False Pretences at Newton Abbot: An Ingenious Fraud: Albert Lakin, a stranger to the district, was on Monday brought up on remand before Messrs. J. W. Ley (Chairman), and R. Vicary at Newton’s Abbot Police Court, charged with endeavouring to obtain the sum of £2 by false pretences from Mrs. Pinsent, 6, Devon-square, Newton, on the 22nd January. The evidence heard on the previous Thursday was to the effect that the prisoner called at Mrs. Pinsent’s house between 7.30 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday night. When she went to the door he said – “I have called for the settlement of your gas account.” She – “I can’t pay it, because there is some mistake about it.” She believed he then asked how much was due, and she said the amount was £5 6s. for three months. He then said: “I believe the Gas Company is robbing you. I could easily tell if you let me see.” She then asked if he was Mr. Clarke, the manager, and he said, with a Cockney twang, “My name is White.” He looked at the gas in the hall, and the dining room and said it was all right. She then got a candle, and the prisoner went down to the basement to examine the meter. When he was at the foot of the stairs, she asked him if it was all right, and he said: “You can see for yourself if you come and look.” P.C. Real then appeared on the scene. He had received a complaint that a man had been peddling in Courtenay Park and using abusive language. The result was he kept his eye on the prisoner and saw him offering bootlaces for sale in Devon-square. When the prisoner called at Mrs. Pinsent’s, the constable hid himself in the bushes and heard him tell her that he had called about the gas account. He also heard the subsequent conversation and, after the prisoner had examined the meter, and informed Mrs. Pinsent that there was no doubt the Gas Company had been robbing her, the constable took him into custody. A remand was granted to enable the police to make further enquiries and on Monday Prisoner elected to be dealt with summarily and pleaded not guilty. He preferred to make a statement and being sworn and pointed out the constable said he had him under observation for an hour and a half. He supposed that included half an hour that he was in a public house. The constable must have been dogging him about from house to house until he reached this particular one. When he got there Mrs. Pinsent asked if he were Mr. Clarke, and he replied, “No; I am Mr. White.” She then said that there was something the matter with the meter, and thinking that he could help her, he offered to see it for her. She lit a candle, opened the cellar door, and he, naturally, went. down. When he came up again the policeman was waiting for him. Nothing whatsoever was mentioned about money. Mrs. Pinsent had said that he deliberately went to the door and said he was the representative of Mr. Clarke, but he could say no such thing because he had not seen Mr. Clarke before. He had only been in Newton Abbot from 4 o’clock the previous day, having come there from Torquay, where he had been since just before Christmas. The next day he did not go out until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The Chairman: Both of the constables heard you say you had come about the gas account. Prisoner: But how could I particularly pick my house like that? The Chairman: The constable say’s you did and the other corroborates. Prisoner: Quite so; I have three against one. What can I do? I have a certificate to draw a pound for Militia pay, and a peddler’s certificate with two months to go: is it likely that I should go and chance my arm like that? I went to every house in the road with my basket on my back. I have ten years’ character in the 4th Battalion Gloucester Regt. The Chairman: It is no good making suggestions of that kind. If you thought you had a chance of getting a £5 note, you’d try it. Prisoner: I say a trap was laid for me and if I hadn’t taken the candle and gone downstairs there would have been nothing the matter. I stand here alone and have three witnesses against me. The Chairman: We think yours is a very ingenious attempt at robbery. We don’t know that the account was owing but you must have got some knowledge, and we shall mark our appreciation of it by sending you to prison for a month with hard labour. Prisoner: What about the peddler’s certificate? You are taking from me a pound due to me from the Militia, and most probably I shall get my discharge. The Chairman: You should have thought of these things before. We regret that. you have come to grief: Prisoner: I am going to prison for a thing I am quite innocent of. Prisoner was then removed.
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