The Hatry Trial On Friday, January 24th, at the Central
Criminal Court, Clarence Hatry was sentenced to fourteen years' penal servitude—the maximum sentence. His accomplices received smaller sentences—Daniels seven years, Dixon five years and Tabor three years. In the case of each defendant there were other sentences, but these will run concurrently with the penal servitude. The Judge described the forgeries as " most appalling frauds." They were certainly the worst ever known in the. City. Hatry traded on the personal confidence in himself which he had gradually built up. He was the creator of a large number of interlocked companies. Banks and Corporations alike had no thought of questioning his good faith, though they might have done so on his record of some years ago. At last he reached a stage in his audacious dealings where his existing companies depended for their solvency on the success of a new flotation. If only the new flotation had succeeded all might have been well, but the luck was against him. To tide over the bad time he and his confederates forged scrip for immense sums and made use of trust money in their keeping. It was said in Hatry's defence that he never meant to steal. The Judge's terse comment on that was that it was the defence of " any office boy who robs the till to back a winner."
Previous page
