Peculiar Theft of Horse Hair from a Railway Carriage at Swansea

South Wales Daily Post

As reported in the South Wales Daily Post in July 1912, a strangely compelling drama unfolded at the Swansea Police Court when an unusual and rather audacious theft was brought before the magistrates. The accused, Wm. Otten, a 26‑year‑old labourer, stood charged with stealing and receiving horse hair valued at £6—a sum equivalent to about £890 today—the property of the Great Western Railway Company, taken from a railway carriage at the North Dock Junction during the nights between 17–24 June.

Mr. Rupert Lewis, prosecuting, sketched a picture of quiet but deliberate wrongdoing carried out under cover of darkness. Detective Hayes, who apprehended Otten, testified that although the accused freely admitted possessing the horse hair, he firmly denied stealing it—an insistence that lent the proceedings a lingering air of mystery.

Two separate charges were laid: the first concerning the period 17–19 June, the second 19–24 June. After hearing the evidence, the magistrates committed Otten for trial at the Quarter Sessions, where the full weight of the allegations would be examined before a higher court.