Star. — London, England, 1817-01-21 00:00:00

TRIAL OF THE Juo OLD BAILEY SESSIONS, JANUARY ,20. It being understood that on this day the trial n( Watson, and of the othei Pirsons in cirdody (or being concerned in the late riots, would come on, the Court was crfswded at an eatly hour. The precautions taken by the Sherits prevented ally inconwitiet.ce that 'night have been ex;:ecled from the press of the crowd, At nine o'clock the Recorder entered the Court, and varietts prisoners, among whom was the elder Watson, were arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. The indictment against Watson contained two counts —in the first he was charged with having, on the 2d of December last, feloniously, and m ali• ciotisly, with a sword, struck, cut and stabbed Joseph Rhodes, with intent to murder him : the second charged him with Oar same assault, with iitt2iq to disable the said Joseph Rhodes. The Iris war pledd. ed not guilty in a firm vole?, and as dli an as tureJ air ; but at the same time betras.i..! v me syrup:outs . of confusion, as, instei I of r e plyi n g 1,, ; h e qu „ t;;111 " i low will you be trieJ in ihe w.ty, be An- bw,red, by my I(int and my country. ilr ten o'clock, Mr. Justice YANK, and Mr. Justice Bunten nil, accompanied by the LORD MAVOR and the Common Seljeant, took their seats on the Bench, when the following prisoners, John Hooter, Richard Cawlle, John Cashman, Wiliam Gunni, and John Car in-n!cr, were put to tlie bar, and arraigned before a London Jury. They severally pleaded not guilty, and put themselves ou Goo and their country. The four last prisoners were then set aside for a little, and the first, John Hooper, remaining, presented an A.. davit, on which Mr. ALLEY, his Couniel, moved to postpone his trial, on the ground of his Want of preparation for making his delence,owing to the shortness of the time allowed between his commitment for capital felony and his trial. He was 'originally committed tor a muderneanour only, and bailed till the present Ses skits, when he intended to appear and traverse till the next Sessions, sshich he might lawfully .10. It was, therefore, with the greatest surprise that he heard that ap indictment was found against him on Thursday last for a capital felony, and that he was apprehended on that charge. lie had thus ()illy two or three days to prepare for his defeuce, to insouct his Solicitor, and to arrange with his witnesses. He was thus deprived of the advantages that other pri soners enjoyed in a similar situation, when they were to be tried fur their lives. He had not the depositions of witnesses to the crime of which he was accused; he had not the opportunity of Wog confronted with them before the Magistrate, or of being able to rebut their evidence by contrary testimony, it he had any such to produce. The Learned Counsel was sure •the Court would lean io the side of mercy, and would never compel any prisoner to enter upon Isis defence against a charge that affected his life under any dis advantages that a little delay could remedy. The affidavit wits then read by the order of Mr. Justice Park. It stated in general, that the prisoner was committed for a misdemeanour, and b.iled out; and not knowing that a capital charge was to be prefer red against hint till Thursday last, he was not pre pared for meeting it; as he had not had time to in struct his Solicitor. Mr. GURNKY objected to the application. If he thought that it would answer any good purpose, or any other purpose but delay, he would have been so far from opposing it, that he would have been the first to second it; fur, next to the importance of ad ministering justice impartially, was that of dning it satisfactorily, and to the conviction of the parties and the public. The Learned Counsel produced an affi davit, swain by Mr. Newman, the gaoler, which 'cacti!, that the prisoner Hooper was brought into custody on Thursday last, and that he informed him that he must prepare himself for taking his trial on Monday (this day), The sole object of this ayplica lion, Overtire, mild only he to gain time ; and if it I was acceded to, nes 'far Application to postpone the course of justice could river afterwards be resist. ed. The facts charged against the prisoner were net new, though the consnuction of them into felony did I .ay. tax take place till last mrsi! lic had an op portunity of knowing the wi.,;:esses that would appear against him in the examinations that wilt place be. fore his commitment for the inisdensoanour ;but even though'this were not the case, had