Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 09 August 1941
Forged Rent
Bolton Wife in Trouble
A young wife. Edith Webster (23), of Ladycroft. Bolton-on-Dearne , who abused her husband’s employers’ generosity by putting to her own use money they gave her as rent, and forged her landlady’s signature in the rent book, found herself in trouble at Doncaster on Saturday.
She was summoned for having obtained £14 10s. by means of a forged rent book between October 14th and May 30th, and, telling her that as she had no money they could not fine her, the magistrates bound her over for 12 months.
Supt. J. Walker said Webster’s husband was a soldier. Before joining up he was employed by Messrs. Baker and Bessemer, who paid the rent of their workmen serving in the Army on the wife producing a rent book showing she had paid the money. Defendant fell into arrears with her rent after her husband joined up, and each time the agent called she told him she had paid it to the owner of the property. Since last October she had paid only five times, but as her rent book contained the initials of the owner up to the end of May she continued to receive the money from the firm.
The book was eventually taken to the owner, who said the initials were not written by her, and the matter was reported to the police. When charged with the offence, Webster replied “I know it is forgery and I would not have done it if I had not been hard up.”
Webster said her husband’s Army pay was stopped because he overstayed his leave, and her child was ill, so she applied the money to her own use to help her out of her difficulties. The firm had since stopped making the allowance to her.