lamb of Sutton. Engine cleaner Joseph Finney saw Quail running out of an entry carrying a parcel. The cackling of the fowls inside the parcel gave him away.

IN THE DRINK – On August 9th 1915, Albert Newton of 1 Rolling Mill Lane, Sutton was charged with attempting suicide. The Chief Constable told the bench that Newton was "fond of playing the fool" after having too much to drink. After rowing with his wife, Newton had thrown himself into the reservoir, with his brother-in-law rescuing him. The 38-years-old boiler fireman at Sutton Copper Works had spent a week on remand but after promising the magistrates that he'd go tee-total, Albert was discharged back to his family.

JOY RIDERS – On August 1st 1918, two 15-year-old boys named Robert Greenall and George Whalley were each fined 11 shillings for driving horses and carts to the danger of the public. They had been spotted by Special Constable Ashall furiously racing abreast along Sutton Road. The Liverpool Echo court report was entitled 'Joy Riders', demonstrating that the term is not a recent one.

DOG VINDICATED – On December 8th 1915, a claim for £5 damages was brought in St.Helens County Court against Joseph Rigby of Cronton for a dog bite. The plaintiff was John L. Thompson, a youth living at 29 Bell Lane. He said he was in the road at Sutton Manor with a number of other lads when a load of furniture belonging to Rigby went past. The defendant then appeared swinging a heavy dog chain and after striking Thompson with it several times, his dog bit the boy severely on his leg. A number of witnesses said the dog was savage and had been set on Thompson by Rigby. The defence case was that the lads had been abusing the pony that was pulling the furniture lorry. This was accepted - seemingly without corroboration - by Judge Shand who said the dog only did what any dog would do. The headline in the Liverpool Echo read 'Dog Vindicated'.

TOLL GATE SCAM – On October 23rd 1868, Henry Huxley was sent to prison for a month for embezzling a total of 8 shillings from his employer. The latter named Wood had a confectioner's in Bold Street in Liverpool but lived in Lea Green. He often sent Huxley from the business to his home using a horse and van and on the way there were two toll gates. The toll charge for each was 4d but on many occasions the boy claimed back 8d for each toll that he had passed. His scam was uncovered when a tollgate keeper told Mr. Wood that his boy had forgotten to pay the charge on one occasion. The books were examined and the lad's fraud uncovered.

PAWNSHOP CENSURE – On March 4th 1915, domestic help Alice Handforth of 148 Berry's Lane appeared in court charged with stealing a gold watch and other articles from her employer George Butterworth of 122 Berry's Lane. The 17-years-old had pawned the items valued at £13 at Fletcher's Pawnshop. The chairman of the bench censured the pawnbroker for having "taken in pawn a gold watch from a girl like that without making enquiries." Fletcher's were ordered to return the items to Mr. Butterworth without payment. Alice - who'd threatened suicide - was bound over for three years on a £20 surety and a promise that she'd go to a home.

THE DANCING UNDERCOVER BOBBIES – On May 17th 1915, Ann Dugdale of 320 Sutton Road appeared in court charged with using a room in St.Helens for public music and dancing without a licence. The case hinged upon whether or not private dancing tuition was being offered - as Mrs. Dugdale claimed - as that didn't need a licence. Two undercover policemen, PCs O'Donnell and Garrett, had paid 9d each for dancing sessions to prove it was open to the public and tuition was not on offer. In fact O'Donnell turned up and took to the dance floor on three separate occasions. The magistrates were unable to agree on the matter and the case was adjourned for a retrial.

COAL ABSTRACTION – On December 30th 1867, Sutton pointsman Rowland Hill was sent to prison for a week at the St.Helens Petty Sessions for "abstracting" coal. Hill claimed that it was a custom for railway staff to help themselves when coal fell off wagons but the L & NW company disagreed.

SMOKES FOR TOMMY – On May 24th 1918, Margaret Hughes of Manor Street in Peasley Cross appeared at St.Helens Police Court after posting a parcel containing matches to her soldier husband. A box had ignited in a mailbag causing it to smoke. During the war the St.Helens Mayoress, Alice Bates of Sutton Hall, raised funds to buy tobacco products for soldiers abroad, known as 'Smokes for Tommy', although smoking mailbags wasn't quite what she had in mind! The magistrates fined Margaret 10 shillings.

FALSE PRETENCES – On June 23rd 1914, Sutton Manor Colliery haulage hand Matthew Jones of Robins Lane, Sutton appeared at St.Helens County sessions charged with fraud. The lad had passed himself off as 17½ when he was only 16½ and had even altered his birth certificate. This was so he would be paid a tanner a day more by the colliery company who brought the prosecution. The bench said it was a very serious case and fined the lad 30 shillings and ordered him to repay the 9s 10d that he'd been overpaid.