he not time since Thursday last to have made all the necessary ar rangements, and have given the necessary instruc tions ? He was not brought from the country, nor did he allege that any of his material witnesses were absent. Never was there a more defective affidavit produced in support of such an application. The prisoner did not suggest that he should ever have any witnesses to produce, still less did hit name any ; nor did he state that he had consulted any Solicitor upon the subject. There was not even an allegatioo that he could not safely proceed to trial without wit nesses oho were abieur. In many other rempectsshe affidavit was totally deficient • in most of those cir cumstances 'which usually formed the ground of such motions.• The prisoner had had quite sufficient time to prepare his defence since has first commitment ; aad even during the time which had elapsed from last Thiirsday, he had every reasonable opportunity of preparing for' trial ; five days would answer the purpose as well as two months. The Solicitor, lead made- no affidavit, nor was 'he even named. The prisoner did not shew that he had used diligence ; and that, having used it, his efforts had been un asailing to prepare himself for his trial. Under such circumstances he would resist the application, and was convinced the Court would refuse it. Mr. ALLLY replied. The affidavit was certainly defective in souse points ; but it stated the important fact of the shortness of time, which he thought was s Aficient. Mr. Justice PARK concurred in the observation made by Mr. Gurney, that justice should not only he impartially, but satisfactorily administered; that' the conscience•of the Judge, and . the opini on o f t h e Public should be satisfied. He 'allowed' Counselici be beard, though be bad preSiously ascertained the course — he was bound to pursue, because he' wished to prevent the statement of nothing . that Might mak e for the prisoner. Nothing was "tined, however, that could • support the application. He only stated in his affidavit, that knee, not of the charge of felony agaiiist bias till last Thuriday, nor was it adavaaart t o h a ve a lung Femme kaowledge of it. /* did net pretend ignorance of the, facts on which the' charge rested. The subject matter of the present indictment, and of the Ridemeanour, was the same, and on the latter examination had been held for seve ral weeks. The absence of no material witness was alleged ; he had not even said that he had employed a Solicitor, o shewn one advantage which he would enjoy at a future opportunity of which he was now depriveJ. He refused the application, and thought hi; Learned Brother on the Bench would agree with him. _ _ _ ....... Mr. Justice I3uonovon and the Reconnea con curring in the opinion of Mr. Justice PARK, the ap plication was unanimously ref psed. and the trial ot , dered to proceed. The five prisoners, John Hooper, John Cashman, R. Gamble, William Gunnel, and J.)lin Carpenter, wet.: then put to the bar, and the Jury charged with the indictment, which imputed to them capital fe lony, in steali;tg on the 2d of December, in the pa rish of St. Sepulchre, two blunderbusses, ten pair of pistols, a great number of muskets, and 20 steel shot wrath about £250, the property of Andrew 13. ck wien, in his dwelling-house. The indictment w.nit ou to state:. that at the time of the said robbery, Charles Griffin, John Roberts, and Henry Beckwith, being then and there in the said dwelling-house, were put in great fear and bodily danger. Mr. Bota.msn opened the indictment. Mr. GURNEY staled the case. lie began by say ing that he attended to assist in the investigation of a very important case ; but, though it was one of great public interest, it seemed to be surrounded with no difficulties, either of law or fact. It differed from ordinary cases of capital felony by stealing in a dwel• Hug goods of the value of more than 40s. and put. ting those in the house in bodily fear only, because it was committed with more outrageous audacity, in the face of day, in the presence of numbers, by a mob, armed, commanded by leaders, and obeying those leaders, and overpowering all resistance by their nonmers and their violence. The person whose dwelling-nouse was invaded, and whose property was Stolen, was Mr. Beckwith, a gun-maker, in Skinner- i street, in the neighbourhood of this Court : it took plaice in the forenoon of the 2d December last, at which time Mr. Beckwith happened to be from home. A considerable mob came to the door, preceded, but for a very