The Trial of Crowley for

Possession of Stolen Letters

24 - 25 July 1934

In 1932 the author Nina Hamnett published a book entitled Laughing Torso. In it, she recounted several anecdotes about Crowley including a reference to him having "practised that loathsome thing known as Black Magic." Crowley considered himself to have been libeled by her and sought an injunction to cease production of the book.

On 10-13 April 1934 the libel suit was held in the High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division, before Mr. Justice Swift and a Special Jury. On the third day the jury stopped the case, with the foreman saying they were unanimous in finding a verdict for the defendants. Judgment was thereupon against Crowley and given for the defendants, with costs. Crowley would later appeal the decision in this trial on 6-8 November 1934.

As a result of personal correspondence produced as evidence by Crowley, he was arrested on 21 June 1934 and later forced to stand trial on 24-25 July 1934 for being in possession of stolen property, namely five letters belonging to Betty May, a witness in the Crowley v Constable proceedings.

Before Judge Whiteley, at the Central Criminal Court yesterday, the trial of Crowley who pleaded “Not Guilty” to a charge of receiving four original letters and one copy of a letter said to have been stolen from Mrs. Betty Sedgwick, known as Betty May, an artist’s model, began.

Mr. Melford Stevenson and Mr. A. E. Reade prosecuted, and Mr. C. Gallop defended. Mr. Stevenson explained that Crowley became a plaintiff in a civil action for damages for libel. It was brought against a firm of publishers, and it was in respect of passage in a book published by them in which, according to Crowley, certain reflections were made upon him in the name of Aleister Crowley. Mrs. Sedgwick had given to the solicitors for the defence in that action a certain amount of information about Crowley. During the libel trial Crowley's legal team had entered into evidence five letters provided by Crowley that later turned out to have been stolen from Betty May.

The jury found Crowley Guilty of being in possession of stolen property. The judge then warned Crowley that if anything of this kind occurs again he would be brought back to court and receive six months.

Crowley was then bound over, and ordered to pay a sum not exceeding 50 guineas towards the costs of the prosecution.