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| Central Hotel, 1950s. Credit Peter and Anne Bamford |
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| Central Hotel, c1908. Photo kindly supplied by Martin Easdown |
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| Central Hotel, 1978 Licensees
Dorothy Bateman and Walter Bateman 1947 1953
Steven Quartier 1953 1953 William Miller 1953 1953 Lilian Miller 1953 1954 William Coar 1954 1956 Jane Coar 1956 1958 Alfred Chapman 1958 1963 Charles Chapman and Raymond Fullagar 1963 1964 Charles Chapman and Ian Lindsay 1964 1967 Charles Chapman and Percy Nevard 1967 1986 Renamed Park Inn Hotel
Folkestone Herald
26-1-1946
Notice
To
The Clerk to the Licensing Justices of the Borough of Folkestone.
To
the Chief Constable and the Officer-in-Charge Kent County Constabulary,
Folkestone Division.
ToThe
Clerk to the Rating Authority of the said Borough and to all whom it may concern.
I,
Frederick Henry Morgan Ralph, now residing at 48, Bouverie Road West in the
said Borough, Company Director, do hereby give notice that it is my intention
to apply at the General Annual Licensing Meeting for the said Borough, to be
holden at the Town Hall in the said Borough on the 13th day of
February, 1946, for the grant to me of a Justices` Licence authorising me to
apply for and hold an Excise Licence to sell by retail any intoxicating liquor
which may be sold under a publican’s licence for consumption either on or off
premises situate at No. 2, Radnor Park Road and No. 84, Broadmead Road in the
said Borough and known as The Central Hotel.
The
owners of the said premises are myself, the said Frederick Henry Morgan Ralph
and Violet Ada Ralph.
Given
under my hand this 19th day of January, 1946.
F.H.M.
Ralph.
Folkestone Herald
16-2-1946
Annual Licensing Sessions
The
Magistrates declined to grant a licence in respect of the Central Hotel
opposite the Central Station.
There
was opposition from three sources. The application was opposed by Mr. Rutley
Mowll, on behalf of Messrs. Mackeson and Co. Ltd., brewers, of Hythe; Mr. B.H.
Bonniface, representing the licensees of the red Cow, the Bouverie Arms, the
Bouverie Hotel and the Gun; and Mr. H. Gardiner Wheeler, representing Miss
Duncan and Miss Evelegh, 4, Radnor Park Road, and Mr. Harold Wheeler, 6, Radnor
Park Road.
Mr.
B.H. Waddy, who made the application on behalf of Mr. Frederick Henry Ralph,
said Mr. Ralph was a director of the Queen`s, Burlington and Grand Hotels,
Folkestone. Mr. Ralph and his family had been connected with the Central Hotel
for many years; from 1922 – 28 it had been run by his mother. The latter died
in 1928, since when Mr. Ralph and his sister had carried on the premises. The
hotel had been run without a licence. In 1940 the hotel was closed down. It was
now proposed to re-open it. It was also proposed that Mr. Ralph should be a
director of a company to be formed, and that the licence should be transferred
to a resident manager. There were no fully-licensed premises within a quarter
of a mile. “We want facilities for a modern, attractive and prosperous hotel”,
Mr. Waddy said. “There is no hotel with licensing facilities near the main
station in Folkestone. I cannot think of any other town in Kent where you can
get out of a station and cannot find such facilities. This licence, if it is
granted, will enable Folkestone to have what is enjoyed by practically all
other towns in Kent, a hotel near the station. We want to run a good class
hotel close to the station, with first class facilities for residents and
others who might want to come in for refreshments”. Mr. Waddy continued that
Mr. Bonniface was representing a number of licensed premises, none of which was
within a quarter of a mile of the Central Hotel. He believed that not one was a
hotel.
Mr.
Bonniface said there was the Bouverie Hotel.
Dealing
with the opposition presented by Mr. H.G. Wheeler, Mr. Waddy said it appeared
to affect two houses next to the hotel. It would be a fallacy to suggest that
the Central Hotel would become a gin palace, or that anything of that nature
would be allowed to depreciate the neighbouring property.