POKER PUNISHMENT – On October 15th 1917, Thomas Pennington of 154 Peckers Hill Road was bound over and ordered to pay the doctor's fee for striking his stepson Thomas Wild over the head with a poker. The latter had come home drunk and been quite abusive to his mother, so Pennington whacked him over the head.

ARRESTED HIMSELF – On January 9th 1914, Inspector William Jackson appeared in court as a defendant having reported himself for letting his house chimney get on fire. The 48-years-old lived at Sutton Police Station in Sutton Road with wife Emma and their three young children and was given a fine of 3 shillings. Chief Constable Ellerington jokingly asked the magistrates whether he should be given a month in prison if he didn't pay up.

RAT POISON ON THE SUNDAY JOINT – On October 26th 1950, John Joseph Walsh of Joseph Street, Sutton was sentenced at Liverpool Assizes to 5 years imprisonment on charges of wounding and attempting to administer poison. The 26-years-old labourer had entered Clara Joyce's house and spread rat poison over her Sunday joint, as well as on her teapot, tea caddy and on some cheese. Walsh had originally faced a charge of attempted murder as sufficient poison was applied to kill several people. He also hit Mrs. Joyce over the head with a piece of coal, after hiding in her backyard.

LOTTERY GOOSED – On December 18th 1914, Elizabeth Ann Jones, aged ten, of 5 Morris Street in Sutton, appeared at St.Helens Police Court charged with selling lottery tickets. Edward Roberts of 300 Watery Lane was charged with aiding and abetting by issuing books of "threepenny chances" in a Christmas draw for geese and other prizes. Chief Constable Ellerington claimed that if all the tickets had been sold, £160 would have been made. The defence claimed only 3 shillings worth of tickets had been sold and the magistrates dismissed the case upon payment of costs.

NO FREE FILLINGS – On April 27th 1914, Charles Bothel of 24 Woodcock Street in Sutton's 'Pudding Bag' appeared in court accused of failing to pay for his child to have teeth filled. The railway brakesman had signed an agreement allowing treatment by the school clinic but said he believed it was free. In fact there was a 1s. 6d. charge, less than he'd have had to pay if his child had gone to a private dentist. Bothel was fined 10 shillings plus court costs and the dental fee.

LITTLE SKELETON THIEF – On December 2nd 1930, an unnamed 6-years-old boy from Manor Street, Peasley Cross appeared in St.Helens Juvenile Police Court. The lad was charged with using a skeleton key to enter Holy Trinity Sunday School where he stole 9s. 6d. from four missionary boxes. He then disposed of the money in a pond, worried his mother might find out. The police discovered 17 skeleton keys in his home which the boy said his brother had found. The little lad was a member of the Sunday School and was put on probation for three years.

MOTHERS-IN-LAW TROUBLES – On March 23rd 1914, two men appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with separate violent acts that they blamed on their mothers-in-law. Bottle maker William Douglas of 207 Berrys Lane, Sutton Oak was charged with kicking his wife, breaking her ribs and then throwing her out into the street. His solicitor said he couldn't live peacefully through the influence of his mother-in-law. Collier Michael Mitchell was charged with striking his mother-in-law, Alice Stanley, over the head with a poker at the door of her home at 40 Sandon Street, Sutton Heath. His wife had walked out on Mitchell after he'd threatened her and so she went home to mother for protection.

INDECENT ASSAULT AT THE GRIFFIN – On October 15th 1884, Adam Miller, described as a "cripple", was charged with indecently assaulting 9-years-old Margaret Bickerstaffe. The little girl had been sent by her tailor father James to get some beer from the Griffin Inn in Peasley Cross. Miller was said to have taken Margaret into a room in the inn and then molested her. After hearing the evidence the magistrates reduced the charge to one of common assault. The solicitor for the defence said his client had muscular paralysis and sending him to prison would probably "terminate his existence". The magistrates sentenced MIller to two months hard labour.

CAT BURGLARY – On February 10th 1914, labourer Joseph Day was charged with stealing a Mackintosh coat and groceries valued at 10 shillings from the house of John Marsh, a commercial traveller of 434 Leach Lane. Marsh's 44-years-old wife Mary had heard a noise during the night but thought it was her cat. At 5am she found her back window broken and the house ransacked. Day, who had only just been convicted of stealing lead, was sent to prison for 28 days.

INDIA RUBBER MAT THEFT – On November 24th 1863, 12-years-old Mary Ann Dale pleaded guilty at the St.Helens Petty Sessions of stealing an india rubber mat. She took it from the Sutton Vicarage but made the mistake of trying to sell it at Sutton Grange, occupied by church warden William Pilkington. Mary's mother appeared in court with twins in her arms and promised to look after her daughter more particularly in future. The magistrates sent the girl to prison for two days.

