Mervyn Traynor

Mervyn Traynor was an untried young solicitor who represented Stan Ogden when he appeared in court on charges of speeding, DUI and driving with an out-of-date licence in July 1974.

Though he was guilty on all counts, Stan hoped to get off due to a legal loophole. Ray Langton advised him that his only hope was to go private and passed on Mervyn Traynor's name. Hiring Mervyn would incur hefty solicitor's fees, but as Hilda had just spent six weeks cleaning aboard the cruise liner Monte Umber in the Caribbean, the Ogdens had £200 on hand. Meeting with Mervyn, Stan was surprised by his youth; Ray hadn't told him that Mervyn was just starting out and hadn't been in court yet. Mervyn was confused unutterably by Stan's description of the case but responded with enthusiasm and promised that the fees would be low, which convinced Stan to go with him.

The next step was for Hilda to meet Mervyn and give him the once over. Hilda planned to spend the £200 money doing up the house, and it was only the prospect of seeing the smiles wiped off people's faces due to Stan having a posh lawyer that made her consider the idea. She too was put off by his age, and his admitted inexperience, but he swayed her with his youthful passion and a warning that two of Stan's offences carried a prison sentence and she might have to apply for social security if Stan went to jail.

On Stan's day in court, Mervyn met with the Ogdens beforehand and put Stan off his idea of addressing the bench. In the event, Stan got off lightly with a £50 fine, leaving Hilda with the princely sum of £150 from her cruise wages, £143 of which went towards Mervyn's fees. After slaving away below decks for six weeks, Hilda had only £7 to show for it.

1974

 * Mon 24th Jun
 * Wed 26th Jun
 * Mon 15th Jul