The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-09 00:00:00

THE INQUEST.-FOURT.H DAY.

The inquest was continued on Tuesday.—We take
the following report from The Times of Wednesday :

William Harrold Brown said : I am station-master at
Three Bridges. On the evening of the 27th of June, when
the 6.10 train from Brighton to London reached Balcombe,
I got into the compartment in which Lefroy, Holmes, and
Mr. Herds of the engineer's department, were riding. I
told them a dead body had been found in the tunnel, and
that the cuts upon it led me to suppose that a murder had
been committed. I asked if Lefroy had ridden in the same
carriage with the man. Before this I had been told that
Left()) reported he had been shot at. I said to Holmes,
I hope you won't lose sight of him," meaning Lefroy.
Holmes said, " Lower your voice, or he (Lefroy) will hear
you.
By the Coroner : Lefroy seemed very uneasy while I was
talking.
Mr. Henry Anscombe said: I am station superintendent
at Brighton. On Monday evening, about 5.40, Cab In-
swetor Barnes came to my office with Lefroy and Gibson. I
had heard of the circumstances connected with the two
o'clock express. Lefroy, who looked very vacant, said, "I
want a lawyer; I niu,t offer a reward." I said there is no
lawyer here. Upon searching Lefroy we found three Han-
overian pieces among the money in his pocket. I said
"That looks queer • three similar pieces have been found in
the carriaee, how ho you account for them ? lie said, " I
suppose I cot them at whist." Ny opinion at the time was
that he was suffering front temporary derangement, and that
the injuries were his own act. I had heard nothing at that
time of the finding of the body.

George Holmes said: I am a detective sergeant in the
Metropolitan Police, hi the employment of the London,
Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company. When
Leroy said he wished to return home Inspector Howland
and I proposed that as we were g,oing to London, we should
see him home to the address he had given. This was to
ascertain whether it was correct. By order of Mr. Ans-
combe Lefroy was passed by the officials through the
barriers, anti allowed to enter the London train. It
was agreed that Inspector Howland 'should ride in the
guard's van, and make inquiries at each station as we
went up. Mr. 'Lards also rode in the carriage with me.
I asked Lefroy whether he usually carried a revolver when
he travelled. He replied, " No; I like to keep a good dis-
tance from those things." At Balcombe Inspector Howland
told me that a man had been found dead in the tunnel.
The Coroner : Did you tell Lefroy about a man being found '
dead 7—No.
Did you not think that Lefroy was connected wit i the
matter at all?—No; I did not think about it. If I had hail
any suspicion I ahatuld have removed him from the carriage
at Balcombe.
Why were you anxious that he should not hear it?—l did
not wish him to hear our private conversation.
The Coroner : Private conversation on a very public matter
though.
Witness, in answer to further questions, said :—I believe
the atation-master, Mr. Brown, said, "Are you going to
take him before a magistrate to get his depositions taken?"
I said, "No, certainly not; I have no charge against him:!'_
We took a cab from Croydon to Wallington At Croydon I
received a telegram from Inspector Howland, which led me
to ask Lefroy whether he could tell me the nurnbsr of his
watch ; and he said it was 56,312 On examination I found
that the maker's name was Griffiths, Mile End-road, Lon-
dou. I opened the watch and said, "You have given the
wrong number, it is 16,261." Lefroy said, " Yes, I have
made a mistake." I asked him if he knew the maker's name.
He said, "o; I bought the watch from a friend some time
ago."
The Caroller: Did you not think this was all very strange?
—No, because I do not know the number of my own
watch.
If you were asked the number, should you give a number,
especially if you were in the hands of the police ?—so; 1
I should say I did not know.
Did not you think it was curious he should know the num-
ber and not the maker ?—No.
The Coroner : You dia not think any of this business was
strange 7—n,, Sir, I did not.
You know you had information given to you by telegram,
which I will not mention?—There was nothing said about
the chain.
The Coroner: I did not say anything about the chain.
Examination continued : On arriving at 4, Cathcart-road,
Wallington, we went into the drawing-room, and I asked
Lefroy to give me the whole of the particulars. which I took
down in writing. Mr. Clayton came into the room, and
Lefroy said, " I have met with an accident. I have been
violently assaulted and shot at while riding in the train with
two other passengers." Before I came away he said again he
hoped the authorities at Scotland-yard woad be informed.
I told him they would at once, and every inquiry would be
made. I then said, "Where shall I see you to-morrow,
provided we obtain any information ?"
The Coroner : Did you think it likely you would have any
intm ?—I thought we might hear of something.
What information did you expect the next day 7—l thought,
perhaps, he had been assaulted.
Did you take Mr. Clayton aside, and ask him whether he
MN a lunatic