short interval of time, by a person, re specting whom he would 'say nothing ; the attack took place, upon which this indictment was founded, and the robbery of arms, to a considerable amount, was effected with the greatest violence. A mob came to the door of Mr. Beckwith's shop, led by persons whose motions and signals and orders they obeyed, rallying under a standard, or flag, add pro ceeding to acts of violence and outrage. They forced their way into Mr. Beckwith's shop. demolished the, shop-window, and plundered the shop of arms of every description, to the amount of some hundreds of pounds. The persons who were in the house were 'put to very considerable fear and alarm : of that there can be very little doubt. when it was told, that some of the mob, armed with fire-arms,. more than once attempted to discharge their deadly weapons at the persons who were in the house: consequently, all the persons in the house had every thing to fear for their personal safety, and were, in fact, in imminent ap prehension and danger of their lives. After having effected this plunder, the mob proceeded eastward to the Royal Exchange, where they were encountered by the Chief Magistrate, and also by another Magi. strafe (Sir James Shaw), who, by their spirit and in. trepidity, which, if it had been properly seconded by every body, would not only have put down this yin. fence, but have taken into custody every person who was guilty of it. Their standard was seized, and some of the ringleaders were secured, and for that time and place they were dispersed. He would nut detail the transactions of the day further in the pre sent case. The offence charged in the indictment was committed by a number of persons, and it was the duty of the Jury to determine by the evidence that would be laid before them. whether the prisoners at the bar, or any, or either of them, were participators in the crime which was then committed When an offence is committed by a number of persons, they cannot all do one and the GAM thing. One does his part, and another his, and a third his; but no mat. ter which, they are all equally, guilty, provided they all manifest the same purpose, and their several and' respective acts conduce to the same end. The Jory would find, as respecting the five persons at the bar, the most unequivocal acts, demonstratiug that they were all engaged in this guilty puspose, and every one of them acted in furtherance and execution of that purpose. With respect to Cashman, it will ap pear he was tho.first who entered the house of Mr. Beck - with, and called his associates to follow him ; that he made ti,e of violence towards the persons who at-i tempted to defend the house; that he was amongst the foremost in carrying out the arms; and that he was seen 'in three or four instances to take seven, eight, and ten pieces of fire-arms out into the street at a Ow, and deliver them to his associates, for the purpose, and with the intent, that they should co. operate with him in the work of desolation which was then going on. With respect to him, therefore, there is the clearest possible evidence of the most active • participation in the crime charged. With respect to the others, although some of them were not seen to act with the same violence, or to act the sante conspicuous part, yet they took their respective parts in such a manner, as clearly included them in the guilt of this charge. It mould be proved that Gamble was amongst the mob—mas seen amongst them, and seen to be possessed of one of' the guns stolen out of Mr. Beckwith's window. He accompanied that mob Ate wards to the Royal Ex change, where he was flourishing about with the gun ; .nd the mob having then taken a different di rection, he was a short time afterwards apprehended in the Borough of Southwark, with a gun upon his shoulder, the property of Mr. Beckwith, which but an hour before was stolen horn that Gentleman's window—proved, therefore•, to have been on the spot, proved also to have been possessed of the stolen property so recently after the felony bad been com mitted, there was abundant reason to believe that he was a guilty participator in the outrages of that day. The prisoner (Nandi, who stood behind, was dressed in the apparel of a brewer's dray man, in which occupation* ha had istaally been, having for. merly been in the service of Messrs. Calvert and Co.; he was somewhat lame, and usually walked with a broomstick; be was Amon the foremost of the mob qt Alehouse of Mr. Beckwith; and, with his Isioomstlektin his hand, be commenced the demoli titris of Mr. Beckwith's )I)6p-window, and was one of the persons principally engaged in stealing the arms—the gun which was found in Gamble's posses. sion being one of those which woe taken from the window which was br ,ken by Gunnel. He also pro vided himself with a grin, and as the mob proceeded along Newpate.street, he was sear) with it op:in arm ; Ant) that gni: would be proved to have been one of those stolen from Mr. Beckwith's shop. Whit respect to the prisoner Carpenter, he would he.pruved to have been in the mob at Mr. Beckwith's house.