Trial
The Attorney-General, F.E.Smith, went to Derby himself and used his influence to move the trial to London, where he prosecuted the case and appeared in person. At the trial at the Old Bailey, which began on 6 March 1917, Smith refused to call Gordon as a witness, thus preventing his being cross-examined on his own involvement in the "plot". Alfred Mason (aged 24) was sentenced to seven years and Winnie (aged 23) to five years, even though the jury recommended mercy on account of their youth. Hettie was acquitted. Alice was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude and was sent to Aylesbury Prison, where she went on hunger strike. She was later moved to Holloway (HM Prison).
Three days after the conviction, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers published an open letter to the Home Secretary that included the following:
"We demand that the Police Spies, on whose evidence the Wheeldon family is being tried, be put in the Witness Box, believing that in the event of this being done fresh evidence will be forthcoming which will put a different complexion on the case."
Read more about this topic: Alice Wheeldon
Famous quotes containing the word trial:
“Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident—the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.”
—Edward C. Banfield (b. 1916)
“Between us two it’s not a star at all.
It’s a new patented electric light,
Put up on trial by that Jerseyite
So much is being now expected of....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)