December 3, 1895
At Liverpool on Tuesday twelve employees of the Everton Football Club were convicted of robbing the club by manipulating the turnstiles at matches. Three were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, seven to two months’, and one to one mouth, the remaining defendant being liberated on his own reconnaissances.
The “modus operandi” of the custodians has been something of this style. Before the responsible officials of the match had gone round to take the final figures for the match, the registering machine had been opened with the fake keys, and to give an instance of how the fraud has been perpetrated it must be supposed that the hits figures of the checker stood at 700. These have been put back, perhaps, a couple of hundred, and the record shown as 500.
At a six-penny entrance this would mean a matter of £5. It must, however, be understood that the larger the “gate” the greater the opportunity given for the operators to benefit themselves. It is estimated by some people that the Everton exchequer has this season been defrauded of sum between £700 and £1,000, and as this has been going on for several years it can easily be gathered what the conspirators have netted by their daring and ingenious method of fraud.
(Source: Evening Express: December 3, 1895)
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