rt is not pleasant to hear of an old lady
of 89 (her son said in court that she might be older) being fined £20 for anything. But, of course, she may have deserved it. The parti- cular old lady whom the Guildford magistrates mulcted of that amount last week had " lifted " goods to the Value of 75. 81d. from the local Woolworths. The police said she was of perfectly good character. Her own explanation was that after waiting and waiting to be served (not improbable in the pre-Christmas rush) she served herself and departed. All very wrong, of course. But a medical man who brings the case to my notice points out how often, as the result of senile brain changes, the very elderly are prone to mental and moral aberrations. On the face of it the Guildford magistrates have come down very heavy. I have heard various shop-lifting charges tried at Marlborough Street, and my impression is that in the Oxford Street region you can safely steal more for less cost. And I observe that one day this week an Essex lady, aged 32 (no senile aberrations here), allowed £14 a Week by her hus- band for housekeeping, pleaded guilty to stealing £25 from a house where she was staying. She was given a conditiona discharge for twelve months. Jugtice blind ? Never.
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