Morgan’s aeroplane works,
Leighton Road, Linslade 1917 [Z50/72/195]
Monday
9th September 1918: Henry John Hutton, of 27 Old Road, Linslade,
has been remanded at the Linslade Police Court for stealing firewood blocks
valued at five shillings from his employers, Messrs. Morgan and Company
Limited. The works director stated that although the company appreciated the
efficiency of the police in detecting the theft they did not wish to press the
case, as Henry Hutton had been in other respects a good worker and was a
discharged soldier. The wood was scrap and would sooner or later have been
given away to deserving people at the works or sold as firewood.
Police Constable Matthews
said that early in the morning on Thursday 5th September he had found a bag of
block firewood hidden in a hedge near the Linslade Pumping Station. He had
watched the bag until 11.50 a.m., when the prisoner’s ten year old son came
with a perambulator and took it home. The next morning, while watching the
works, he had seen Hutton come to a large heap of firewood, fill a bag, and
carry it across the meadow to the same place. When challenged he admitted
stealing the wood.
Hutton pleaded guilty and
said he was very sorry. He had been discharged from the Army in March and his
wife and children had been ill. There was a lot of wood lying about and he took
some as it was difficult to get fuel. The works director said Hutton was a very
good workman and of real value to the company, but as a matter of principle
they could not keep him on. Taking into account that he had lost both his
character and a good job, Hutton was fined ten shillings with fifteen shillings
costs.
Source:
Leighton Buzzard Observer, 17th September 1918
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