Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 06 March 1931
“Iron” Hague in a “Scrap.”
Assaulted By Cousin.
James William (“Iron”) Hague one time heavyweight boxing champion of Great Britain was the complainant at Doncaster on Tuesday in a case which William Bennett, his cousin, a miner of Charles Street, Mexborough, was charged with unlawfully wounding the ex-pugilist in the Montagu Hotel on February 28th. The charge was subsequently reduced to one of common assault.
Hague said he was barman employed in the Low Drop at the Montagu Hotel. On Saturday afternoon he had to remonstrate with people in the bar regarding their behaviour and he ordered a coloured man off the premises. He spoke to the defendant, who used bad language, so be fetched the landlord. When he returned defendant was still there went round to him. As soon as he got up to him be picked up a glass from the counter and hit him on the head smashing the glass into fragments.
Witness was so near he could not say whether defendant threw the glass or struck him with it, Another man named Hodkin who was in the bar sustained a slight cut near the eye from the flying glass.
Cross -examined by Mr. D. Dunn, Hague admitted he was an ex-heavyweight boxing champ of Great Britain but said he had no particular objection to coloured men.
He admitted he had heard of Sam Langford. He did not blame defendant for the misbehaviour of the coloured man. Hague denied striking defendant on the nose and said he never attempted to strike him. Asked whether he was a “chucker out” at the Montagu Hotel, Hague said no and stated that he was a barman.
Defendant was using bad language when the landlord came down. It was not true that three of witness’s relatives had to hold on to prevent him attacking defendant.
Charles Edward Hodkin, miner of Chaucer Road, Mexborough, said he was in the Low Drop at the Montagu Hotel when the incident place. Hague asked the coloured man to go out and said the company ought to be ashamed of themselves. Defendant got into a temper and threw a glass at Hague and he (witness) got a cut from the flying glass.
Detective officer William Henry Lee said that of March 1st he went to see the defendant and cautioned him and then asked him for an explanation of his conduct. He replied “I should not have hit him with a glass but what chance I against a man like him?”
When charged defendant said “He struck me on the nose. I did it in self-defence.”
Mr Dunn said what the defendant did he did in self-defence, having regard to the fact that Hague was the ex-heavyweight boxing champion of Great Britain, and submitted that it “was nothing more or less and a common brawl between an ex-pugilist and his cousin.”
Bennett on oath said he had only three glasses of beer that afternoon and was not drunk. He had nothing to do with the behaviour of the coloured man. Hague told him he ought to be ashamed of himself and struck him on the nose and challenged him to fight.
“He was challenging me for about 10 minutes” continued witness. When he had thrown the glass Hague adopted a fighting attitude again. “I never intended to injure Hague. What I did was in the fear that I should be violently assaulted,” he concluded.
Inspector Redfern: A lot has been said about this ex-heavyweight champion but he is not such a callous brute as all that.
The Chairman (Mr G.B. Shiffner): You have no business to hit anyone over the head with a glass. It is a dangerous thing to do and you will be fined 40 shillings.