Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 22 July 1932

Compensation Squandered

Six Months for Mexboro’ Man

“You have told a deliberate lie to defraud the country,” said Mr. G. E. Cooke-Yarborough when sentencing William Horan Flanery, a Mexborough labourer, at Doncaster on Tuesday, to six months’ imprisonment for having obtained £6B from the West Riding Public Assistance Committee by false pretences.

Arthur G. Smith (relieving officer), said that on June Ist, 1931, Flanery’s wife made application for relief on the grounds that her husband was in hospital suffering from injuries received in a motor-cycle accident. There were four children dependent and grants were made. Witness had since made inquiries and found that in July, 1931, defendant received £8 11s. from an insurance company, and of that amount he only repaid £2 to the Public Assistance Committee.

Defendant, in October 1931, also received about £200 compensation, but he stated in an interview that he received that sum about ten years ago for an accident at Denaby Colliery which necessitated the amputation of a leg.

Flanery, in evidence, said the actual amount he received was £180, of which he spent £30 on his home, various sums on clothing and to his wife.

“I squandered this money about and it went.” He added that he paid a considerable amount of money on repairs to his motor-cycle.

When asked by Mr. Cooke-Yarborough why he had lied to the Relieving Officer, defendant replied that his memory was not too good.