Prison for Milking Cow!

For stealing four and a half pints of milk, valued at eleven pence and a farthing (around 4.5p), Adilene Blanche Plaister, a single woman, of Shillingstone was sentenced by Sturminster Newton Magistrates to four months in prison with hard labour.

Witnesses had observed her crossing a field at around 5.15am with a bucket under her arm. She was then seen milking a cow which belonged to Shillingstone farmer Edwin Charles Tuffin - a charge she did not deny. The farmer claimed this was the sixth occasion his cow had been milked. The Court was told that Adilene Plaister had previously failed to appear at court stating she would definitely not go even for forty policemen. She was brought to Court under custody. Before Sturminster Newton Magistrates, Adilene Plaister pleaded not guilty but added:

‘I milked his cow but only did it for a bit of fun. I did it to get my own back.’ She alleged that Mr Tuffin had milked someone else’s cow.

On hearing the sentence, Adilene Plaister exclaimed:

‘I am not going to prison. What rot! I have never heard of such a thing in my life!!!’

Chairman of the Bench, Mr Scott Williams gave instructions that the accused should come under the observation of a prison doctor. Adilene Blanche Plaister’s case received a more than the usual coverage in the press across the country.

The defiant Shillingstone woman did have a previous conviction for using bad language.

(Source: Western Gazette - 18th November 1927.)

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