Into the bar of the Old Berkeley Hunt public house, Watford, on Saturday night came a man holding a camera. He saw two men in the bar, went up to one, and said: “Would you like to buy a camera for £7?”

The other man looked at the camera – which was brand new – and said he had not the money with him.

The man with the camera reduced the price to £5, then to “£2 10s, a packet of Senior Service and a pint of beer.”

The other man then asked how much the camera had cost.

“Every penny of £30,” replied the vendor.

There was still no sale, and the disappointed vendor left the public house. He was followed by the two men in the bar.

Outside in the street they revealed their identities – Detective Constable Henry Murray and Detective Constable George Rafter. They told the man they suspected him of having stolen property in his possession.

This was the tale told at an Occasional Court at Watford on Monday by Detective Contable Murray, who said that he arrested the man with the camera, RMR of Hillside Drive, Edgware, and took him to the police station.

Later, as a result of further information, he charged the man with stealing a £30 camera from a stand at Watford Chamber of Commerce Exhibition.

[From the Watford Observer of July 6, 1956]

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