September 1938 

POLICE IN CAR CHASE IN FOG

After a thrilling motor car chase, two police officers arrested a man in Five Oak Green on Saturday but afterwards had to force their way through a crowd of angry hop-pickers, some of whom endeavoured to pull the man away while others shouted: "Let him go." 

The officers, both from Tonbridge, P.C.s Macpherson and Coney, were on motor patrol in the vicinity of Five Oak Green when they saw a car which they knew to have been stolen from the London area. 

They immediately gave chase to the car which was driven away a fast pace around the Green and through crowds of hop-pickers. Eventually the car pulled up outside the King's Head where it was first seen. 

The doors were flung open and four men jumped out and ran into the crowd. The officers drove after them and P.C. Macpherson was able to catch and hold one of the men. After forcing their way through the crowd the officers took him to Tonbridge Police Station.

 
The other three got away, but two of them were subsequently arrested at Yalding where they were hop-picking. 

At Bow Street magistrates court in London on Monday one of the men pleaded guilty to having taken the car without the owner's consent and having no driving licence and no certificate of insurance. The other two pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody for week.