Mr.
Ralph, giving evidence, confirmed the statements made by Mr. Waddy. He said
that without a licence it would be, in his opinion, quite impossible for the
hotel to be run.
Replying
to Mr. Mowll, Mr. Ralph said he conducted the business through a manager for 12
years without a licence. They lost money for seven years. Before the war he
lost a lot of money, and during the war. He was on the point of applying for a
licence when war broke out.
Mr.
Mowll: I suggest that you want to get in front of any new town planning which
might take place.
Mr.
Ralph: I know nothing of town planning.
Mr.
Bonniface: Will you register this company whether this licence is granted or
not?
Mr.
Ralph: It is very uncertain at present. We might.
Mr.
H.W. Wheeler told the Magistrates that he had a petition signed by 56 residents
in the area of the Central Hotel opposing the licence.
Mr.
Ralph: I am not surprised. Some people will sign almost anything. How many
people are in the area who have not signed the petition?
Benjamin
Stewart, an auctioneer and estate agent with 34 years` experience, said he had
received numerous enquiries regarding hotel accommodation, many of which asked
how one could arrive at the main station and get a meal. If a licence for the
Central Hotel were granted he thought it would fill a long-felt want.
Mr.
Mowll asked the Magistrates not to grant the licence because in the near future
there must be a town planning scheme for Folkestone, having special regard to
the position of other licensed premises. A number of such premises had been
destroyed or damaged, and it would be necessary for the Town Planning
Committee, in conjunction with the Bench, to consider the re-allocation of any
new licences in Folkestone.
Mr.
Boniface suggested that if Mr. Ralph and his family had successfully carried on
the business from 1922 until 1940 without a licence, it could now be continued
without one. “I suggest that the application has been made much too early”,
said Mr. Bonniface.
Mr.
H.G. Wheeler called Mr. H.W. Wheeler, who said he had no objection to drinks
being served with meals at the hotel.
Mr.
Waddy: Would it depreciate that property if I had two glasses of sherry outside
the property instead of inside?
Mr.
H.W. Wheeler said he had not seen a plan of the proposed bar.
Mr.
Waddy: You have actually organised this petition, particularly with regard to
the bar, without seeing the plan or describing it to your constituents?
Mr.
Wheeler: I have had no opportunity of seeing the plans.
Mr.
Waddy: If you had asked you could have seen the plans.
The
Mayor (Ald. W. Hollands), who presided, said the application for a licence
would not be granted.
Folkestone Herald
2-3-1946
Letter
Sir,—Many
suggestions have been made recently by official and semi-official bodies on the
subject of how to attract visitors - both our own nationals and those from
other countries – to our spas and resorts. What seems to be a superb example
of “How Not To Do It” appears in the pages of your issue of February 16th
in the report of the refusal - following the Mayor’s pat on the back of the
licensees and general public for their decorous behaviour during the past year
- of the Licensing Justices to grant a licence to a well known Folkestone
hotelier in respect of the only hotel conveniently situated to the Central Station.
A firm of brewers and the licensees of the nearest licensed premises - quite a
Sabbath Day’s journey distant for any bona fide traveller - arose in a body and
opposed the application.
The Southern
Railway, on the other hand, which from its proximity might have been expected
to lose a little business in its refreshment rooms, did not join the
opponents, feeling possibly that everything that can be done to provide for the
comfort and convenience of those whom its trains bring to Folkestone should be
encouraged.
There seems to
be little hope that this country in general and Folkestone - enjoying an exceptionally
favourable situation - in particular, can ever become popular with visitors
from the Continent until the present licensing laws, which encourage cranks and
a dog-in-a-manger attitude on the part of rival interests, are abolished and
we take a leaf from the law books of the land only 20 miles south, which
permits all catering establishments and places of public entertainment - be
they Hotel Grand Babylon, Pin-Table Palace, or the equivalent of Ye Olde Tea
Shoppe - to possess licences, as long as the authorities are satisfied that
they are responsibly and properly conducted.
T. KENNY.
1, Christ Church
Road,
Folkestone.
