#severe sentencing

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"Woman Is Sentenced To Reformatory Term," Toronto Globe. October 31, 1933. Page 14. ---- Found guilty by a General Sessions jury a week ago on a charge of attempted abortion, Mrs. Mary Thompson was sentenced by Judge O'Connell yesterday to a term of two years, less a day, plus an indeterminate period, not to exceed three months, in the Ontario Reformatory. His Honor, in passing sentence, remarked that the offense for which the accused was tried is punishable by life imprisonment. "I am showing leniency because of the strong recommendations for mercy made by the jury," he said.

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“Gun Toters Scored By Glenn E. Strike,” Ottawa Journal. May 26, 1931. Page 2. ---- Deputy Magistrate to Sternley Suppress Carrying of Pistols ---- Illegal carrying of pistols in the City of Ottawa will be severely handled, it was intimated this morning by Deputy-Magistrate Glenn E. Strike in Police Court, dealing with two men arrested with revolvers in their hip-pockets.

‘We have had two cases before this court today of men carrying pistols,’ he announced, ‘and one of them was loaded. It’s a serious offence and is something which is not allowed in this country. If we permit such men to go unpunished, they may appear here again on a more serious charge.’

Charles Jodoin, one of the men accused of carrying a revolver, was arrested last night by Constable Hepburn, who testified that he followed the accused after receiving numerous complaints that Jodoin had been flourishing the weapon on several occasions. When apprehended Jodoin’s revolver was unloaded. He was remanded till Thursday morning on a plea of guilty.

Arrested on Saturday evening for street-fighting, George Lutes, 1061 Somerset street, was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

On being taken to the Police Station in the patrol wagon, Lutes was observed by the constable to be fumbling in his pockets, and as he was removed from the vehicle, a .32 calibre weapon loaded in two chambers was found on the seat. There was no other prisoners in the wagon at the time, and the prisoner admitted possession of the gun. He pleaded guilty to both charges and was remanded till Thursday by Deputy Magistrate Glenn E. Strike.

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“Boys Whipped,” Border Cities Star. February 19, 1932. Page 1. ---- FRANKLIN HEISER & NORMAN REDFIELD ---- The ancient but effective method of punishment by flogging was applied to three youths in Woodbury, N. J., on Feb. 17, when Sergeant William Porch, who weighs close to 250 pounds, wielded his belt ten times on each boy while Recorder Johnson of the court held them fast. The youths were taken to court after they had been arrested for annoying patrons in a theatre, but laughed when reprimanded by Recorder Johnson. No smiles were visible when their mothers saw them act as recipients for the heavy leather belt. Above photo shows Franklin Heiser, 16, and Norman Redfield, 15, two who received whippings. 

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"MAKING THE PENALTY FIT." Ottawa Journal. October 5, 1932. Page 8. ---- For stealing an automobile two Ottawa men were sentenced by Magistrate STRIKE to two years in the penitentiary. In another case, for attempting to steal a car, a sentence of one year in the reformatory was imposed by the same magistrate.

It is high time the courts did something more effective than talk sternly to youths and men who look upon the theft of an automobile as a boyish prank and who do not hesitate to go "joy-riding" in any machine foolishly left un. locked by its owner. The person who casually "borrows" a roll of bills left lying about, no matter how excellent his intentions of returning it, is not as a rule given much sympathy by the court. But if he takes a motor car, if he explains that he had no intention of keeping it but just wanted to take his friends for a drive, in a great many instances he is told to be a good boy for the future and nothing more will be said about the matter.

Actually, of course, the man at the wheel of a stolen automobile may be, and usually is, a far greater menace to the immediate security of the community than his fellow-thief with stolen money in his pocket. He drives, as a rule, with a total lack of responsibility, since already he is outside the law, and many accidents, much destruction of property, have been a consequence of this form of lawlessness.

Ottawa police are able to point with pride to the fact that practically all cars stolen here are recovered. That is, they are taken not for the purpose of sale but by joy-riders, amateur thieves, and abandoned when the purpose of the theft had been served. A few stiff sentences, such as those to which we have referred here, ought to be effective in discouraging the practice.

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"NOT A HEAVY SENTENCE FOR SUCH AN OFFENCE," Niagara Falls Review. October 17, 1933. Page 4. --- Five years in the penitentiary does not seem to be a sentence erring on the side of severity for a man who, more than five years ago, by his recklessness, snuffed out the lives of a man and his little girl, then skulked away for five years only to be arrested by accident. Remembering Justice Garrow's speech prior to the opening of the case, passing strictures on the frequency of such cases and the need for adequate punishment, a more severe sentence had been expected. Of course, it must be remembered that, for five years, O'Brien lived in a hell in which he moved from place to place, momentarily expecting to feel the hand of the law on his shoulder. And he must have been callous indeed had he no qualms about the killing of an innocent man and his little a girl in Stamford. Maybe Justice Garrow took that fact into consideration when he sentenced him to only five years in the penitentiary.

