Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 14 November 1930
A Denaby Crowd.
Attracted by Sight of a Policeman.
“You two men seem a pest to the district.’ ‘said the Chairman of the Doncaster West Riding magistrates on Tuesday to William Henry Green and Godfrey Davies, Denaby Main miners, who were charged with gaming with coins. “You belong to a dangerous gang and you have been here before for gambling,” added the Chairman.
P.c. Thompson said that at 3-40 p.m. on Oct. 19th, he was on duty with P.c. Archer at New Conisboro’. “We went after gamblers,” remarked the policeman, “members of the Big Entry Gang. We saw the defendants with others tossing coins. We saw Green hand some money to Davies.” When the men saw the policemen they ran away, but witness called out to the defendants that he knew them, and they stopped running immediately. Both defendants becalm very abusive when spoken to, and Green said, “If I am going to get pinched again I shall get my revenge, you rotten dog.”
A crowd of about 900 collected on the scene of the arrests, and feeling against the police ran high.
In evidence Green said there had been a tossing school at New Conisboro’, but that had been disbanded. He added that he did not run away when the police appeared, and did not assume a threatening attitude. There was no gang called the “Big Entry Gang.”
Davies said he was not gambling, and it was not true that he handed coins to Green. He had only been out of the house for about five minutes. He did not do any threatening, and it was only natural for people to come out of their houses to see what was happening when the police came up.
Supt. Minty : Is a policeman such a rare sight in Denaby, then?
Green and Davies were each fined £3.