Folkestone Herald 15-3-1947
Local News
A wine licence was granted to the Central Hotel at
the adjourned Folkestone Licensing Sessions on Wednesday. A condition of the granting of the
licence was that there should be no “off” sales.
Mr. Walter Bateman, resident manager of the Central
Hotel, making the application, was represented by Mr. Frank Whitworth,
instructed by F.J. Hall and Company.
Mr. B.H. Bonniface withdrew opposition on behalf of
the management of a number of public houses on the applicant undertaking that
no “off” sales would be made.
The Central Hotel, said Mr. Whitworth, had been
requisitioned in 1941 and derequisitioned in December, 1945. In accordance with
the Government`s policy, it had been possible to carry out repairs. Large sums
had been spent on decorations and it was hoped to open the hotel for Easter. Their
application for a full licence a year ago had been refused because the
Licensing Planning Committee, having just been formed, had not had time to
fully consider the position. That committee, at its meeting on March 7th,
had registered no objection to the application before the court. The management
would, no doubt, be applying for a full licence in the future.
The Chairman (Engineer Rear-Admiral L.J. Stephens) announced
that the licence would be granted on the conditions stated.
Folkestone Herald 22-1-1949
Notice
To: The Clerk to the
Licensing Justices of the Borough of Folkestone
The Superintendent of
Police Kent County Constabulary (Folkestone “J” Division)
The Clerk to the Rating
Authority of the said Borough and
To All whom it may
concern
I, Walter Bateman, now
residing at The Central Hotel, Radnor Park Road in the said Borough, Hotel
Manager, do hereby give notice that it is my intention to apply at the General
Annual Licensing Meeting for the said Borough to be holden at The Town Hall in
the said Borough on the 9th day of February 1949 for the grant to me of a Justices
Licence authorising me to apply for and hold an Excise Licence to sell by
retail any intoxicating liquor which may be sold under a publican’s licence for
consumption either on or off the premises situate at No. 2, Radnor Park Road
and Number 84, Broadmead Road in the said Borough and aforesaid and of which
premises The Central Hotel (Folkestone) Limited are the owners and for which
Company I am The Resident Manager.
Given under my hand this
17th day of January, 1949.
W. BATEMAN.
Folkestone Herald 12-2-1949
Annual Licensing Sessions
Application for a licence in respect of the Central
Hotel was adjourned for a month at the request of Mr. W.J. Mason, who said it
would be necessary to obtain certificates from the Licensing Planning
Committee. Those certificates had been received, but the Committee felt that
instead of new licences being granted licences which were in suspense should
be purchased. Negotiations had been entered into for that purpose, and were
going on very nicely.
Folkestone Herald 16-7-1949
Local News
Orders for the special removal of full licences from
derelict public houses in the Harbour district to hotels in the centre of the
town were approved at the Folkestone Transfer Sessions on Wednesday. All the
licences had been in suspense.
The licence of the South Foreland, Seagate Street, was
removed to the Clifton Hotel, Clifton Gardens; the licence of the Alexandra
Hotel, Harbour Street, to the Carlton Hotel; and the licence of the Royal Oak
Inn, North Street, to the Central Hotel, Radnor Park Road.
Mr. W.J. Mason, applying for the removal of the full
licence from the Royal Oak to the Central Hotel, said it had been in suspense.
Application had been made to the Licensing Planning Committee and subsequently
arrangements were made with Messrs. Fremlins for the purchase of the full
licence, subject to it being transferred in accordance with the Order made by
the Planning Minister under licensing planning removals. Plans for alterations
to the Central Hotel had been approved.
The Clerk (Mr. C. Rootes) said the order for the removal
had been approved by the Ministry.
Mr. Walter Bateman, manager of the Central Hotel, said it
was hoped that the alterations to the building would be completed by the end of
the month. It was intended to use the licence in the hotel until the building
work had been completed.
Folkestone Gazette
19-8-1953
Local News
Found crouching behind the counter of a locked bar at the
Central Hotel, Thomas Arthur Hughes (29), of Radnor Park Crescent, Folkestone,
was charged at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Friday with being on premises
for an unlawful purpose. He also admitted stealing a book, value 5/-,
from Folkestone Public Library on or about July 24th, and two books from
Maidstone Public Library. Hughes was sent to prison for three months on each charge, the sentences
to run concurrently.