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"THREE HOLDUP MEN GET TERMS IN PENITENTIARY," Winnipeg Tribune. May 8, 1934. Page 1. ---- Two Sentenced to Five Years and Third to Two Years ---- ROBBED TRAM OPERATOR OF TICKETS AND CASH ---- Magistrate Feels Leniency In Such Cases a Mistake ---- Five-year penitentiary terms were given by Magistrate Graham, in city police court today, to Victor B. Clark and Sidney C. Smith, two members of a trio who robbed a street car operator of his cash and tickets two weeks ago. Mike Tomiak, the third robber, was sent to the penitentiary for two years. Unlike his companions, he had no previous record.

Three women relatives of the youthful robbers who were in court when the sentences were pronounced broke down and cried. But the prisoners remained unmoved. One of them calmly asked if his five-year term could be dated from the time of his arrest, but this was refused.

"There have been so many robberies lately that I feel any leniency shown in cases of this kind would be a mistake," said Magistrate Graham, in reply to a plea for leniency made by A. J. Andrews, K.C., counsel for Tomiak.

Tomiak, said Mr. Andrews, had never been in trouble before. He came of a respectable family, was married and had a baby two weeks old. Lack of money and association with bad companions was the cause of his downfall.

Both Clark and Smith were ex-convicts, having served two years each in Stony Mountain penitentiary for burglary.

It was this pair that, on the night of April 26, held up Baldwin Dumans, street car operator, after he had brought his car to a stop at the end of the Morse Place line. They took cash and tickets to the value of $35 and a gold watch worth $20. Their get-away was made in a taxi driven by Tomiak, who was waiting for them nearby.

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"ASKED FOR PENITENTIARY," Montreal Gazette. November 7, 1913. Page 3. --- Judge Granted Prisoner's Wish in Sentence --- "You have already served several terms in jail, so I will send you back there for twenty-three months," said Judge Bazin yesterday morning to Joseph Desauliers, to who had been found guilty of stealing a horse and rig.

"li it would be all the same to you, Your Honor, and if you would only be kind enough, I would rather you would send me to St. Vincent de Paul penitentiary for five years. I have never been in the new jail at Bordeaux, but I have been in the old jail Your Honor, and I guess they use the old methods in the new one. So if you would be kind enough, I would rather that you send me to the penitentiary for five years than to jail for twenty-three months."

"Seeing you are so anxious for a change," said Judge Bazin, "I will make it three years in the penitentiary."

"Thank you, Your Honor. I am much obliged," said Desauliers, as he stepped out of the prisoner's dock to be taken back to the cells.

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"RECORD SENTENCE IN POLICE COURT," Sault Star. June 28, 1913. Page 5. --- Jas. McEwen is Given Five Years and Lashes for Robbery with Violence. ---- One of the severest sentences іmроsed in the police court of this city was passed on Jas MeEwatt, Scotch moulder, found guilty by Magistrate Elliott this morning of robbery with violence. The term of five years in Kingston penitentiary with five lashes on entrance and five on leaving is one that stands almost by a record in police court annals in this country.

MeEwan has, it is alleged, been hanging around the city for some time, having the very enviable record in having worked three days in the past month. Yesterday he managed to make the acquaintance of Levi Clark and Fred Horning of Rudyard, Mich., who happened to be in the city for a little time. McEwan, managed to work Clark for the price of a meal in the Boston Launch after coming from the Queen's Hotel, where they had indulged in a few drinks at the expense of the latter. Another young man who is described by the prisoner as clean shaven, and wearing a blue suit, and who assisted him in the robbery, is known to the police and will in all probability be apprehended today.

After leaving the Boston Lunch the prisoner and a friend went with the two plaintiffs to the Windsor Hotel, and after indulging in a few drinks at the expense of the latter, and noticing that their friend had made use of a $10 bill in buying the drink, evidently decided to hang around a while. Shortly alter the two men from Rudyard went to a room in the back of the hotel, and they were knocked down and Clark was robbed of nine dollars.

The magistrate considered McEwan a very tough character and it is prob able that the stiff sentence handed out this morning will have a deterrent effect upon wrongdoers of the same class. The prisoner denied all know knowledge of a man with him, and would not reveal his partner's name. The police however know the man and will likely get him.

[McEwan was 28, from Paisley, Scotland, a moulder, and had served a 30 day jail term for theft a few months before. He was convict #F-619 at Kingston Penitentiary and worked in the metal shop. He was reported three times - in May 1914 and February and August 1915 - for disobedience, loosing 15 days remission. He was let out in 1917.]