ECHOES OF PREVIOUS THEFTS – On January 17th 1914, two Sutton boys, John Henderson of Powell Street and Charles Yates of Taylor's Row, were charged with stealing 82 copies of the Liverpool Echo. Parcels of the newspaper were placed on the platform at St.Helens Junction station at 5:30pm each evening. After papers had been stolen on three consecutive days, the district representative of the Echo kept watch and caught the lads red-handed. The magistrates fined the boys 5 shillings each, which they said their fathers would have to pay. The JPs added that they "hoped the parents would correct the lads properly".

NEST FOR THIEVES – On January 15th 1914, Thomas Buckley and his young son Thomas were charged in court with stealing 120lb. of lead from the disused Ravenhead Copper Works. This was described as being the property of the High Sheriff of Westmoreland. Chief Constable Ellerington said the father was "the biggest liar" the police had known. His family had given much trouble and his house had become a "nest for thieves". This testimonial did Buckley Snr. no favours and he was given 3 months hard labour, although the charges against his boy were dismissed.

SAD MOTORBIKE ACCIDENT – On June 23rd 1930, John Scott Gow, electrical engineer to the Nuera Silk Co. of Lancots Lane, was awarded £3771 (about £120,000 in today's money) in damages at Liverpool Assizes. The 24-year-old's motorbike was struck by a Rolls Royce at Cronton when returning from watching a football match at Widnes. Gow and his machine were dragged under the car and he was unconscious in hospital for 11 days. He suffered a fractured skull and leg and it was said in court that the young engineer would not be able to work again.

WEDDING NIGHT IN A POLICE CELL – On August 1st 1927, newly-married Denis Murphy and his friend Jerry Carrigg appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with being drunk and assaulting the police. P.C. Parr told the court that after Murphy's wedding two days earlier, a celebration was held in Herbert Street, Sutton. The festivities got "very merry" and ended in a fight and the police were called. Murphy obstructed the officers when they attempted to arrest his father, so the bridegroom spent his wedding night in a cell. Carrigg was fined £1 5s. and Murphy 15s.

SERIOUS STABBING IN BOLD – On December 11th 1893, Ellen Ellison of Tibbs Lane, Bold, stabbed Margaret Rimmer, severing an artery at the back of an ear. Ellison was in a state of shock while on remand and had fainted on more than one occasion in the cells. She was given bail but found guilty at trial on a charge of unlawful wounding and given six months hard labour.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS – On July 16th 1914, seven Sutton Manor lads, of around 8 or 9 years of age, appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with raiding the gardens and orchard of Rawlins Blue Works and stealing strawberries and other fruit. P.C. Woosnam had nabbed William Ashton of 22 Milton Street up a pear tree, having broken off a branch. The others in court were brothers Godfrey and John Crew, William Parr, William Guest and brothers Alfred and Richard Bebbington. The boys were fined 2s. 6d. each and bound over for a year, their parents having to pay the fines. The punishment that the fathers subsequently administered to their sons within their own homes, wasn't recorded, however! Incidentally in 1938, Richard Bebbington was killed down Sutton Manor Colliery.

ASSAULT WITH A SPITTOON – On December 3rd 1857 at Lancashire Winter Assizes, 25-years-old Irishman Patrick Gilfoyle was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with hard labour. The labourer had attacked James Critchley in Marsh's beerhouse in Sutton with a spittoon, striking him twice violently on the head. At the request of the landlord, Critchley had ejected Gilfoyle from the beerhouse but he returned with two friends seeking revenge. In December 1863, Gilfoyle was sentenced to a further 9 months in prison after wounding brothers Henry and William Smith at Sutton in a drunken street attack.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY – At 10:15pm on November 25th 1901, 23-years-old Margaret Harding of 34 Church Street (Woodcock Street from 1902) in Sutton's 'Pudding Bag', fled half-dressed across the railway lines to a neighbour's home. The terrified woman told her friend that the son of the landlord of the Golden Gross had been hammering at her door with another man, threatening to break it down. Margaret then brought a court action against the young man for making threats. However at the hearing a County Court bailiff called Clare gave evidence that he had been the party involved. Along with another bailiff, he'd called at Margaret's home to arrest her husband, Thomas, as the loco engine stoker had debts. This had so startled Mrs. Harding that she'd fled out of her back door over the railway, putting herself in great danger from passing trains.

MORE BAILIFF TROUBLES – On December 15th 1855, 32-years-old Edward Gaskell of Sutton was given 6 months imprisonment with hard labour at Lancashire Winter Assizes. He'd battered bailiff James Berry with a poker knocking him unconscious, after he'd gone to Gaskell's door to recover debts.

