Ptrince Albert 1950s

Folkestone Herald 7-7-1951

Local News

Seven Folkestone public houses were granted an ex­tension of licence on weekdays until 11 p.m. and on Sundays to 10.30 p.m. until September 30^th at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Mr. W.J. Mason, appearing for the applicants, said a simi­lar application had been granted to a number of hotels for the summer season and Festival of Britain. At East­bourne 44 applications of the same kind had been granted and 115 at Hastings. The ex­tension had been granted to all those who desired it in the other two towns.

The application was granted in respect of the Star Inn, Bouverie Hotel, Shakespeare Hotel, Guildhall Hotel, Prince Albert Hotel, Globe Inn, and George Inn.

Folkestone Herald 28-7-1951

Local News

During a heavy thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon, lightning struck a chim­ney stack at the Prince Albert Hotel, Grace Hill, damaging brickwork and the roof of the building.

Folkestone Herald 31-10-1953

Local News

Appearing on remand before Folkestone Magistrates on Tuesday, Walter Henry Todd was sent for trial at East Kent Quarter Sessions on November 16^th on three charges. He was charged with attempting to break into Wood`s Stores, Tontine Street, Folkestone, and further with stealing a raincoat, the property of Henry Nelson Williams, Prince Albert Hotel, and stealing articles valued at £3 8/11 from the Swan Inn, Great Chart, near Ashford.

Stanley Taylor, resident manager of Wood’s Stores, said early on October 20^th he found the top half of a window at the rear of the premises had been smashed near the catch and the window unfastened. The bottom half of the window was also smashed.

Henry Nelson Williams, licensee of the Prince Albert, Rendezvous Street, Folkestone, said on an evening in the last week in September he was serv­ing in the hotel. At about, 9.30 p.m. he went into the saloon and observed through the frosted glass win­dow a figure standing near the hallstand.  “I saw the figure move to­wards the front door”, he con­tinued, “and I opened the door of the hall and saw Todd with a raincoat over his arm. He had not been in the bar that evening to my knowledge. I asked ‘What the devil are you doing here?’ He ap­peared flustered and said `I have got the wrong coat`. I recognised the coat as my own, which I had placed on the hall stand. It was the only coat on the stand”. Witness said Todd handed back the coat, which was valued at £5 or £6.

Mrs. E. Watts, wife of the licensee of the Swan Inn, Great Chart, near Ashford, said she was serving in the bar on October 19^th. About 1 p.m. accused, whom she knew by sight, came into the bar. He left at about 1.45 and ten minutes later she heard a crash somewhere in the building.  Upstairs in her bedroom she found a wardrobe and a dress­ing table had been opened. An imitation pearl necklace, an ornamental hat pin and a brooch, together valued at £3 8/11 were missing.

P.C. Jenvey said at 10.15 a.m. on October 20^th he asked where he had disposed of the articles and he replied “I threw the necklace into the alley between the Brewery Tap and Stokes, Tontine Street. I cannot re­member what I did with the brooch”.

Folkestone Herald 21-11-1953

Local News

Sentence of five years’ imprisonment was passed on Walter H. Todd, 34, plasterer, at East Kent Quarter Sessions on Monday. Todd pleaded guilty to steal­ing, between September 23^rd and 30^th, a raincoat, valued £6, belonging to Henry N. Williams, licensee of the Prince Albert Hotel, Folkestone. He also admitted attempt­ing to break and enter Messrs. E.G. Wood’s store, at Folkestone on October 19^th, and, on the same day, at Great Chart, breaking and entering the house of Ena Watts and steal­ing imitation jewels and other articles, valued at £3 8/11.

Mr. J.H. Buzzard, prosecut­ing, said one day in September Mr. Williams saw through the frosted glass between the bar and his private hall a figure by the hall stand. He went out and saw that Todd had his raincoat over his arm. Mr. Williams said “What the devil are you doing? You have my raincoat”. He made Todd give it back and allowed him to go. Continuing, Mr. Buzzard said Mrs. Watts was the wife of the licensee of the Swan Inn, Great Chart, and at 1 p.m. on Octo­ber 19^th defendant was a cus­tomer in the house. When he left a few minutes later Mrs. Watts heard a crash and eventually found her bed­room window broken and a lad­der on the ground underneath. Todd was seen catching a bus.

That evening the police heard thuds from the rear of R.G. Wood’s Store in Tontine Street, Folkestone, and Todd was found there. He had broken two panes of glass, one above, and the other below a window catch.

