Shropshire Routes to Roots

3. System of prosecution

Pre-Police Prosecutions

In the early part of Nineteenth century England it was up to the private individual to pursue any prosecution individually. The person sinned against was expected to make an arrest and to take the offender to the local Parish Constable, who would simply act as a custodian until the court appearance.

The victim would have to find his own witnesses and produce them before a magistrate, where statements would be made and signed. A decision was often made at this stage whether or not to commit the defendant to a court for trial, or to dismiss it summarily. These were the only two options open to the magistrate.

By Victorian times, although there was very little financial help from authority in conducting a case, there was the beginning of assistance in the form of travelling solicitors. These lawyers travelled from court to court and charged One Guinea (£1.10) for their services. This was not a huge sum, but was well beyond the means of most people. As a result, the solicitors were only used in about half of all cases. The remainder were prosecuted by the victims themselves.

Prior to 1855, when the Criminal Justice Act allowed many more cases to be dealt with by the magistrates, any theft of more than five shillings had to be committed to the Quarter Sessions. Consequently, many offences were dismissed by the magistrate and a warning given. The victim was also bound-over to attend the Court hearing, in the same way as the defendant. This was normally in the sum of £40; a huge amount in those days.

Allowable Assizes Expenses (Shropshire Archive reference: QC21/3) Larger image, in a new window [49kb]

The prosecution was by way of the victim and witnesses giving their sworn statements to the court. The defendant had no right to give sworn evidence, but made a statement at the end of the case. This was often given little weight by the court, and although this seems harsh nowadays, the old tenet that "a man is innocent until proved guilty" was strictly upheld. As a result, the court often came down on the side of the defendant, unless a very strong case was put forward.

Act instituting the post of Director of Public Prosecutions, 1872 Larger image, in a new window [113kb]

In 1879, the post of the Director of Public Prosecutions (D.P.P.) was created, with a brief to oversee all criminal prosecutions. It was from this point on that the state took over the task of prosecution in court. Consequently, the government and the improving professional Police Forces started to act in concert in crime detection and prosecution.

Police Detection

Before the creation of permanent Police Forces, the Parish Constable was mainly used by the local magistrates for serving notices and acting as gaoler for any person arrested for an offence. It was unusual for a constable to enter into any form of detection of crime, or to assist in the investigation or arrest. He was often a local man, with local connections, and was prone to let things slide to avoid confrontation.

As the new Constabularies developed throughout the Victorian era, one of the driving forces towards improving standards was the comparison with each other by the local boroughs and counties. Shropshire was well known as being the poor relation, and put very little money aside for the policing of the county.

Gradually, the influence of the Metropolitan Police and their neighbours forced Shropshire and other similarly reluctant councils to upgrade and use the new techniques and technologies that were being developed. These included photography, fingerprinting and scientific analysis.

In the case alongside, in 1900, a Sergeant from Oakengates received this report from the Public Analyst, stating that the substance submitted did indeed contain sufficient arsenic to "render it unwholesome". This new way of thinking, where an investigation consisted of many strands, was typified in the "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries.

Analyst's report (West Mercia Police Archives) Larger image, in a new window [101kb]

Police Intelligence

Circulations such as the Metropolitan's "Travelling Criminals" began to indicate that crime was not a local phenomenon. Police Forces began to realise that photography and fingerprinting could actually describe and identify criminals many miles from their usual sphere of activity. By the end of the century, police methods and communication were already taking on the form they would retain until the present day.

Travelling Criminals (Photos) (West Mercia Police Archives) Larger image, in a new window [78kb]

Travelling Criminals (Details) (West Mercia Police Archives) Larger image, in a new window [103kb]

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