Bad Man of London

Shannon News, 27 December 1929, Page 4

Bad Man of London

OPIUM OFFENCES LONG SENTENCE IMPOSED ''He is well described as the worst man in London," said a detective at the London sessions recently ,concerning Edgar Manning, aged thirty-nine, a coloured man.

Manning appeared with Albert Payne, aged twenty-nine, a ship's cook, Ralph Alfred Trackman, aged twenty,, a steward, and Dora Lippack, aged twentynine a married woman. They all gave an address at St. Anne's Court Soho, and denied stealing property belonging to Lady Diana" Duff Cooper. Manning and Lippack, who were stated to have been living together, also pleaded not guilty to a further charge of stealing property belonging to Miss Jane Service Carmichael.

The chairman directed the jury to find all the persons not guilty on the charge of stealing and to concentrate their attention solely on charges of receiving. The jury found them guilty on all counts of receiving.

The detective gave an astonishing account of Manning's career. He said that Manning was a notorious trafficker in drugs. He was first convicted in September, 1920, when he received sixteen months' hard labour at the Old Bailey for unlawful wounding. Manning was released by a special order, of the Secretary of State in June, 1921,. and at Marlborough Street, in Aprils 1922 he received six months and one month concurrently for being in possession of cocaine and opium, and in July, 1923, twelve months for a similar offence.

"This man, who was born in Jamaica, was known in 1921 to be trafficking in drugs',' the detective added. "In 1922 a man died from an overdose of drugs, and there was reason to believe that Manning had supplied them. He was found in the same year in the house of a Greek woman who has since been deported for being concerned in the trafficking of drugs. '' Also in the same year a woman died from cocaine poisoning, and information was received that Manning had supplied drugs to her." Lippack was stated to be a Russian and a plausible woman. Manning was sentenced to three years' penal servitude on each of three counts) the sentences to run concurrently.. Lippack' was sentenced to nine months' hard labour and recommended for deportation. Trakman was remanded in custody until the next sessions, and Payne received twelve months;' hard labour.