WWI REMEMBERED Costly jam and jostling land valley folk before the justices

WHILE the same sort of offences have taken place since records began, it is interesting to see how crime has changed over the years, as well as how it is reported.

From the stranger incidents to the more familiar crimes that wouldn’t be out of place in the modern day, to the gruesome, here is a selection of what happened in the Rhondda during the First World War in November 1917 – 100 years ago this month.

All were reported by the Rhondda Leader.

The more offbeat crimes that month included big fines for Williams Rhodes, Sylvester Owen, William Tipple, Evan Williams and William Metear, after they were seen playing cards in a doorway in Gelli Road, and judged by Police Sergeant J Evans to be “money passing”.

Gambling was illegal during the First World War, and while the defendants denied playing, witnesses found cards in the possession of Metear.

Inspector Edward Jones said the police received “numerous complaints about this kind of things” on the main streets.

They all pleaded not guilty at Ton Pentre Police Court, but Rhodes was fined £5, Owen £3, Tipple £2, with Williams and Metear both fined £1.

One of the more unusual crimes saw three Tonypandy youths summoned for “wilful jostling”.

Ton Pentre Police Court heard concerns were raised after reports of the three trying “to trip up girls with a hooked walking stick” one Sunday night.

The report reads: “One of the defendants said that the stick in question was a ‘Charlie Chaplin sort of stick.’

“The Chairman: If we had Charlie Chaplin in this court we would probably have sent him to Cardiff.”

Two of the three boys told the court they earned £1 19s and £2 1s per week at the local colliery, and were told that, with those salaries, they could “buy the Charlie Chaplin stick” themselves.

The report said police received “numerous complaints of this kind of thing” in Tonypandy, and as a result, extra police had been deployed there on Sunday nights.

It concluded: “Windows had been smashed, and the police asked for the assistance of the bench in dealing with the matter.”

Two of the boys were fined £1, with the other dismissed on payment of 4s costs.

There were also a high number of prosecutions for food offences. This was hardly surprising given that rationing had been introduced in February 1917 to help with the war effort.

The paper reported Blodwen Jones, of Blaenclydach, was summoned for selling a packet of peas which did not contain the name and address of the seller, and which did not specify the weight.

Ton Pentre Police Court heard the defendant admitted the offence and pleaded ignorance, and ended up being discharged on payment of 5s in costs.

Husband and wife Hugh and Sarah Thomas also fell foul of the rules, and were jointly summoned for the sale of self-raising flour for 4d per pound instead of 3 1/2d.

Thomas pleaded ignorance and was fined 15s, while his wife was discharged.

George Norman, of Porth, was fined 20s for selling damson jam at 11d per pound, the fixed price being 9 1/2d. He admitted the offence.

Thomas William Abraham, also of Porth, was summoned for selling marmalade at a price exceeding that fixed by the Ministry of Food, while William Hughes and his wife, Lilian, were summoned for selling plum jam at 1s per pound, the price fixed being 9 1/2d.

As well as the more offbeat crimes, there were also those that would sound familiar given current court stories seen in the media.

The issue of fare dodging was present in 1917.

Trevor Evans and Edward Jones, two Llwynypia hauliers, were summoned for travelling on the Taff Vale Railway without having previously paid their full fare.

WG Spickernell, prosecuting for the railway company, called ticket collector Frank Bidland to court, who said the defendants on arrival at Tonypandy station showed tickets between Cardiff and Pontypridd.

They did not appear at court, but were both fined 40s.

The issue of theft from shops was also prevalent during the First World War.

Under the headline “Treherbert Boys in Trouble”, the Leader reported that in the juvenile court, three boys appeared charged with breaking and entering a shop in Bute Street, and stealing a quantity of cigarettes valued at 11s 3d.

The report said it came after PC Moore noticed a broken window in the shop owned by Mary Williams, and on closer examination, the cigarettes were missing.

The defendants pleaded guilty to stealing them, but not to breaking the window.

One of the more severe crimes of that month saw a police constable assaulted in Porth.

Lewis Morgan, who was from the town, was fined £5 for assaulting PC Coles. He was placed on probation, ordered not to enter a club or public