— He was seen, as the mob were dispersing from Mr. Beckwith's, armed with a pistol in each hand, one of the pi s tols being larger than the other. The nest day he gave the larger one to his mother-in-law, de siring her to pledge it at a pawnbroker's. She ac cordingly went to a pawnbroker's for that purpose, but notice having been given to all pawnbr , kers, in consequence of the numbor of fire-arms stolen, de siring them to be cautious how they received such property, the pawnbroker refused to receive the pis tol. A police officer was sent fur, and upon inqoir ing how the woman came possessed of the pistol ? it turned out that sl.e had received it from the prisoner. The prisoner was at that time absent from London, but upon his return, in a few days after, he was questioned upon the subject, and it became quite 11114- infest that he was concerned in this guilty transac tiim. The Learned Counsel said he had now named lour of the prisoners, who would all he proved to have been in the mob, and every one of whom had part of the stolen property; but it was not necessary to constitute the guilt of a person, that his hand I should have committed the theft ; possession of stolen property was undoubtedly the strongest evidence of the crime of stealing ; but if it were proved, that a man has been on or near the spot at the time, and acting in furtherance of a common purpose, the law would consider him as guilty of the offence, and as much answerable to the law as the very hand which committed the felony. A case which was familiar to all, and which may have occurred to the Jury in the course of the discharge of their duty in this place, and which was certainly one that frequently occurred, would bring this doctrine to thi is under standing. In the c ice of three persons - itisircied for committing a burglar), the evidence frequently was, that one of the pets's), actually stole the proie:rty, the second stood at the door to prevent lour rurption, and the third placed himself at the corner of the street, to give the alarm upon the al plod:Ai of the watchman ; and yet the law considered them all as guilty of burglary : and it would be a monstrous proposition to say otherwise. There would be an end of law and justice, it it were to be asserted for a moment, that thete was any difference in the shade se/ guilt between the actual taking of the stolen pry perry, ar.d the aiding and abetting the robbery. In reason, in sense, and in justice, there was no diffe rence between the case of a person who looks on, watches the motions, and covers the robbery, and the person who laid his hand upon the property. — Therefore, the case of. the prisoner Hooper would not be less strong when all the facts were laid before :he Jury, than the cases against the other prisoners. He would spew distinctly, by several witnesses, that Hopper was with the mob, armed ; and that lie was seen encouraging them to the utmost of his power. He • wels seen encouraging and abetting the rob bery; be himself being armed with a brace of pistols, which were afterwards found upon him, loaded. It would be proved that he was acting as director or le .der of the mob; that he was making motions with his arms and signals with his body to encourage his partisans in attacking the shop; and that, at the very moment when one of theist was bringing arms by wholesale out of Mr. Beckwith's shop, he was a con spicuous person, and was seen standing opposite the house, encouraging and inciting the mob in the per petration of their outrages. But it might be said, " Can 'this man be proved guilty, when no one has seen him take any arms from Mr. Beckwith's shop ; and when no person has heard distinctly what he said to the mob ?" Can it be shewn that he was not an accidental passenger ; and, falling in with the mob, stopped opposite Mr. Beckwith's house from mere ' motives of curiosity ? No ; that was not the fact. He was going on with the mob, and acted not merely in concert with them, but