8 magistrate ultimately reached, namely that a sentence of direct imprisonment was imperatively demanded in this case. The dicta were uttered with reference to the facts of that case, and it is unsafe and likely to lead to error to apply dicta uttered with reference to particular circumstances as if they embodied a rule of general application. Counsel for the State submitted that there were points of correspondence between the present case and S v E. I do not think that that was a useful exercise. In R v Wells 1949(3) SA 83(A) Centlivres JA said at 87-88 that: "Decided cases are ... of value not for the facts but for the principles of law which they lay down. In this connection I cannot do better than quote the remarks of LORD FINLAY in Thomson v Inland Revenue (1919, SC (HL) 10):