The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-10-03 00:00:00

CRIME AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

At the Middlesex sessions George Robinson, aged twenty- I
six, a 111A11 of gentlemanly exterior, was indicted for em-
bezzling the sums of it lox., £5, and t 0.., received by him .
far and on account of William Leighton, his master. The
prisoner pleaded guilty to the whole of the charges. The
facts appeared to he Os follows :
The pnweentor it a draper, carrying on business in
High Holborn, and the prisoner had been in his ono I
ploy for about two years, at a salary of V a week, and
he appeared to have been treated with the greate,t
indulgence by his master. In consequence of
:I 31E. Berry, a customer, owing a RUM of lt,,
the prosecutor coiled upon hint in refet en. e
to it, when be expressed his surprise, and .
producyd the prisoners receipt for the money.
The prisoner vita iss stioned about it, and he then ad-
mhted that he had received the money, but on lasing
furt..er ques.i tied as to what he ho! thine with it he .
was silent, end there was no entry of it in the book in
, which the entry should have been made. It was also
discovered that on the 13th of dna° a ballettgirl went
to the shop and purchased goals to the value of 10s.,
for which Ate paid, and the prisoner brought her back
the bill receipted. Another purchase was made at
the shop by a person named Brand, and a receipt was
given in a similar manner. Upon these discoveries
being made, a police-constable was sett for, and he
asked the prisoner if lie had received 1.5 from Mr
Berry, and be said be had, but he made TIO reply as to
wh he had done with it, He begged Mr. Leighton
for th.n, :Like not to lock hint up, as it would be the
min of him, and he would make up the money within
a week ; but he was given into custody.
The prosecutor, in reply to the assistant-judge, said
the prisoner had been in Lis employ between two and
three years, and he believed he hail commeneed robbing
him on the very first day he had came to hint, and he
traced defalcations to hint amounting to upwards of
Mkt For this he had forgiven him, and one occasion
he lent him £l2 tomake his accounts square. Ile went
on again until March in the present year, when he
again found hint out in defalcations amounting to £4O,
and be then determined to prosecute the prisoner,
but his (prosecutor's) wife and the prisoner's blends
pleaded KO hard for him that he was induced
to forego his intention, and again forgive him.
He was paid £2 a week, and when the prisoner got
married he told hint that be might take a few things of
drapery from the shop, but instead of lb.ing KO he took
things to the amount of VA. His father was a most
respectable man, but they had got turd of these things
and would have nothing to to with him. He was sorry
to say that his (prosecutor's) cashier had serious defal-
cations in his accounts, and he firstly believed he was
led into doing K. by the prisoner This man ultimately
tatmmitted suicide, and he believed that was from feel-
ings of shame at what he had done at the instigation
of the prisoner.
The judge said this was one of the worst cases ever
brought before him, and sentenced him lobe imprisoned
and kept to hard labour for two years.

An application was made at the Hammersmith
police-court, London, ini Tuesday, by a relieving officer, for a
anniMollB against a man for neglecting to bury the body of
Isis wife. The magistrate said he was not aware that any
law gave him the power to interfere. It had been already
laid down that a man was not compelled to bury the toady of
his child, although it might have become dangerous to the
health of the survivors, if he had not the means to do so.