John Baines appeared at Manchester Assizes in 1883 charged with fraud and forgery, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years’ penal servitude. He was about 29 years old and was found to have committed a range of offences during the course of his employment at the Barrow in Furness branch of the Lancaster Banking Company, where he worked as a bank clerk. He had falsified accounts and forged documents in order to pay people he owed money to after large losses whilst gambling on the stocks and share markets.