D.C. Crane said Todd had a number of previous convictions. He had been to an approved school and to Borstal, and had had three years` corrective training. He served in the Army with a very good character from 1939-46 in North Africa, Palestine and Italy. It was not until 1948 he started committing offences. His trouble was drink. He was apparently a good worker earning good money, but he spent most of it on drink. When he was short of money he looked around for some means of getting some.

The Chairman (Mr. Tristram Beresford Q.C.) recalled that at Folkestone Quarter Sessions in 1947 he dealt very leniently with Todd in view of his Army record, but it did not seem to have been of much use. “The Prison Commissioners say the corrective training was of no use and has failed with you”, he added.

Folkestone Herald 20-7-1957

Local News

The value of a police officer’s uncorroborated evidence was vigorously attacked by defend­ing counsel in a lengthy case, involving the conduct of a local hotelier, at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday. The officer was P. Sgt. J. Robertson, who gave evidence against James Robert Booth, licensee of the Prince Albert Hotel, Folkestone, who, represented by Mr. John Gower, pleaded Not Guilty to selling intoxicating liquor outside prohibited hours.

Mr. R. McVarish prosecuted. The case was dismissed, the Chairman (Ald. N.O. Baker) stating that Booth would be given the benefit of the doubt. “We consider that the sergeant was quite right in bringing the case, and we compliment him on the way in which he gave his evidence”, the Chairman added.

P. Sgt. Robertson said that at 12.15 a.m. on May 31^st he was patrolling in Rendezvous Street and was passing the Prince Albert public house, when he saw a light in the lounge bar. He listened, and heard some excited voices from inside the lounge. The doors were closed, and a middle gate on the pavement leading to the bars was locked. He listened to an excited conversation and heard the following: “Will you have another before you go?”  “Yes, one more”. Another voice said “I must go now”, and still another voice remarked “Come on, we won`t be long now”. Witness, continuing, stated that he heard money passed, and then there was a mumbled conversation which he could not discern. He heard the clinking of glasses, and a voice said “Come on”. Then he heard “We must go”. He heard more money placed on the counter, and a voice said “Are you having one?” Witness, proceeding, said a door of the hotel opened and Booth came out, and looked up the road. Then a man, whom he now knew to be Sgt. Roberts, came out. Wit­ness went up to them quickly, and asked them to go back to the bar with him, which they did. A man named Moss was sitting at the end of the bar with his hand round a liqueur glass which contained liquid appear­ing to be similar to gin. Booth said "It is Bols Kummel, which I have brought for myself”. There were other people there, all standing, and on the counter was 5/9. Witness said he took particu­lars of all those present, and found that they smelt of alcohol. He said the facts would be reported to his Superintendent and Booth said “These are my friends. Roberts is being married on Saturday”. Witness asked if anyone there claimed to be a resident of the hotel, but none did so. Permitted hours for opening were until 10.30 p.m.

Cross-examined by Mr. Gower, witness said the place was “like a fortress” and the nearest he could get to the bar was a distance of eight to 10 yards. He did not agree that the lounge bar could be placed apart from the rest of the house by the drawing of a curtain.

Mr. Gower: How many times did you hear money chinking or passing?

Witness: Twice.

Mr. Gower: You found 5/9 on the counter? – Yes.

Are you really saying that where you were, eight or 10 yards away, through closed doors, you could hear the chink of money? – Yes, twice.

Witness said he could hear the excited voices, but he could not differentiate between them, and he could not hear anyone saying anything about paying for drinks.

Mr. Gower: Have you got a suspicious mind? – Yes.

You rushed past them into the house? – Yes.

Without asking permission? – Yes, I just went in.

You wanted to do something to justify your actions? – Yes.

You thought the drinks were being paid for? – Yes.

You did not think to look at the till? – No.

Did you ask Moss how he came to be holding the glass? – No. I did not think of it.

Mr. Gower: There were five men there, summoned for drinking after hours, and only one of them, Moss, you say you caught red-handed. Are you still saying that you cannot re­member how he came to be holding the glass in that way? Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you?

Witness: I am only concerned with the facts. He did not notice how many glasses there were in the sink. He could have done a lot of things, but he did not look for that, because he did not think it necessary.

Mr. Gower: You were excitable yourself and inclined to be aggressive? Did you say to Roberts “I will have you in the net”?

Witness: I do not agree that I said it, but it is a common expression used by police officers.

He was thinking of arresting Roberts for obstructing him in the course of his duty. He was drunk.

Mr. Gower: Why do you say he was drunk?

