Frederick Dimsdale and his son, the solicitors accused of raising
.£300,000 upon forged leases, have pleaded guilty, their counsel admitting his inability to explain away the facts, extra- ordinary as they are. The elder prisoner, a man of good stand- ing and with a good income, was accustomed to forge leases of property lying in counties without registration, and then to raise money on them, and as he was trusted by other solicitors, had actually amassed this enormous amount. The Judge, Mr. Justice Lopes, accordingly sentenced him to penal servitude for life, a sentence which he heard apparently unmoved. The son, who, to a certain extent, was under control, was let off with only seven years, and two minor accomplices, who were mere tools, with only one year. The case has excited unusual interest, from the position of the accused, but will probably be most frequently quoted as an argument for the compulsory registration of all conveyances.
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