At Middlesbrough yesterday John Wm. Nettleton, of Welford-st., was fined 5s and costs for having traded after eight o'clock at night, in contravention of the Shop Hours Act. It was stated that the defendant was selling apples to people who were going into the Pavilion Picture Hall.
He pleaded that he did not know the time, and also that he was a cripple and did not want to go to the workhouse. He "had to make a living."
Ald. Dent, in cautioning the defendant, said that he professed not to know the time, but he ought to have done so.
It was not fair to other traders who had to pay rates for their places.
(Published in the "Northern Echo" on August 21, 1921)