Witness said the man was not drunk, otherwise he would have had a charge preferred against him, but he was under the influence of drink.

Mr. Gower: Did you say you were the youngest sergeant in Folkestone?

Witness: I believe there was some conversation to that effect.

Mr. Gower: I don`t want to use the word “moonshine”, but was that said to impress them? You also said you had been in the C.I.D.

Witness agreed that he might have said so.

Booth, giving evidence, said he had been licensee of the Prince Albert for about 12 months. On the night of May 30^th he had five people in the lounge bar between 7.30 and 8, their names being Roberts, Moss, Cook, Evans and Harold. So far as the first three were concerned, he only knew them as people who came into the place, whom he had entertained upstairs and downstairs. He was told that Roberts was getting married on Saturday, and that Evans would be the best man. Defendant, continuing, stated that the men had two or three drinks, and said they were going, and he suggested that they should come back and have a drink with him about closing time. They came back at about 10 o`clock and had a drink each. At 10.30 he called “Time” and locked the place, and sat down in a corner of the bar, with the five men on the other side of the bar. Evans and Harold were drinking tomato juice, and the others had beer. He had a Kummel himself, but no money was passed. When the party was going to break up he went outside with Roberts to see if there was a taxi about, and P. Sgt. Robertson came in. There was no other glass on the counter, excepting the one containing Kummel, which he had drawn for himself. Not a penny was passed after closing time that night, and he regarded all those present as his friends.

Sgt. Terence M.J. Roberts, 14^th Field Regt., R.A., Barford Camp, Bayward Castle, Durham, whose private address was given as 1, Priory Gardens, Folkestone, said he was being married on June 1^st and Evans was to be his best man. On the night of May 30^th he was in company with the other men mentioned; it was a party before his marriage. They had been in the Prince Albert earlier in the evening, and were invited to return. He saw no money passed after closing time. Booth told them he would have taken them upstairs to his private rooms, but his children were ill and were under the doctor. “P. Sgt. Robertson had been anything but congenial from the word go”, witness added. “He said he was a young police sergeant; he was aggressive. Words were passed, and he said he would put me in the “cooler””.

Derrick Moss, of 13, Clifton Crescent, Folkestone, said the 5/9 on the counter was his part of the cost of a taxi he was going to share with Harold.

Leonard Cook, of 19, St. John`s Church Road, Folkestone, and Eric Harold, of 142, Sandgate High Street, both said no money was exchanged after closing time that night.

John Evans, of 4, Percy Street, Lincoln, said he was to be best man at Roberts`s wedding, and it was a bachelors` party. The landlord asked them to stay behind and be entertained by him.

Mr. Gower, addressing the Magistrates, said there was to be a ceremony which traditionally called for a celebration of the type of a bachelor party. No-one had suggested that Roberts was not married or that it was not a bona fide stag party. There had been seven witnesses in the case, and only one, whose evidence was uncorroborated, had tried to show that money was passed. Mr. Gower deprecated the suggestion that the chinking of money could be heard through a grille, then another grille, across a public bar and servery, and from behind a curtain. Could one hear the chink of money from that distance at that time of night? The police sergeant had al­ready told them that he had a suspicious mind, and when he saw 5/9 on the counter he immediately thought it was for drinks. Only one glass was on the counter, yet the sergeant had twice heard money passing in the 10 minutes he was listening. Also, Mr. Gower asked, could they trust the evidence of a wit­ness who first said a man was drunk, and then said he was not drunk?

As stated, the case against Booth was dismissed.

In view of the Magistrates’ decision, Mr. McVarish stated that he did not propose to pro­ceed with summonses alleging drinking intoxicating liquor after permitted hours against Moss, Roberts, Evans, Cook and Harold.

Folkestone Gazette 2-9-1959

Local News

Two soldiers stationed with 26^th Field Regiment, R.A., at Ross Barracks, Shornclifle, were both conditionally dis­charged by Folkestone Magistrates on Friday after they had pleaded guilty to stealing a beer glass worth 2/3 from the Prince Albert Hotel. Defendants were Gnr. Alan Thomas Clark and Gnr. Trevor Archer Goddard.

Inspector E.S. Hack said at 11 p.m. on July 16^th P.C. Edwards was driving a police car along Sandgate Road when he saw defendants walking on the pavement. Clark was carrying a pint beer glass. The officer stopped the car and walked over to defendants. Clark said he got the glass from somebody. Goddard said “I took it. I`ll take the rap”.

Defendants were ordered to pay 7/6 Court fees each.