GAY LIFE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 173, 15 March 1932, Page 7

GAY LIFE

TWO YQUNG CITY CLERKS ALLEGED THEPT OF £2000. ' GAMBLING TEMPT ATIpN. ■ LONDON, Feb. 28. Amazing revelations as to how two young clerks in the employ of the Wakefield Corporation tried to make good stolen money hy gambling feverishly at greyhound racing, only to land themselves deeper and deeper in the mire, were given to the judge at Leeds Assizes. Lewis Tennant, 21, and Allan Cliff, 24, plead,e4 guilty to deflalcations whieh, counsel explained involved the sum of £2214 10s 9d. Both rnen, who belong to families well known in conneetion with the public life of Wakefield, were employed in the city accountant's department. Tennant's method of gettifig money iwas to spend onjy part of the c^sh given him for insuranee stamps, and when a cash box for which Cliff was responsible was broken open it was found that there was a deficiency of £70, and £85 was also missjmg from a safe. Tennant was subsequently arrested in London and Cliff in Doncaster. In a long statement whieh Tennant made to the police he described how the pilfering started in August, 1930, when, he said, he and Cliff "borrowed" abont £16 from the petty cash with whieh to go for a holiday. As tjiey had not money when they returned they "borrowed" more, and more again later in order to aftend Poncaster raees. Visits to greyhound race meetings at Leeds apd Bradford followed, and still more "borrowed" money was logt in gambling. "One Swoop." "We decided one night," the statement proceeded, '(to try and recover £100 at one swoop at the Leeds Greyhound Track, but jnstead yye lost a further £90. We still hoped and kept on, but at the end of Diecemher we realised that in order to stamp the qards up to date we needed £250." When Cliff was arrested, he remarked, referring to the extent of the defalcations, that they 'must he over I £2000," adding, "we have had a good time with it, and shared fifty-fifty. We must take our punishment." Evidenee concerning the desperate efforts which the men made to win money hy betting, in the hope of putting things straight at the office, was given by Det.-Sergt. Booth. A great

deal of the money, stated the officer, had been whittled away on grayhound tracks. They betted so heavily some nights at Leeds- that the bookmakers immediately made the dog they backed the favourite. In one case they put as much as £40 on a dog, which, however, lost., When attending greyhound races they never travelled in the ordinary way, such as by train or 'bus, but hired taxicabs. People on the race tracks were impressed by the lavish way they spent their money. Mr. Justice McCardie passed sentence of 20 months' imprisonment on each man.