Did you make any inquiry on that subject at all ?—No.
Examination continued: Lefroy said, "You will find me
here till twelve o'clock to-morrow, and afterwards you will
find me at the United Arts Club, Savoy-street, Strand." This
was in Mr. Clayton's hearing.
The Coroner : Daring the whole of this time you said
nothin4 about the finding of a body in the tunnel ?—No,
bour the fact that a body had been found without a watch?
—So.

You had been informed that no watch was found on the
body I—Yes. The telegram I received from Inspector
Howland was to the following effect :—" No watch found on
body, see it wounded man has watch " When I left the
house I went to Wailin;rton station, and there I saw the
station.master, who showed me a telegram he had received.
11,, may have shown two telegrams to inn, and I read a
portion of one and then returned to Catheat t-road.
The Coroner : What did you do ?—i kept observation.
Kept observation? What, do you mean to say you did not
go into the hothe?—No.
Ilow long had you been away ?—I should think from six
to seven minutes. It could not have been more than that

time.
Mr. Brewer: I suppose you ran back ?—I did, sir.
The Coroner : After th, telegram, did you not think it your
duty to go to the house and inquire a hailer Lefroy had a
watch when he left home that morning ; and, if so, what
watch it was ?—No ; I was waiting for the arrival of the
inspector. lhe telegram said, "Detain him." It aas dark
when I got back to the house. I walked about there for
some time.

The Coroner: After the telegram you had received, did
you not think it your duty to go at once and apprehend
this man Y—No ; not by myself. I thought it would be very
unwise for me to go by myself and knock at the door of that
lari:e house and let the man escape at the back. When I
saw the telegram informing me that the inspector would
arrive' I thought it right to wait.
By the Coroner: I have no idea how long I waited. After
some time Inspector Howland arrived, accompanied by Mr.
Turpin and Seigeant Tobutt, of the East Sussex Con-
stabulary. They at once asked me where Lefroy was. I
said, In the house." inspector Howland then went to
the back of the house by means of a piece of waste ground
to take observations. After waiting a short time I knocked
at the front door, which was opened by Mr. Clayton. I told
him I wished to see Lefroy. He said, "He is gone to Dr.
Cressy's." I then informed Mr. Turpin and Sergeant Tobutt
that he was gone. They searched the house, and I still
remained on the look-out in front. Returning, they said
they could not find him. Subsequently, a constable was
despatched to Dr Cressy's. Lefroy had not been there. I
have been in the Metropolitan Police 11 year's. I believed
Lefroy's story when he made his statement.
The Coroner: What did you think he had been shot for?
—I did not know. . _

By Mr. Button Lefroy was present at the time the tele-
gram was handed to me at Croydon. Ido not think he saw
it. I did not consider him in custody. He had an oppor-
tunity at the station of escaping if he had tried, but I do not
suppose he would have got away.
or. Brewer: Supposing he had attempted to get away,
what would you have done then—lt would have created
suspicion on my part.
Kate Bovin : I am the daughter of Joseph Bovin, watch-
maker, of 2, Market-street, Brighton, and assist him in the
management of his business. Mr. Gold was a customer of
his. on the 31st of May last he brought his watch to be
adjusted and cleaned. It was a gold Knelish patent lever,
with a s hite face. The number was 16,261. I noticed the
maker's name when I copied the number, and I believe it
was Griffiths. About a week after the watch was brought to
us it was returned to Mr. Gold.

