Hay and district
Crime and punishment
  It wasn't me - it was Henry Molloy !  
Drawing by
Rob Davies

The records of the Quarter Sessions include a 'Calendar of Prisoners' which lists the main details of each person who appears before the Magistrates. The one from this Midsummer Session in 1892 shows that James Riley had a lot of experience of the courts, and also had been using two different names !
The document stated that James Riley was aged 34, and that his trade was 'Sailmaker'. Perhaps he was able to make sails in prison, because he spent much of his life locked up !
Shifty character !
There wasn't
enough room
room on the
paper for all
the previous
court cases
to be listed
in 1892 !
 Quarter Sessions paper
Quarter Sessions paper
Quarter Sessions paper
  "James Riley
21 Days - 23rd Nov 1869, Felony, Preston Petty Sessions, As Henry Molloy.
7 Days - 15th July 1870, Felony, Liverpool Petty Sessions, As Henry Molloy.
12 Calendar Months - May 1873, Housebreaking, Liverpool Sessions, As
Henry Molloy.
7 Years Penal Servitude and 2 Years Police Supervision - Dec 30th 1875, Liverpool Assizes, As Henry Molloy".
 10 Calendar Months - June 1885, Felony, Liverpool City Sessions, As Henry Molloy.
6 Calendar Months - May 1866, Felony, Liverpool City Sessions, As Henry Molloy.
5 Years Penal Servitude - 5th January 1887, Stealing a Coat, Knutsford Sessions, As Henry Molloy.
3 Calendar Months - 24th December 1891, Stealing Socks, Neath Petty Sessions, As James Riley.
15 Summary Convictions for Vagrancy etc."
 

Perhaps Henry Molloy thought that he was getting a bad name, so he changed it to James Riley !
Notice that he stole socks on Christmas Eve in 1891. Perhaps he was going to give them to someone as a present !
After being found guilty of his latest crime James Riley, also known as Henry Molloy, was sentenced to 9 months in prison with hard labour !

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