Tempting beef
On 26 July 1881, Alfred Varney was tried at the Sale Assizes for cattle-stealing. After Varney was found guilty, Chief Justice Stawell declared that while he had no sympathy for persons who left their goods exposed to offer temptation to theft, they lived in a country where goods, especially cattle, were necessarily left more exposed than in older countries. It was therefore necessary to check such crime. He sentenced Varney to four years hard labour.
This trial report is from Gippsland TimesDownload from Trove