EMBEZZLEMENT AT THE COPPER WORKS – On August 21st 1846, Mathew Sherlock Hilton, an accounts clerk at Sutton Copper Works, was sentenced to six months imprisonment for embezzling £4 11s. after falsifying the wage bill. Unusually Judge Wightman at the Crown Court hearing at Lancashire Summer Assizes, mandated that Hilton must serve one week of each month in solitary confinement.

OUR GIDDY YOUTH! – On September 16th 1907, Leicester steeplejack John Akiens appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with allowing three of his ten children to "take part in a dangerous performance". Alfred aged 5, Gertrude 7 and Lydia 15 years, had scaled a 110 feet high chimney at Roughdales brickworks. Akiens said he trained his children to climb from the moment they could walk and was ordered to pay costs and bound over. One newspaper account bore the headline 'Our Giddy Youth'.

'NAGGING' WIFE'S NOSE BREAK – On May 9th 1899, Sarah Ellen Rotherham of Baker's Cottages in Bold, prosecuted her husband for breaking her nose after a quarrel. The defence pleaded in extenuation that Sarah had adopted a "nagging system" towards her husband and had been especially irritating on the day of the assault. He was bound over by the court.

EMBARRASSING COURT CASE – On March 11th 1899, John Rourke appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with threatening Agnes Critchley of Harrison Street in Sutton. Rourke had previously lodged at Agnes's home while working in Sutton and on February 27th had said he would "go to the gallows" for her. The court case was especially embarrassing for the former member of the Lifeguards as he was being considered for a vacancy on Liverpool Police Force. The magistrates ordered Rourke to pay the court costs, apologise to the complainant and promise not to repeat the offence.

THE IRISH ROPE TRICK – On March 13th 1899, William McCormick, who gave his address as "of Ireland", appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with begging in public houses in Sutton. McCormick told the court that it wasn't begging. He said he gave performances in which he tied himself with ropes and then freed himself. After each show he collected what people chose to give him. The magistrates were unimpressed and sent McCormick to prison for 7 days.

THE UNGRATEFUL TRAMP – On May 9th 1899, Peter Kelly, described as an Irish tramp, was charged at St.Helens County Petty Sessions with theft. He'd called at Heath House Farm in Bold and asked permission from some labourers to stay the night. This was granted and as the men went to bed, Kelly was allowed to sleep by a fire. The next morning two pairs of boots, a pair of trousers, a shirt, jacket and other articles belonging to Thomas Hopkins, Thomas Killarney and Patrick Glynn were found to be missing. Kelly was arrested at Widnes with some articles in his possession, the rest having been pledged at a pawn shop. He was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.

CHILD ABANDONMENT – On December 14th 1905, 30-year-old Letitia Preston was arrested at 119 Peasley Cross Road. Two days later she appeared in court in the Isle of Man, accused of abandoning her 3 week-old child in a garden in Douglas. The former singer and dancer at a St.Helens hotel, had left her child outside the home of a former employer after giving birth on the island. After hearing her evidence, the charge was reduced to causing unnecessary suffering and Preston was discharged on condition she left the Isle of Man and cared for her child.

THE LUCKY POACHER – On May 19th 1899, John Collins appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with poaching offences. Sergeant Jackson and PC Thomas had apprehended him at Marshalls Cross in possession of a long net and nine stakes on his way to Sherdley Park. However the law for a poaching conviction then required the offender to have come from private land where game was kept. Being nabbed by the police equipped and ready for "mischief" - as a magistrate put it - didn't count. So Collins was discharged and cheekily asked the justices for the return of his net and stakes, promising to destroy them. The magistrates were unimpressed and said he could instead watch the police burn them.

THE BURGLAR AND THE CURATE – On April 11th 1905, the Rev. Reginald Lane Wolkenberg, curate at All Saints, had his house burgled by Herbert Johnson. The thief emptied a missionary box of 3 shillings and also stole the curate's dinner jacket and clerical vest. These were worth £3 8s. and Johnson took them to Fletcher's pawnbroker's in Junction Lane. Johnson tried to pass off the clerical attire as his own, but the pawnbroker refused to believe him. A policemen was sent for but could not be found in time. So Johnson was allowed to leave the shop and he threw the clothing over a wall. However the police tracked him down and on May 15th at Liverpool Assizes, the 22-years-old from Fenton in Staffordshire was sent to prison for 12 months. This was for the Sutton offence and also for one committed in Stafford. By the time that Johnson was sentenced, Rev. Wolkenberg had moved to a new parish in Stockport.

