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Law and History: 5: Jurisdiction Again............

 

The constrained jurisdiction of railway, dock and canal (RDC) police has always been a problem.  It still is.   A particularly difficult example can be found in the experience of Pc Wilfred LUCAS of the Midland Railway Police, Nottingham.

One night in late Spring 1903 Pc LUCAS was on duty at the station when he was approached by a member of the public telling him that nearby a woman was calling for help saying that she had been assaulted by her husband and that he had threatened to murder her and their children.  At first he, correctly, pointed out that this was a matter for the City Police and that he had no jurisdiction.  Bystanders pleaded with him, fearful for the life of the victim.  He therefore made his way the short distance to the address in question.  As he was alone two railway staff came to assist.  On his arrival the officer spoke to witnesses and gained access to the house via a window where he arrested the suspect, a Mr George DARBY,  and took him to the local police station by foot, after a struggle.  DARBY alleged that Pc LUCAS had struck him during the arrest. The prosecutor pointed out that DARBY would have been entitled to resist the arrest as it was unlawful, although he denied that any struggle took place and accused the officer of punching him in the neck for no reason.   Upon arrival at the police station the City Police sergeant ‘refused charge’ and noted that DARBY had an injury to his eye.  The sergeant recorded that DARBY and his wife had been drinking and DARBY was released without charge.

Pc LUCAS was summonsed to the magistrates court on the allegation of assaulting Mr DARBY and appeared before the magistrates on 6th May 1903.  The prosecution pointed out that Pc LUCAS had no authority and that he had acted outside his jurisdiction as a constable of the Midland Railway.  Evidence was also given that the power to arrest in these circumstances was limited even for a local constable in that technically it was required that the officer witness an assault before arrest.  In his defence the officer spoke to the necessity of his actions.  His evidence was corroborated by the railway officials who had accompanied him and a neighbour confirmed that she had heard cries of MURDER from the victim who was out in the street dressed only in her night attire.  Mr R A YOUNG, who appeared for the defence told the bench that if LUCAS had not acted as he had he would have “been a coward and would have failed in his duty”.  The bench were troubled by the case and accepted that Pc LUCAS had some justification for his actions.  However as the arrest was unlawful the use of force amounted to an assault.  The officer was convicted and fined 1/-.

We are not sure what happened to Pc LUCAS after his conviction.  An officer of the same name was working for the Midland Railway later in the same year on ‘holiday traffic’ at Morecambe.  In later life it looks as if he lived in Derby.  It would be interesting to know what he thought about the incident and how it was viewed by his senior officers and peers.

Limited jurisdiction policing did not work in 1903 and it doesn’t work in 2023.

 

Phil Trendall

October 2023

Notes

1.       Police Review & Parade Gossip 15 May 1903 p231

2.       Although not reported in the Police Review it would seem that the incident took place in Parkinson Street. This was where the family were living in 1901 at the time of the census.  This road no longer exists but was a few yards north of Station Street and the Midland Railway Station.  At the time the officer's powers powers were laid out in s48 of the Midland Railway Act 1900 (a private Act).  This gave Pc LUCAS the powers of constable on the railway and also enabled him to follow  a person from the railway and to arrest them for offences committed on the railway.  This 'extra territorial' power clearly does not fit with the circumstances faced by the officer.  Even now a BTP officer in these circumstances would only have a 'conditional' power to do what Pc LUCAS did.  He/she would have to be satisfied that a number of tests were met, as laid out in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, s100.  If the venues were reversed and the incident was on the railway an officer from the local force would have full powers to deal with the suspect.  This was true in 1903 and in 2023.    

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