In a story which has unusual resonance to anti-social behaviour still going on in Salford, we investigate a court case from 100 years ago today.
A young miscreant by the name of Clifford Hunt faced the wrath of magistrates when he appeared before Salford Juvenile Court on 6 July 1915.
Hunt, 12, from Robertson Street in Salford was charged with throwing stones at trains coming in to the long-demolished Seedley train station.
The court heard that station porter reported a group of youths trespassing on the line. They ran away when he shouted at them, but as he returned to duty, one of the boys threw a stone which struck the man on the leg, while another stone narrowly missed a steam train coming in to the station.
Local officer PC Thomas, who was on duty in the area, saw Clifford Hunt throw six stones at passing trains and gave chase. When the boy was caught he still had a stone in his hand.
He was arrested and charged at Salford Juvenille Court with ‘Throwing stones at an engine on the London and North West Railway Company in such a manner as to endager the safety of persons travelling on the line’.
The prosecutor Mr Branthwaite told the court that earlier that month a porter at the same station had been hit on the head by a stone thrown by a group of boys and that there had been a large number of complaints recently about this sort of shocking behaviour.
Hunt’s father appeared in court and said that he didn’t know anything about this incident until the boy received a a court summons. He then recounted to the bench that he had given the 12-year-old “a good thrashing”.
The Stipendary Mr Burnley complimented the father for administering this kind of justice and then added his own: Clifford Hunt was ordered to be taken to the nearest police station and given five strokes of the birch.
Directly following Hunt, two boys aged just 8 and 10 tramped into the court room to face a similar charge and a similar punishment.
William Mann, 8, and William Varden, 10, were found guilty of throwing stones at workmen on the train line.
Mann received two strokes of the birch while the older Varden took three strokes.
It does seem terribly harsh giving the birch to a boy as young as 8, however the consequences could have been a lot worse if they had actually smashed the windows on passing steam trains.
Seedley train station closed in 1956 and there is little trace of where it stood, close to Langworthy Road.
50 years later, and 100 yards down the line, two boys age 12 and 16 almost caused one of the worst train distasters in Salford history.
Read: 50 years ago in Salford: Hero stops Weaste express train disaster
Sadly to this day we still get stories in the press of youths vandalising trains and throwing stones from railway embankments. Both are highly dangerous and have the potential to result in fatalities. Times may change, but people stay the same, it seems.