THE ABSENT BOILER TENTER – On May 12th 1873, Thomas Carey - who was employed at Sutton Alkali Works as a boiler tenter - was charged with deserting his duty and leaving his boilers liable to explode. A tenter is the old name for a worker who watched over some machinery. Carey had been on the night shift and had been left in charge of three boilers but deserted them to get drunk. The night watchman heard a steam whistle and found the unattended boilers registering a high pressure of steam. Shortly afterwards Carey arrived inebriated but instead of attending to the boilers, lay down to go to sleep. The night watchman had to knock up an engineer to avert what could have been a disaster. The magistrates sent Carey to prison for a fortnight.

POACHING AT HIGH NOON – At 12 o'clock on Saturday January 27th 1844, two of Michael Hughes's gamekeepers heard gunshots coming from the Sherdley Park estate. They ran in the direction of the sounds and discovered three men, one carrying a gun. The poachers attempted to make their escape and struck one of the keepers. He retaliated by hitting his assailant across the head with the butt of his gun, which shattered its stock. A man who called himself John Hill was arrested but his two companions got clean away. A newly-shot hare was found in the prisoner's possession.

THE THIEVING CONJURER – On April 30th 1918, shell examiner and conjurer Thomas Wilson was sent to prison for theft. He'd stolen tools, oil and other material from the Sutton Bond munitions plant in Lancots Lane and Pilkington's Glassworks. Wilson's day job was with the Ministry of Munitions but he had also been a music hall act and regularly performed as a conjurer and entertainer at local events. His attempts at conjuring away the stolen goods proved unsuccessful and he was given four months hard labour.

BREAKING UP A HOME – On April 18th 1898 collier Lot Kitts appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with wife desertion and threatening his brother-in-law Edward Grice. It was alleged that Kitts had gone to his marital home at 71 Hills Moss Lane, Sutton with a number of friends and 'broke up the home', even removing scouring stones. Lot had left his wife Emma - who he had only married 9 months earlier at St Nicholas Church - and was now living at 9 Frederick Street with his parents. Kitts blamed his interfering mother-in-law for all the trouble. In 1904 he married Bridget Flannery and became one of a number of Sutton miners who renounced drink and preached at the Independent Methodist Chapel in Herbert Street, as well as on the streets of Sutton. Lot Kitts died in 1954 aged 77.

EGYPTIAN DISPUTE – On 29th September 1882 a row in Peasley Cross over Egypt led to John and Bridget Gahan appearing in St.Helens Police Court. They were summoned for assaulting neighbour Bridget Grey by pulling her hair and striking her repeatedly with a piece of ironstone slag. Later it was claimed that John Gahan had tried to strangle Grey until blood came from her nostrils and then had violently kicked her. The row began when the Gahans were celebrating the exploits of Sir Garnet Wolseley outside their home in Appleton Street. He was commander of the British forces in Egypt, who had been charged with suppressing the Urabi Revolt. The Catholic Gahans took exception to their discussion leading to an argument and alleged assault. The magistrates dismissed most of the charges through lack of corroboration, but did fine Bridget Gahan ten shillings. There was drama in the courtroom when witness Ann Dolan fainted in the witness box and had to be carried out of court.

PAEDOPHILIA IN SUTTON – On November 19th 1886, James Rowell from Marshalls Cross Road was sentenced to two years hard labour by Justice Day at the Liverpool Assizes. The 44-years-old labourer had sexually abused his 12-years-old daughter Hannah. At the same hearing 17-years-old factory hand William Holt was given the same sentence for sexually abusing Mary Louisa Blake, apparently of Graces Row (a.k.a. Square), Sutton, who was aged only nine. Newspapers that reported these cases tended to use the euphemism 'criminal assault' when describing the offence, rather than the actual charge of attempting to have 'unlawful carnal knowledge'.

THE UNINSTRUCTED MURDER WITNESS – On August 14th 1871,12-years-old John Gorse was cleared of the charge of drowning a young girl called Margaret Eden at Lea Green some eleven days earlier. During the evening in question, a farm labourer had seen the boy with Margaret and her six-year-old brother, and the latter claimed that Gorse had thrown his sister into a pit. However after initially remanding the boy in custody, St.Helens magistrates decided not to commit him for trial, as the child witness was perceived as being uneducated, or 'very uninstructed', as it was reported. Afterwards John Gorse embarked on a life of crime, committing two burglaries, stealing two trowels and a chisel from a building being erected at Micklehead Green and he also attempted to steal his mother's watch. On October 24th 1871, the boy was sent to prison for 14 days and then to a reformatory for 5 years.