was, in tact, a leader. He would not only strew that he proceeded to the Royal Exchange with the mob, where he was taken into custody, and the pistols found upon him ; but that he came with that mob— that he assembled with them at the place where they first assembled—that he was upon a waggon in Spafields, from whence he set out with the mob for the purpose of combining this very crime—that he and Cashman were standing together on that waggon —that they set out together,, at the head of tire mob, with that same dag wits& was the rallying standard, to the shop of Mr. Beck with, and which. they afterwards carried to the Royal Exchange, where it was taken by Sir James Straw; and no standard, to be. sure, for a mob committing . plunder, was ever more appropriate; —a , Nature to , feed the hungry 1"—" Truth to protect the op pressed !"—and ‘‘ Justice to punish crime !." It would be shewn, by the.mest incontestable evi dence, that Cashman and Hooper marched with that banner, and two others that were takerk from them, from Spafields to Mr. Beckwith's house.; ansi that which demonstrated a communitreif purpose in these, persons was, that when Mr.. Stafford, the ptiocipal clerk of Bow-street Off i ce, attempted to *test front' them one of these standards, Cislunan anti Hooper resisted the attempt, and called _upon, the mob to rescue the person taken into custody;. and one of them struck the offieer so carrying offahe standard. —With respect to Hooper, the evidence of. his guilt could be cirried toll further, by strewing a ' greater degree of deliberation in what he was coo -1 cerned. The waggon on which he and Coltman were standing, and from which they had set - out in Spafields, bad been hired swue days before by ant:- cher person, with which other person Hooper had gone the night before to make an appointment to meet the nest morning in Chancery-hine.• • On. the Monday morning he came with mat person, and met the waggoh. He put into the 'waggon she flags, which were distributed amongst the mob: but ana -1 cher circumstance which went still. more strongly to shew the intention of 'turning- the arms which wear: .afterwards stolen' to account, was that he' also put into the waggon a large quantity of guopowder andl bullets. it appears, howeVei a , clue slay went linen 'the waggon in such a hurry, that thee left the pw. powder and bullets b. hind Elem. and very I r u . irately their intention was not carried into taw. These were the facts of the case : an! it was a. telly impossible that there could Le any d'tFcei,y point of I.tw ; and, if the fires were proved. ti e r e could be as littie w,th respect C.) the guilt ef 1..•, e several perscin;. hosievei,.Te . isiVigri s ref te e ' case, the proof should tail as to any of them, so its . .t) letve any re.ocnable &mile in the in nds of the whether these persons were or were not guilt,, they should have the benefit of th.it cfruit ; if the facts stated came out in the e, as !le believe) they would. the cast against the prtsoetes would be perfectly unanswerA.le. If the Jury- hti no doubt ut the truth of the tact., nothing more wielit remain for them to de than to execute their (I.:te ; and, whatever pins the dischatge of that duty w tle ll give them, they wculd be found, in fun/street:2 za the justice of rhe country, to pronounce all those ;Xt. suns guilty or the chime r.ite.l in the indictment. . • Mr. BOLLAND proceeded to cal: Aritsiess:s to pn•vt the cdse. lifilltan; Andrew Beckwith, examinid by RkasoLus.—Live; in Skinner -street, and is a gm. maker. On the 2d rit December last +scot out Aimee eleven in the morning. Hi; shot: was then open, and there were a quantity of tire alms there. Whi, ll he 'returned he found it in a demolished state, and nearly all the tire-arms gone. There were from 130 to `2ou guns, about 100 brace nt pistols, several charges (4 ammunition, and other articles, valued at least At £1,114.0 and upwards, stolen from the shop. John Roberti was apprentice to Mr. Beckwith. On the 2d of December last a man came into the shop about 20 minutes past twelve ; in a queue: of an hour afterwards 4 or S(X) came. They de manded the young man who had been taken into cus tody for shooting Mr. Platt. The persons broke into the shop before he was rescued ; they broke the win. dow on the left hand side; witness did not see hoe it was broken ; the glass and frames were both de molished. They proceeded to take the guns Aral [ pistols, by putting their hands in hest ; they then came into the ship, and took-the guns oat. He saw Cashman