Mr. R.R. Sidle, prosecuting, said a receptionist at
the hotel went into the hotel bar and saw a man enter the convenience. She thought it was peculiar because the
bar was locked. She decided to go back and found Hughes crouching behind the
bar. She recognised him as a man who had been employed at the hotel for three
days in early part of July. The girl asked Hughes what he was doing and he said
he was looking for “Bill”, a former employee at the hotel. Asked how he
got into the bar, he said somebody let him in. He told her not to tell anyone
she had seen him, and let himself out of a side door. Mr. Sidle
said on August 8th P.C. Jenvey saw Hughes standing outside the Shakespeare Hotel.
He went with him to his room where he found a book entitled “The Poems of Tennyson”.
It had every appearance of being a library book. Hughes said he had purchased
it but then said it came from Folkestone Library. There was no record at the
library of the book having been loaned to anybody.
P.C. Jenvey, giving evidence, said Hughes made a
statement in which he said he had been in Folkestone for about five weeks. He
took a job as a chef at the Central Hotel but left after three days. On July 31st he went into
the bar at the hotel and waited until “time” was called. He then went into the
convenience where he waited long enough for the bar to be cleared. Then he looked out and went into the
bar. He sat down behind the bar and must have fallen asleep. When the receptionist
came in he went out by the side door. He did not look for money in the bar. Hughes was also alleged to have stated
that two months before, he took two books from a shelf at Maidstone Library. “I appreciate”, he stated, “that I am
breaking the law doing these things but I don’t seem to be able to stop myself”, Hughes told the magistrates.
Hughes told the Magistrates that he had sought
medical advice because he did not have sufficient strength of character to help
himself. Recently he had found an answer to the problem, after a conversation
with the probation officer.
P.C. Jenvey said Hughes had four previous
convictions, the last on November 10th, 1952, when he was sent to
prison for six months for housebreaking and larceny. Hughes was a
married man, living apart from his wife.
The Chairman (Ald. W. Hollands)
said the magistrates had taken into consideration Hughes’s past history, which
was not good. They felt he needed some kind of treatment and
they had decided that he would be able to receive it if they
sent him to prison.
Folkestone Herald
5-12-1953
Local News
When Joseph Harold Minden (37), of Chadwell Heath Lane,
Chadwell Heath, was charged at Folkestone Magistrates` Court on Saturday with
thefts from two Folkestone hotels, the police stated they had other enquiries
to make concerning accused. Minden, who was remanded in custody until
yesterday, was charged with breaking and entering the Glendale Hotel, Cheriton
Gardens, last Friday and stealing a handbag and contents of the value of £3
16/- belonging to Edith Charlotte Davey, and on the same day stealing cutlery
worth 3/- belonging to Lilian Miller, of the Central Hotel.
P. Sgt. Dolbear said in consequence of a call received at
the police station at 7.40 p.m. on Friday he
went to the Avondale Hotel, Sandgate Road, where he saw Minden run down the
front steps and make off in the direction of the town. Witness said he caught defendant
and returned with him to the hotel where he saw the proprietress. She said “That is the man who I
found on the first floor of my hotel, and when I asked him what he was doing he
replied ‘I was looking for the Belvedere Hotel`”. Minden then said “Yes, that is
true, and I just proved I am staying at the Belvedere Hotel”. Witness found that defendant had
registered at the Belvedere Hotel on Friday morning as John Miles. He told
Minden that he did not feel satisfied with his explanation. At the police station Minden's
bag was searched and a table knife, table fork, tablespoon and a teaspoon were
found. Asked to account
for the cutlery he said “I took them from the Central Hotel today”. Witness said he made enquiries
at the Central Hotel and produced to Minden a pension book in the name of Mrs.
