Corpun file 25503 at www.corpun.com

Daily Mirror, London, 5 May 1961, p.7

Typist spanked by boss

'A smack -- or get the sack'

By Reg Scott

THREE times, junior typist Linda Elliott was asked to fetch an office file.

Three times, she forgot.

So sixteen-year-old Linda's exasperated boss offered her an unusual choice: be FIRED -- or be SPANKED.

Linda chose the spanking. And yesterday it cost the boss, forty-five-year-old company director Kenneth Harvey, a £20 fine.

Harvey, father of three children, pleaded guilty to a common assault charge at the quarter sessions at Penzance, Cornwall.

Linda, of Eastbourne-road, St. Austell, Cornwall, now works in a shop.

Mr. Philip Stephens, prosecuting, told the court: "To offer a girl a choice of dismissal or a spanking is a unique option in employee-employer relationship."

He said that Harvey pushed Linda into a separate room and smacked her bare bottom.

After the spanking, Mr. Stephens said, Harvey sat Linda on his knee, gave her a handkerchief to dry her tears, and told her: "Don't go back making a fuss -- and don't tell anyone else about it."

Click to enlarge

Harvey, of Boswinger, Gorran, near St. Austell, was said to have told a policeman: "I admit I smacked her.

"But it was outside her skirt, and I didn't disarrange her clothing."

Mr. Harry Russell, defending, said that Harvey felt it necessary to reprimand the girl. He knew she came from a large family, and did not want to dismiss her.

The Recorder, Mr. Michael Lee, QC, ordering Harvey to pay £30 costs with the £20 fine, said: "I take the view that this assault was committed in a moment of exasperation."