TRANSPORTATION FOR ARSON – On April 2nd 1852 Thomas Kenwright, who was married with 7 children, was sentenced to be transported to Australia for 15 years for arson. On March 24th Kenwright was alleged to have set fire to a barn at Bold. This was in revenge for Henry Baker, his employer, scolding him for the careless manner in which he had fed his cows. It took over two years before the transportation took place. Kenwright finally set sail on the Ramillies on April 25th 1854, one of 277 convicts on the ship. Kenwright was recorded as being 50 when the boat left.

MISCARRYING MINER – On February 9th 1943 Sutton Manor collier Jonathan Price of 67 Tennyson Street was sentenced at Liverpool Assizes to three years in prison for ‘using an instrument for the purpose of procuring a miscarriage’. He also admitted similar offences in connection with nine other women. Justice Singleton told the 49-year-old that he evidently did not realise the risk that he had been running and he was lucky not to have been standing in the dock on a charge of murder or manslaughter. At a time when there was a social stigma in giving birth out of ‘wedlock’, many women turned to such individuals, who through one means or another, could assist a woman in deliberately miscarrying.

AN ILLICIT STILL IN SUTTON MANOR – On November 19th 1937 Jonathan Price was fined for keeping a still and making a 'spirituous wash' in Sutton Manor without an Excise licence. It was stated in court that such illicit production was a lethal menace to public health. Price only earned 34 shillings a week as a colliery worker but the prosecutor demanded a fine totalling £1000 to serve as an example. Instead the magistrates imposed a fine of £50.

FURIOUSLY DRIVING A CAR IN ROBINS LANE – On September 25th 1908 at St.Helens Police Court, Antonio Valenciennes was charged with 'furiously driving a motor car' – speeding in other words. The Swiss manager of a motor works at St.Helens Junction was said to have driven his vehicle as fast as 30mph along Robins Lane. His curious defence was that the car was only half-finished and to an onlooker would appear to have been travelling faster than it actually was. This didn't impress the magistrates who fined Valenciennes £5 and costs. In the 1911 census he was described as French not Swiss and 27 years of age.

IRA ASSAULT – On September 8th 1939, 23-year-old miner John Gordon, of 13 Harrison Street in Sutton, appeared in court charged with assaulting 44-year-old chauffeur Patrick Byrne of Dawson Street. The latter said he returned home from work at 11pm on August 26th when Gordon knocked on the door and said: “I hear you are a member of the IRA” and then struck him. Byrne told the court that he had no connection with the IRA and had served with the British Army for four years. Gordon told the court that he was in a pub when an IRA outrage was being discussed and somebody said Byrne had been in the bar saying that what the IRA did was right. The magistrates fined him £5 for the assault.

A DOG'S DINNER IN DINORBEN AVENUE – On September 4th 1963 Lennons Supermarkets was fined £5 in court after pleading guilty to selling wrongly-labelled food. Veronica Yates of Dinorben Avenue in Sutton had decided to have steak-and-kidney pudding for her dinner but after opening a tin, found it contained dog food instead. The firm told the court that the label had probably come loose and been mistakenly stuck back on the wrong tin. Mrs. Yates told the Daily Mirror: "I got a shock when I opened it. It really put me off. I don't fancy steak-and-kidney pudding any more."

CLOCK FACE WIRELESS PIRATE – That was the headline of a brief article in the St. Helens Reporter of June 23rd 1939 concerning William Sharrock of Crawford Street who was fined for 'working a wireless set' without a licence. William said he'd only had the set for two months and hadn't been near a post office to obtain a licence but had since acquired one. From the late 1950s, the term 'radio pirate' referred to illicit broadcasters but originally denoted those not having a receiving licence.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS – On Sunday February 26th 1939 the parents of three little boys in Sutton Manor dressed them for Sunday school and saw them leave their homes. However they detoured into the yard of Sutton Manor Colliery and smashed a number of windows and lamps. After appearing in court, the Chairman of the Magistrates ordered that their parents pay the cost of the damage but would not record a conviction against the boys, in case it hampered them in later life. Times were becoming more enlightened and St.Helens newspapers no longer stated the names of children who found themselves in court.

SINGING IN SOUTHPORT – On August 7th 1935 William Sparks of Reginald Road, Joseph Mather of Wood Cottage, Bold, and Robert Troillott were fined in Southport Police Court for making a ‘loud outcry’. They’d been on holiday camping by the shore at Ainsdale and had disturbed local residents by singing in Shore Road at 11.15pm. Sparks disputed the charge, telling the magistrates that he thought that there was a difference between a loud outcry and simply singing. In total eight youngsters were fined 2s. 6d. each, with the chairman of the Bench, Alderman Mawdsley, saying: “This business must cease…the fines will be heavier in the future”.

