1929 would be a year miner William Kilpatrick of 293 Glasgow Road would have liked to have forgotten about.
The miner, employed at Bardykes Colliery found another man’s payline, and as well as collecting his own wage, went back to the office at a later time when it was staffed by another person, and handed in the found payline. Not out of honesty, but setting out to deceive. Attempting to impersonate another miner to obtain that wage too, he was caught out by staff at a later time, owing to the fact that Kilpatrick had a scar on the back of his hand, which was remembered. Police caught up with him and the £5 6d wages (about £300 in todays money) he had illegally obtained had to be paid back to the rightful owner.
Given he already had eight previous convictions for dishonesty, the judge had no alternative than to impose a jail sentence. When he was sentenced on Monday 4th March 1929, the Sheriff (Mercer Hamilton) said, “Your record compels me to regard you as an absolutely incorrigibly dishonest person.” William Kilpatrick served 6 months in prison for this fraud.
Pictured about 7 years later is Bardykes Colliery in 1936.
Source: Motherwell Times 8th March 1929
Credit: Words from “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2016
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