Edith C. Davey, of 33, Cheriton Gardens. Defendant said “I took them from the
Glendale Hotel sometime today, and it was contained in a handbag”. In reply to the charge of
stealing cutlery Minden said “I told you that they are from the Central Hotel,
and it is true that I took them”. In reply to the other charge, Minden said “Yes, I did do it but I deny
the breaking and entering”. The officer said Minden confessed he had thrown away the handbag in some gardens. The
locality was searched and
the bag was found in shrubbery at Augusta Gardens.
Folkestone Herald
19-12-1953
Local News
Four charges were preferred against Joseph Harold Minden, of Chadwell
Heath Lane, Chadwell Heath, when he appeared on remand at Folkestone
Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Charged with stealing a handbag and contents valued at £3 16/- and
cutlery worth 2/- from Folkestone hotels, obtaining £3 from the Postmaster-General
by means of a forged Post Office Savings Bank withdrawal form and endeavouring
to obtain a further £3 by means of a forged withdrawal form, Minden was committed for trial at Folkestone
Quarter Sessions to be held in January.
Mrs. Lilian Miller, proprietress of the Central Hotel, Folkestone, said
accused came to the hotel on November 25th and booked in as Mr.
Minden, of Chadwell Heath, for one night. On the following day he said he
wished to stay another night and left on November 27th after paying
his bill. In the evening she was shown articles of cutlery by the police, which
were similar to those used at the hotel. She went to the room which had been occupied by accused
and found that the electricity meter had been opened and approximately 2/- was
missing.
Mrs. Edith Charlotte Davey, Cheriton Gardens, Folkestone, who is 74
years of age, said she occupied a ground floor room. At 12.30 p.m. on November 27th
she left her room to go to lunch, leaving her handbag behind. The door of the
room was closed but when she returned after lunch her handbag was missing.
Subsequently she was shown
the handbag by the police. It contained a pension book, small purse, fountain
pen and some keys in addition to some other small items. She thought there was also a 10/- note
in the bag.
P.C. Jenvey said accused made a statement in which he was alleged to have
said that he booked a room at the Central Hotel where he stole various
articles of cutlery and broke into meters.
Mr. N.W.S. Hutcheson, prosecuting on the charges of forgery, said one of
the witnesses was ill and could not be present that day. He was the owner of
the P.O. Savings Bank book concerned.
D. Sgt. Mumbray, Metropolitan Police attached to the G.P.O., said he saw
Minden at Canterbury Prison and showed him a number of withdrawal forms and a
Post Office Savings Bank book. Witness said Minden made a statement in which he was alleged to have said
that he took the Post Office Savings Bank book from the Royal Hotel, Purfleet.
He withdrew £39 from the account.
Accused was committed in custody to Quarter Sessions.
Folkestone Gazette
13-1-1954
Quarter Sessions
Said by his defending counsel to have a record that was
“truly appalling”, Joseph Harold Minden (35), painter, of 81, Chadwell Heath
Lane, Chadwell Heath, Essex, was gaoled for five years at Folkestone Quarter
Sessions on Saturday. He pleaded Guilty to four charges which included thefts
from hotels.
Represented by Mr. John Gower, Minden asked for 18 other
offences to be taken into consideration.
Prosecuting, Mr. Malcolm Morris said one charge to which
Minden pleaded Guilty referred to the theft of a handbag from the rail of a bed
in a ground floor room. Knife, fork and spoons were stolen from another hotel.
On November 23rd he was seen hurriedly leaving a third hotel, which
he said he had mistaken for a fourth hotel. That might have been fact, as he
had booked in the fourth hotel. A woman`s pension book was found on him. In a
statement he referred to visits to other hotels.
Minden agreed with the
Clerk of the Peace (Mr. N.C. Scragg) that he had received 18 months’ imprisonment
at Leicester Quarter Sessions in 1946 for stealing clothing, two years’ corrective
training at Bournemouth Quarter Sessions in 1949 for stealing a cigarette case, fountain pen
and other articles and £8, and three years’ imprisonment at Sheffield Quarter Sessions
in 1951 for stealing clothing and a cigarette case and obtaining credit by
fraud.
