BORN TIRED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 960, 28 February 1911, Page 4

BORN TIRED.

At Todmorden (England) recently, George Alfred Leycock, a smart, military-looking young man, said to have been known as the “laziest man in Bacup,” was charged with cruelty to his children. Mr J. J. Gledhill, who prosecuted on behalf of the N.S.P. C.C., said the accused was a sober man, the only fault with him being that he was born tired, and had grown absolutely bone lazy. He married five years ago, and he had four children. The man had good and regular work to go to, but he refused to go near it. He had not worked a stroke since October 1, and his wife and family had been virtually starving. There was nothing coming into the house, and prisoner would not work to provide anything. All the food the family got was obtained from neighbours. Complaints were made that the little ones were starving, and they had been seen to eat ravenously the crumbs that were thrown to Ihens. When the police and inspectors called at the house there was not a scrap of food to be found, and the wife said they had had nothing to eat for two days. The inspector gave them some bread, and one of the children ate so ravenously as to nearly choke. There was little or no furniture and the bed was filthy. No fault could be attributed to Mrs Leycock, as she could get no money for anything. A few nights before she and the baby were locked out, and slept in an outbuilding, being wet through with the heavy rain. All prisoner did was to keep in the house and warm himself at the fire, which was kept going by cinders that the children picked up. After hearing a host of witnesses in support of the foregoing statement, the Bench sentenced the prisoner to three months’ hard labour.