BRIBING A BOBBY IN BOLD – On August 22nd 1933, Harold Cave, a commercial traveller from Blackburn, was fined £5 for attempting to bribe a police officer. At 10.15pm on one evening, PC Miller spotted a car causing an obstruction in School Lane in Bold. In searching for the owner, the officer found Cave in some bushes in a nursery with a young woman, whose name he refused to reveal. It was alleged that Cave had pushed a 10 shilling note into the officer’s hands on three occasions saying: “I know what policeman are; here, take this ten bob; I won’t say a word”. The traveller was also fined 10s. for obstruction.

BEATING A WIFE ALL YEAR ROUND – On May 27th 1889 William Mort of 77 Frederick Street appeared in St.Helens Police Court charged with having assaulted his wife Alice. The 58-year-old labourer was said to have beaten her on one particular evening until she was black and blue and then again on the following three evenings. His 55-year-old wife told the bench that her husband beat her all year round but Mort denied ever striking her. The magistrates simply bound him over for three months to keep the peace. At a further court hearing four days later, Mort, who was now living in Windle, was ordered to pay his estranged wife a separation allowance of 7 shillings per week. During the hearing Alice told the bench that she regularly used to wake up in the middle of the night and find her husband’s hands on her throat.

INDECENCY IN WIDNES – On May 22nd 1939 at Manchester Assizes, 22-year-old miner James Ditchfield of Clock Face Road and 30-year-old fitter Ernest Pickering from Gorsey Lane, were charged with indecency offences. These were alleged to have been committed at a house in Widnes with two other men. Both were found guilty and Pickering was sentenced to six months hard labour and Ditchfield was given three months. These sentences could have been considered lenient, as a third man, Norman Astles, was sent to prison for 5 years. Homosexuality in Britain was illegal until the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967.

PERJURY IN A PATERNITY CASE – On April 15th 1943 miner John Thompson and Wilfred Darbyshire, both 24, were sent to prison for conspiring to pervert the course of justice and committing perjury. The charges at Liverpool Assizes arose out of a paternity summons brought by a woman against Thompson at St.Helens Police Court. Darbyshire, of Crawford Street in Clock Face, gave evidence that he had seen the woman ‘misconducting herself’ with another man. On the following day he went to her mother and admitted his statement was false and later sent a letter of apology. Detective Inspector Maddocks told the court that both men were of good character and Darbyshire was courting Thompson’s sister and had been persuaded to lie in court. Mr. Justice Stable told Darbyshire that he had the ‘manhood’ to realise what he had done and only sentenced him to four days imprisonment, which meant he was immediately released as he had previously been remanded in custody. However John Thompson, of Linton Grove in Clock Face, was sent to prison for 12 months.

FATAL FIGHT IN CLOCK FACE – On October 28th 1943, 33-year-old labourer James Hagan of Clock Face Road was cleared at the Liverpool Assizes of the manslaughter of his father-in-law William Thompson. On August 14th the pair had a heated argument outside the Clock Face Hotel. As Thompson began to take off his coat, Hagan punched him in the face and the 57-year-old fell heavily with his head hitting the kerb. Hagan helped his father-in-law home, where he died on the following day. Witness David Fenney of Clock Face Road told the jury that in his opinion Thompson was as much to blame as Hagan for having adopted a fighting attitude. The latter said in his defence that he’d twice declined to fight his father-in-law.

THE NEGLECTFUL APPRENTICE – On May 3rd 1889 Thomas Highcock of 59 Frederick Street was sent to prison for 7 days for neglecting his work. Highcock was an apprentice at Pilkington’s and had previously been in court in June 1888 when he was ordered to attend to his work. This often happened with apprentices who took days off. Their employers would summon them to appear in St.Helens Police Court where they were given a warning by the magistrates. If they were summoned for a second time, a short prison term would usually be given.

GBH AT BOLD NURSERY – On May 9th 1889 John Stead, the owner of Bold Nursery, appeared at Widnes Petty Sessions charged with wounding Charles Webster with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm. Webster was employed by Stead as a teamsman in charge of horses and on April 25th after a disagreement, his boss struck him violently on the head with a walking stick. This created a wound one-inch long and half-an-inch wide and for a while Webster was in a life-threatening condition. The 53-year-old Stead was committed to the Liverpool Assizes for trial and given bail. However the only further hearing that took place was the nurseryman’s inquest, as 5 days after the court case in Widnes, Stead committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, blowing out his brains. His nursery was quite extensive, encompassing 7 or 8 acres and Stead left a widow and six children.