P.C. Jenvey said of the 18 other cases Minden
wished to be taken into consideration, five were for stealing or attempting to
steal from hotels in Folkestone or Canterbury, the sixth was stealing a Post
Office Savings Bank book, and the other 12 were withdrawals from the book.
Mr. Morris: So far as the Post Office Savings
Bank is concerned, he has drawn out £39.
Continuing, P.C. Jenvey said there were seven
convictions against Minden, all of a similar nature. Minden had been called up
in 1939 and had served in the Army as a gunner. He had been released in 1941
having lost the sight of his left eye. He had been released from prison on July
10th, 1953, and had only worked for short periods. He had been in
custody since November 28th, 1953.
Mr. Gower said Minden had a record that was
truly appalling, but there were other facts the Recorder should know. Until
1941 Minden had had no convictions and had never been in any sort of trouble.
In 1940 his girl friend had died and as he had not been able to obtain leave
from the Army he had not been able to see her whilst she was ill. “Her parents
said the shock of his not coming to see her had accelerated her death”, continued
Mr. Gower. “In 1940 he lost the sight of one eye and was not able to get a
disability pension until last July. He was then given a pension of 16/6 per
week. His record of crime does date from that injury. I do not put it forward
that he has no control over his actions, but it does seem that it has something
to do with it.”
The Recorder (Mr. Tristram Beresford Q.C.)
said he agreed with Mr. Gower, who never minced words, that Minden had an
appalling record. “Until I heard what he had to say I was of the opinion that
you are a menace to the public and should be put away for a long period of
preventative detention. That you will certainly get if you commit any other
offences”, he added, sentencing Minden to five years` imprisonment on each of
the charges, the sentences to run concurrently.
Folkestone Herald
16-1-1954
Quarter Sessions
Joseph Harold Minden (35), painter, of 81, Chadwell Heath Lane, Chadwell
Heath, Essex, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment at Folkestone Quarter
Sessions on Saturday. He pleaded guilty to four charges which included thefts from hotels in
Folkestone. Represented
by Mr. John Gower, Minden asked for 18 other offences to be taken into consideration.
P.C. Jenvey said of the 18 other cases Minden wished to be taken into
consideration, five were for stealing or attempting to steal from hotels in
Folkestone or Canterbury, the sixth was stealing a Post Office Savings Bank
book, and the other 12 were withdrawals from the book.
Mr. Malcolm Morris (prosecuting): So far as the Post Office Savings Bank is
concerned, he has drawn out £39
Continuing, P.C. Jenvey said there were seven convictions against Minden,
all of a similar nature. He had been released from prison on July 10th, 1953, and had
worked only for short periods.
Mr. Gower, for accused, said until 1941 Minden had had no convictions and
had never been in any sort of trouble. “In 1940 he lost the sight of one eye”,
he continued, “and was not able to get a disability pension until last July.
He was then given a pension of 16/6 per week. His record of crime dates from that injury. I do not
put it forward that he has no control over his actions, but it does seem that
it has something to do with it”.
The Recorder (Mr.
Tristram Beresford, Q.C.), sentencing accused, said until he heard what Mr.
Gower had to say he was of the opinion that accused was a menace to the public and
should be put away for a long period of preventative detention. “That you certainly will get if you commit any other
offences”, he added, sentencing Minden to five years’ imprisonment on each of
the charges, the sentences to run concurrently.
Folkestone Herald
28-5-1955
Local News
Plans for a new bar at the Central Hotel, Folkestone,
were approved by the Licensing Justices on Wednesday.
Mr. W.J. Coley, making the application on behalf of the
licensee, said the hotel had become very popular and there was need for another
bar, particularly on such occasions as the Easter Hockey Festival. Last year a
hockey club called the Hornets were staying at the hotel and entertained a German
hockey team. They occupied all the existing bars and it was found that there
was no room for regular patrons. There were, in fact, some complaints. The
existing bars were not very big and with the increase in the popularity of the
hotel there was a need to turn the lounge on the ground floor into a bar. It
was intended to put a lounge on the first floor above the proposed new bar.
