On This Day
On This Day, 22 November 1916
On 22, Nov 2016 | In On This Day | By Nicola Gauld
Birmingham Mail
Wednesday 22 November 1916
HABOURING A DESERTER.
BIRMINGHAM WOMAN SENTENCED.
Sarah Elizabeth Rose (25), 17 court, 4 house, Lupin Street, was before the Stipendiary at Birmingham Police court to-day, charged with harbouring a deserter
It was stated that the police visited the house on the night of the 31st October in their search for a deserter named Higgins. Mrs. Rose, the wife of a soldier, refused to come downstairs and open the door. Eventually the police burst open the door and found Higgins in the house. Rose remarked, “I know it is my fault but I did not want him taken.”
Mr. A. Hall-Wright for the defence, said Mrs. Rose denied using the words attributed to her by the police. Higgins ran into the house that night without Mrs. Rose’s knowledge.
Higgins was brought from prison, where he is serving a sentence for assaulting two detectives, and supported this contention in the witness box.
The Stipendiary said it was quite clear that Mrs. Rose had concealed Higgins in her house, and she would have to go to gaol for a month.