Charles Tobutt ; I am a police sergeant in the East Sussex
Constabulary, stationed at East Grinstead. On Monday, the
27th of June, while on the platform at Three Bridges Station,
I received certain information. I telegraphed to Wallington,
following by the train, and arrived there about half past ten
o'clock. I met Inspector Turpin at East Croydon. He•ac-
compamed me to Wallington. In Cathcart-road I saw Ser-
geant Holmes. I asked where Lefroy was, and he said,
"indoors." I went to the front door and knocked, another
officer going round to the back of the house. When the door
was opened I asked for Lefroy, and was told he had gone out.
I, with other officers, immediately searched the house from
top to bottom; also the yard. Any one could get away from
the premis-s at the back over the fence. Leiroy's trousers,
stained with blood, were found in his bedroom.
William Turpin, inspector in the Metropolitan Police and
chief detective officer in the employ of the London, Brighton,
and South Coast Railway Company, gave confirmatory
evidence, adding that Mr. Clayton afforded him every
information lie could, and seemed willing to assist the police
as far as lay in his power.
. . . .

James Martin. a police-constable at the Brighton Rail-
way Station, said he remembered the evidence given by
Gibson and generally, so far As he knew the facts, it was
correct'. He added that if he had not left the Hanoverian
coins at the Town-hall, he would not have gone back there
on leaving the hospital.
William Hooper: I am clerk to Mr. Anscombe, superin-
tendent of the Brighton Station. On Monday, June 17, Gib-
son, the collector, and Watson, the guard, brought Lefroy to
the office. Gibson told me that Letroy had been assaulted,
and Lefroy said, "1 have peen shot at and nearly murdered.
When I got in at Loudon-bridge there were an old man And
a young man in the compartment, and as we were going into
a tunnel I was shot and struck on the head by the young
man, and I know no more until we came to the station at
which we stopped." I thought he had attempted to commit
suicide. I did not tell the collector or Martin to enter a
charge against him at the police-station. I sent him there
that he might be seen by a doctor.
William Godden Howland : I am a detective officer in the
service of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway
Company. At Brighton, when the watch was taken from
Lefroy's left trousers pocket, he said, "That is my watch.
When I recovered myself, I found it at the bottom of the
carriage with my chain gone." I did not take a note of the
articles found upon him. When I first heard that a man had
been found on the line, Lefroy was in the train in the station.
I told Holmes, who was with 1,-froy, about it, but itidid not
eccur to use that the two matters were connected!with each
other.

Superintendent Berry said that that was the whole of the
evidence.
The Coroner adjourned the inquiry to half-past
nine on Thursday morning.

The following is the statement alluded to in Mr. Ilolmes's
evidence :

Arthur Lefroy, 22, of 4, CatlicArt-road, Wallington,
states he took the express train from London-bridge to
Brighton and got into a first-class compartment, two more
passengers being in the compartment, he (Lefroy) sitting
near the platform with face to the engine, the ewo others
sitting opposite Description of passengers :—First, age
about 60, height medium, with slight gray whiskers,
dressed in dark clothes ; second, age about 40 or 50, height
medium, complexion fresh, dark whiskers side of face, no
moustache, dressed in grayish suit. Neither spoke to him
in the train at all, and on arriving at the entrance to the
first tunnel, after passing Croydon he saw a flash and
heard a report of tire-arms. Could not state if revolver or
pistol. He half sprang up from his seat. As far as can be
remembered, he received a blow On the head, supposed
from the younger man, who was sitting in the centre of
the carriage on the opposite side, which rendered him
insensible, and on recovering consciousness found himself
in semi-sitting position. On arriving at Preston-park he
at once called one of the ticket collectors, who accom-
panied him to Brighton Station, and from there to Brighton
Hospital. States he received six woundi, supposed caused
by a gouge, on his head. He Was accompanied to the Town-
hall. Six Hanoverian medals, three found in carriage,
three in coat pocket; gold watch found, No. 16,261 ;
maker, Griffith, Mile-end-road, I ondon. :Hissed about 255.
from side pocket in his coat. Can be seen at United Arts
Club, Eavoy-street, Strand. Will not leave Wallington
before 12."

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1881.