theme; he was in the shop; he opeled the [ drawers and todk steel shot. Saw him take about t [ dozen of guns at one time—he distribmed them ha the runts at the door. Witness saw hint in the count '. ing-house, whence he took some guns. Witness had c o doubt Cashman WAS the man. in the house were Edward Hone, Cie fareinan, • and Henry Beckwith: Griffin was I;kt[wise there. A p sty' way area off. but witness did not know where Cashman WAS at the [ time. He was certain, however, 'OA Caihman was . [ present in the house. lidless was alarmed at the [ mob ; the mob had colours P.ying, bus. use did nut [ know who c-t-ied Gunnel was the person who bloke the window to the best of witness's Whet. Cross-examined by Mr. Attre—Said that he was examined before tie Lord Mayor several.tiraes ; but had always depoed he knew Cashman ; lie was rain of him. He i':raiglit Gunnel broi:e the w:i.ci;v:. •The person who did so was dressed like a brews s servant, as the prisoner was now.-I'u a ques!loa from the Judge, the witness said there were un-: 3 : er four persons dressed like brew 4's servaiits, and he could not say 'which of them broke the window. He thought the prisoner like the person.who did so. George Lydiard resides on Snow-hill; is a hair dresser s w s alarmed in the for,:cuon (21 the '.!,ict December, by what happened its the house et Mr- Beckwith. There were, when he went to it, eight or ten persons, but there came two bundled in a few minutes. The mob had a flag with route writing upon it. The snub seemed to ask for their leader, and the slcopman said he was gone; though he was in custody up stairs at the time. Alter that a person ! l in the habit of a drayman broke one window with a ' broomstick, and a man like a sailor biuke anotl.er ; the pistols and guns were then taken out. Five or six persons entered, and seized upon. the arnis .11 Cie glass-cases in the shop. "lne shop was almost cum pletely rifled, and every thins carried off. The m , s was very noisy. The flag was brought into the shop, but he could not tell by whom. He saw Hooper give the flag to another man at the dons before ir,ey entered the shop. The flag disaprarcd from wt ness's view los ten minutes atter he first SOY it, his attention being called off, by the transactions in the shop ; he, however, saw. it again He saw Cash man in the shop—he had hold of Mr. Griffin ci. side, and another man un the other. Mr. Gi.n.'i had gone to get handcuffs for the person apurr hended, and they seized bibs when he entered nixr i..s return. He saw Cashman go and take aims twice from the counting-house behind the shop. hit carried about two dozen at one time, mid ten "V another, and gave them to the mob at the dud . . He observed Gamble opposite the shop among ire mob, when the window was broken ; he was char .0 the window ; he had then no gun, nor any thug else in his hand. Witness saw him shortly after wits, a gun, among the mob. This • was when the nab was departing. He could not speak to the pet soli of the drayman who broke the window ; the mob I.ro , ceesl;d towards kiesegate-street. Cross-examined by Mr. CunWOOD.—The witne.s said, he was examined five or 103 C pines at the MAL- I ston-house, and once at the Secretaty of State'a office ; he never said any thing but what he now say; lie never acid Hooper seized Mr. Griti;:.. To a.question from the Judge, witness said hr %%di not much alarstred at the 'movements of the except for his family and property. Charles Griffin deposed, that he lives in Skinner street ; ira perfumer; he was in Mr. Beckwith's sa<p on . the 24:1 of December; the first thing he obsessed was the officer with a prisoner. Witness went fcr handcuffs; the slap was safe then. The fist that happened at terwards was the breaking of the r:,:: duty ; it was broken by a person in the diess'et . .i drayman or-brew e r's se rv a nt with a br c an s tiCk. indentifivel Gunnel, the prisoner, to be the nun sav broke the first window. Atter the window wa broken, Hooper and Cashman entered the shop, leav ing a flag irr the street. He saw tile same li it; 1 • 1 klooper's . liand in the Old Bailey, when he was god); ) t i o u r ttxa and ct c l u y ff:Lioioc. t i bad t .ininscription which wiuusseou ,l Hooper and Coatinan came In .by thefrunt dont.• • Hooker collared witmss, and witness laid hold of Inns in his turn. Cashman up aim! aske4 what-was gle matter ? be. likewise cnt lared witness: He heard 'Hooper hallouing 0 11 4 'Follow Wits, follow. star," betcis he mitered- At that time the widow redo sot bzokda. Whop they Ltt