Imperial (1) 1940 & 1950s

Folkestone Herald 8-11-1947

Local News

Admissions by a member of the crew of S.S. Whitstable concerning bottles of brandy resulted in the appearance of himself, a Folkestone licensee, and two other persons at Folkestone Magistrates` Court on Friday

James Standon Kensett, licensee of the Imperial Hotel, Black Bull Road, was fined £10 for receiving two bottles of brandy from a person not having the authority to sell or deliver them. Oliver Jeffrey Everest, of the S.S. Whitstable, was fined £5 for being concerned in a fraudulent attempt at evasion of Customs duty on four bottles of brandy, a bottle of liqueur, a bottle of wine, a clock, and 35o cigarettes, and £2 for dealing in un-Customed goods. George Henry Lambert, a car park attendant, of 8, Langdon Road, Morden, Surrey, was fined £2 for dealing in un-Customed goods. Charles Carter, 33, Fernbank Crescent, Folkestone, was fined £2 for receiving three bottles of brandy from a person not having authority to sell or deliver them.

A further summons against Kensett for being knowingly concerned in dealing in un-Customed goods – two bottles of brandy – was withdrawn, and a summons against Carter for dealing in three bottles of brandy was also withdrawn.

Miss Dorothy Dix represented Kensett.

Mr. W.L. Fearnehough, prosecuting, said Everest was a member of the crew of the S.S. Whitstable when it arrived at Dover on July 5^th. He declared 100 cigarettes. A Customs rummage crew went on board and Everest, asked if he had any dutiable articles, declared a small quantity of wine, a little brandy and a few cigarettes. The other articles were found in top and bottom drawers underneath his bunk. When asked what he intended to do with the articles he at first said they were for his own use, but later he said he intended to sell them. All the summonses arose out of admissions by Everest. He said he had sold five bottles of brandy on June 27^th and one bottle on July 1^st to Lambert. The second summons against Everest and Lambert was for dealing in nine bottles of brandy, which Everest admitted bringing in on a previous occasion. Three of the bottles went to Carter, who took them to Kensett and sold two of them to him for £2 a bottle. As landlord of a public house Kensett should have known perfectly well that he was doing wrong in buying the brandy.

Carter told the Magistrates that he went to the Bathing Pool car park, where Lambert worked, and asked him if he would like a bottle of brandy. Lambert told him that he did not drink the stuff but he might know somebody who would want a bottle. The same evening he went to the Imperial Hotel and the landlord said he would have a bottle. Lambert said he could have three bottles if he liked, but Kensett only wanted two, so he took the other bottle back to Lambert. He was not trying to make any profit out of it.

Everest said he was sorry for what had happened. He appreciated what it had done for him; he had lost his job.

Lambert said the bottles had been returned so the Customs had lost nothing, but he had lost £10 and his job.

Miss Dix, on behalf of Kensett, said he had been a licensee for 25 years, 14 years at the Imperial Hotel. The summons against him, in her submission, was a trivial matter. Anybody who received a bottle of spirits from a person who was not authorised was committing an offence.

Kensett purchased the two bottles, but it was not a business transaction in his capacity as a licensee. The bottles were not bought for use in the bar but for private consumption.

Folkestone Herald 7-2-1959

Local News

A 44-year-old unemployed man, who stood in as Secre­tary of a men’s darts club at a Folkestone public house for three months, and admitted converting to his own use £5 8/8 he collected from members` subscriptions, appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court, on Tues­day.

The man, Louis James Beaney, of 14, Brabner Close, Folkestone, was charged with fraudulently converting the money to his own use.

Prosecuting, Mr. R. McVarish said a men’s darts club was formed at the Imperial Hotel last September, and members paid subscriptions at the rate of 1/- a week. In October, when the Secretary fell ill, defendant took over as Secretary and col­lected the subscriptions. For a time, continued Mr. McVarish, everything was satis­factory and defendant appeared quite efficient at the job. By the middle of December complaints were received by the committee from members, alleging certain deficiencies in the finances. A meeting was held and deficiencies amounting to £5 8/8 were found. Mr. McVarish said Beaney was questioned and admitted the deficiencies. He said he would replace the money the following Tuesday, when he received payment for a printing machine he was selling. It was not repaid on the Tuesday evening and the police were informed. Defendant admitted to the police that he took and used the money. In a statement, Beaney said he did not take the money in one lump. He described it as “overspending” and added that if he had been working the money would have been paid back.

Defendant told the magis­trates that he had been on the sick list for six years. He had had occasional work during that time, but the last occasion he was working was nearly three years ago. It lasted three months before he had to go back on the sick list. He would be able to pay the money off when he sold the printing machine. The person who was going to buy it had backed out of the deal.

P.C. Tilley stated that Beaney had served 18 years in the Army, being discharged in 1951 on compassionate grounds. He had had some employ­ment in the Folkestone area, but was unable to keep a job owing to illness from a type of paralysis. Defendant had one previous conviction when, at Bognor Regis Magistrates’ Court, in 1939, he was bound over for 12 months for stealing a serviette.

Beaney was granted a condi­tional discharge and ordered to pay the money at the rate of 5/- a week.