Hertfordshire's courts deal with thousands of cases every year, and it was no different back in the early 1900s.

Some of these cases seem bizarre now, so here are five historic Stevenage crimes that you won't believe actually happened.

1. Lights out

We start with Fanny Moss of Pratt’s Yard, Stevenage, who had a run in with a wartime law in early 1916.

According to the Hertfordshire Mercury from May 27, 1916, Ms Moss - a young widow who had lost her husband to the fighting of the First World War - had left her lights on past the Lighting Order curfew time.

The order was put in place during the Great War due to the risk of Zeppelin airship bombing raids, so when PC Harrowell spotted her lights still on at 11.40pm, he took action.

Using a clothes prop, he tapped on the window but knocked out the glass pane, much to the dismay of Ms Moss who made her feels known to the bobby with some "impolite language".

She was fined five shillings under the Lighting Order at Stevenage Sessions.

2. A murder most fowl

On May 22, 1915, two boys from Walkern, Eric N. Reed and Percy Brown stole a tame duck from Mr R.W. Foster.

The pair were spotted by a witness not long after, with Reed concealing the bird under his coat. When he was asked what he had, he threw the duck into a ditch and ran.

Sadly, the incident killed the duck, and the boys admitted to killing the fowl "out of mischief".

Brown also fessed up to the crime to someone far worse than the police. His mother. Far from impressed, she told them to go and fetch the stricken bird so the owner could be found.

At Stevenage Petty Sessions on June 5, the boys were given a stern warning about their behaviour and order to pay Mr Foster two shillings for the pure-bred Orpington drake.

There was somewhat of a happy ending to the story though, as when the parents handed Mr Foster a guinea he asked the court's bench to donate the money to the local Red Cross fund.

3. Steaming

Drink driving is a crime committed far too often today, and back in 1914, dangerous motorists way over the limit were also a problem.

On the evening of October 15, David William Perkins, of Parkland Road, Bengeo, crashed a steam powered lorry into a lamppost in Stevenage.

He was so inebriated that officers were unable to detain him following the incident, according to a Hertfordshire Mercury report from October 31.

At Stevenage Petty Sessions, Perkins was given a choice. Either pay a £2 fine or spend 14 days behind bars. He chose the former, paying £1 at the hearing and the rest of the fine at a later date.

4. Unattended carts

In late December 1915, four cartmen from Hertford Brewery were summoned to appear in front of the bench at Stevenage Petty Sessions.

What crime had they committed, you might be asking? Leaving their horses and carts unattended on the highway at Stevenage.

At 6.10pm on October 28, a police officer noticed three carts and a waggon with horses, which were being used by William Parish, Horace Playle, William Easter and George Hart, left unattended outside the Diamond public house.

When the bobby passed again at 7.35pm, darkness had set in and although the waggon had lights on, it was hard to see and posed a serious danger.

He spotted the men and established this was the first time they had been to check on the carts, which led to Parish, Playle and Easter getting a five shillings fine, while Hart got off scot-free. 

5. 101 crimes

Just before Christmas in 1915, Albert Ebenezer Fox - better known as one half of the notorious 'Stevenage Twins' - got an early gift. His 101st conviction.

The 60-year-old was charged under the Prevention of Poaching Act after being found in possession of 16 partridge eggs when searched by Inspector Bowyer, at Norton Green, on June 1, 1915.

The bench at Stevenage Petty Sessions offered him the choice of paying a 30 shillings fine a month behind bars. He chose jail.

By the end of their lives, the Fox twins, who were well known poachers, had more than 200 convictions between them.