The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-11-25 00:00:00

LIBELLOUS POST-CARDS.

At the Central CI iminal court, in London, Charles Nutley,
a commercial traveller, was indicted for writing and publish-
ing a series of defamatory libels of and concerning Meow..
Batten Brothers, knowing them to be false. In another
count the intent was laid to be to extort money. The
prisoner pleaded, in effect, that the alleged libel. were
true, and that they were written with a view to the public
advantage.

Mr. St;leant Sleigh and Mr. Straight conducted the pro-
Secution ; the prisoner defended himself.
- - -

The principal or only witness for theprosecution wan
Mr. Isaac Batten, senior member cf a firm of whole-
sale grocers, in Thames street, London. He sail that
prior to 1559 the prisoner had been in their service as
a traveller. In the early part of that year they asked
him to explain certain discrepancies in his accounts.
He made a reply which for some time satisfied them.
They afterwards called on him for explanations in re-
lation to another matter, and those not having been
satisfactory, he was told they must prosecute him. He
made an appeal to them on behalf of his wife and
children, and being moved by it, they resolved to
forego a prosecution. They obtained from him, how-
ever, a written statement, in which he acknowledged
he had been guilty of embezzlement while in their
service. His connection with them thereupon ceased.
Some time afterwards they heard he was circulating
reports detrimental to their character. Of these, at
first, they took no notice, but continuing still to annoy
them, they instituted a proceeding against him at the
Greenwich police-court. He then entered into an under-
taking not to offend again, and the prosecution was
abandoned. He acknowledged that statements he had
made reflecting on them were entirely without founda-
tion. He afterwards entered into other employment,
and they were nit for some time annoyed by him ;
but latterly they had received 50 or 60 post and other
cards through the post from hien seriously reflecting on
their reputation.
Some of the post-cards referred to by the witness
were read in court, as were other cards sent also
through the post, without envelope or covering of any
kind. They were too numerous and lengthy to be re-
produced here at length, and it may suffice to state
that in one of them he told the prosecutors their
books would prove them to be "two of the
greatest liars, rogues, and villains in the universe."
In another he wrote: - "Inquire of a magistrate
what you can do with a family you have utterly ruined
by falsehoods. You have robbed nie of my charac-
ter and my life, and vim are trying to rob my
family by falsehoods." ThOse were but specimens. In
one of these missives, which on the trial was made the
ground-work fora count charging the prisoner's intent
to be to extort money, he stated that 1:50,000 would
not repay him the loss, he had sustained through the
prosecutors; and he had gone so far as to placard his
own house with some of the defamatory allegations,
and to employ boys with boards on their backs to walk
back and forward in front of the house of one of the
complainants.

The prisoner cross-examined the only witness for
the prosecution at come length, but without appal,
eutly eliciting a single mitigating circumstance in his
favour, the result tending to chow the great forbear-
ance of the prosecutors and even consideration for his
wife and children, in spite of the prisoner's persistent
misconduct.

The jury returned a verdict of Guilty on the count
charging an intent to extort money.
Mr. Serjeant Sleigh explained to the Bench that the
interval in which the prosecutors had been relieved
from the prisoner's annoyiuwe was while he was under-
going a sentence of four years' penal servitude for
defrauding his subsequent employers, Messrs. Cross
and Gordon.

The Deputy-Recorder, in passing sentence, said the
libels were scurrilous fuel alforninable, and reflected,
moreover, On persons to whom the prisoner was deeply
indebted for forbearance and forgiveness. He in the
strongesttenns admitted his guilt when the prosecutors
charged him with embezzlement, and yet, without flrose
cuting him they allowed him tow • away and earn his liven
hoo.l elsewhere. He was aftenvards etecutnl byanother
firm and sentenced to four pears penal servitude. On beinz
released he repeated the I ibels against the present prosecu-
tori in a manner showing the peculiar malice with which
was animated - namely, by converting a postal arrange-
ment intended as a great public convenience awl bless-
ing into a curse. He was afraid it was hopele-w to ex-
pect the prisoner would return to abetter slat e wind,
He sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, with
hard labour.