Folkestone Gazette
7-3-1956
Local News
The licence of the Central
Hotel was transferred to Mrs. Jane Coar at the adjourned Folkestone Licensing
Session, on Wednesday.
Mr. C.M.P. Burgess,
making the application for transfer, said the licence was held by Mrs. Coar and
her husband, Mr. William Coar. The justices had power to transfer a licence in
the event of the incapacity of the holder to carry on the business under the
licence. He
said a doctor would tell them that Mr. Coar was a sick man, suffering from
gastric ulcers, as a result of which he was not able to carry on the business
under the licence. Mr.
Burgess read a letter from Mr. Coar raising no objection to the licence being
transferred to his wife.
Dr. D.M. Beaugie, Mr. Coar’s medical adviser, said
he had examined his patient recently. Mr. Coar was suffering from ulceration of
the stomach and was generally unfit to bear the responsibility of running the
licensed side of the hotel.
Folkestone Herald
2-2-1957
Local News
When Herbert Neville
Dunning, 30-year-old hotel porter, of no fixed abode, was charged at Folkestone
Magistrates’ Court, on Wednesday, with obtaining £16 credit by means of fraud
from Jane Coar between January 7th and 27th, it was
stated by the police that they were anxious to know more of his activities.
Dunning was remanded
in police custody, after Chief Inspector L.A. Hadlow had told the magistrates
that the defendant had only recently come to the Folkestone district.
P.C. Frederick Manley
said at 7.15 a.m. on Wednesday he saw Dunning in Shellons Street and told him
he answered the description of a man wanted on warrant for obtaining credit by
fraud at Folkestone. Defendant replied “Yes, fair enough”. When he was charged
at the police station Dunning was alleged to have replied “That is right”.
Folkestone Herald
16-2-1957
Local News
After the Magistrates had heard his
record, Herbert Neville Dunning, 30-year-old hotel porter, of no fixed address,
was committed to Folkestone Quarter Sessions for sentence by the Recorder.
Dunning pleaded Guilty at Folkestone Magistrates` Court on Friday to obtaining
£16 by means of fraud from Mrs. Jane Coar, of the Central Hotel, Folkestone.
Mr. J.R. Newton, prosecuting, said
accused went to the Central Hotel and asked for accommodation for two or three days.
He told Mr. Coar he came from Australia and was in England on holiday. He
agreed to accept bed and breakfast and signed the register, giving an address
of 220, Silver Street, Sydney. On January 11th, when Mr. Coar
presented the account, Dunning asked if he could stay on for a further two or
three days. He stayed several days longer and on January 21st Mr.
Coar found that accused had obtained intoxicants on credit and had incurred a
total debt of £16. The following day Mr. Coar learned that the accused had left
the hotel and had not paid his bill. Dunning did not return.
P.C. Manley said at 7.17 a.m. on
January 30th he was on duty in Guildhall Street, where he saw the
accused, who answered the description of a man wanted by the police. He stopped
him and questioned him about the Central Hotel. Dunning said “Yes, that is
right”. The officer took him to the police station and read the warrant over to
him. Dunning, who replied “Fair enough”, was later charged and he said “That`s
right”.
Defendant told the Court he had nothing
and it was necessary he should do something to live.
D.C. R. Crane said accused was born at
High Barnet. He had 12 previous convictions, the first being at a juvenile
Court, when he was bound over for stealing. He was subsequently sent to an
approved school, and also a Borstal institution. He had had three years`
corrective training and several sentences of imprisonment since, the last being
early in 1955 for stealing. He was released from prison in September last.
P.C. Manley was called forward by the
Chairman (Ald. W.J. Hollands), who said “The Magistrates wish to commend you
for picking this man up so early in the morning. It was a very smart pick-up”.
Folkestone Herald
14-9-1957
Local News
A youth walked into the Central Hotel, Folkestone,
on Monday, and told the receptionist that a horse outside wanted a drink of
water. The receptionist left the hotel. True enough, there was a horse and cart
in the road but the driver said the horse did not need water. When she returned
to her desk the receptionist found that a purse containing over £3 had been
stolen from her handbag. A child’s purse, with a few shillings in it, was also
missing.
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