SPEEDING ENGINEER – On February 18th 1916 Lewis Ogle – who was an engineer at a works at St Helens Junction – was fined £2 16s 6d for driving a motor car at a speed dangerous to the public and with having no red rear light. Ogle was supposedly travelling at over 30mph, as he journeyed through Peasley Cross to the Raven Hotel. He told the magistrates that it was quite impossible to travel at that speed on that stretch of road. After they had delivered their verdict, the unimpressed Ogle said: “Well, I will say good-bye to St. Helens. Thank you very much.”

A CUNNING THIEF – On January 13th 1917 Gladys Richards appeared in court charged with stealing items from the houses of people who had given her shelter. This was after her parents had thrown her out of their home in Gartons Lane in Clock Face. Superintendent Dunn told the bench that the young woman was a “cunning thief” who had been leading an “immoral life.” The magistrates placed Gladys on probation on condition that she went into a home. The young woman replied that she would rather go to prison.

FILTHY HOUSE PROSECUTION – On October 16th 1942 W. G. Gentry, chairman of the St.Helens bench, said: “We are absolutely appalled with the conditions described in this house”, when fining James Littler from Berry’s Lane. In September, under the Scabies Order of 1941, all the people in Littler’s house were ordered to submit to a medical examination but failed to do so. Sanitary inspectors had found the house filthy and workmen sent to undertake repairs refused to enter because of its condition. The prosecution was the first of its kind and on November 27th 1942 James Littler, Alice Holt and Elizabeth Carr were each sentenced to 14 days imprisonment for still refusing a medical examination.

HELPLESSLY DRUNKEN ON THE SHOW FIELD – On February 19th 1917 William White was fined £2 for advancing money to a woman for the purpose of obtaining drink. The labourer from Nelson Street in Sutton had given a Mrs. Woods some money and then took her into the Alexandra Hotel in Fisher Street. It was stated in court that later the woman had been found on some waste ground in a “helplessly drunken condition”, with her clothing “almost torn off her”. The waste ground would have been what Suttoners called the ‘Show Field’, which at various times of the year was inhabited by travelling show folk of all kinds, who put on circuses, animal shows, fairgrounds and boxing bouts.

THE PERILS OF BEING A POSTMAN – On December 28th 1939 Sybil Fairhurst from Boscow Crescent almost collapsed and had to be helped from the courtroom in a distressed condition when told by the magistrates that her dog had to be destroyed. Postman John Wilson had told the court that the animal had bit him in Waterdale Crescent and he had to have the wound dressed by a doctor.

THE DIRTY BEGGAR WITH FLOWING LOCKS – On April 12th 1941 William Lynch was sent to prison for 21 days for a “thorough wash and brush up”, as Alderman William Burrows, chairman of the St.Helens bench, put it. The Liverpool Echo wrote that when Lynch first appeared in the dock, he gave the magistrates a ‘bow that shook his long flowing locks and swept the dock rail with his beard’. Lynch had been arrested for begging in Sutton a month earlier and taken to Sutton Police Station. However he was in such a dirty condition that they didn’t want to keep him in the station. Instead Lynch – who had 51 previous convictions – was released and then summoned to appear in court.

PROSECUTION OF THE PECKERS HILL CO-OP – On December 23rd 1940 Henry Anders from Robins Lane, who was the manager of the Co-op butcher’s shop in Peckers Hill Road, was prosecuted for wasting food. The St.Helens Co-operative Society were also summoned for having in their possession meat unfit for human consumption, including some sirloin that had gone green. Anders was fined £5 and the case against the Society was dismissed.

FRAMING A BOBBY – On June 7th 1945 John Wafer from Bold Heath was sent to prison for four months at Liverpool Assizes for causing a public mischief. To account for timber missing from a yard where he was employed as a watchman, the 52-year-old had made up a story that he had seen Sutton PC Alf Hickson and a youth load a lorry with the timber and drive away. This led to Lancashire County Police conducting a time-consuming investigation and eventually Wafer admitted his allegation was untrue.

AN EXPENSIVE PERM – On November 27th 1941 Maud George, the wife of a St.Helens police inspector, was awarded £23 13s 6d compensation on a claim for £30 made against hairdresser Joan Preston. Mrs. George had suffered burns to her neck, while 21-year-old Joan of 118 New Street was giving her a perm.

A WORTHLESS BIGAMIST – On April 13th 1943 at Liverpool Assizes soldier Edwin Addle from Castleford was sent to prison for 18 months for bigamously marrying 21-year-old Prudence Grice of Powell Street in Sutton. Addle, also 21 and a deserter from the army, had begun courting Prudence within weeks of getting married at Pontefract Registry Office. In passing sentence Justice Stable said: “You seem to be quite worthless. You are no good as a soldier and no good as a citizen…You treated this girl shamefully. Within a matter of weeks of marrying your wife you were courting this girl.”