The Express.
London, England, 1855-10-25 00:00:00

THE POLICE COURTS.

MANSION•HOUSE.

Bridget Williams and Mary Donovan were brought before
Sir R. W. Carden, charged under the following clienta-
-1 stances :
Mn. Stone, of Ivy-street, Houton, said—Last night I was
at my daughter'., in Clenttnt's-place, San-street, and 1
heard the screams of several children. The door was opened
by my other daughter, and I saw Donovan holding • female
child by the bate of its heed, and the child fell and grazed
its elbow. My daughter spoke to me about the cruel treat-
ment, and then Williams ran up and said if alio got at my
daughter she would kill her. My daughter got into the
house, and the two prisoners swore, calling us dreadful
IMMO, that they would murder us. I ran to tail a
policeman, into Sun-street, and when I returned they were
both in custody. They were both drunk. I bad never
seen them before, and it took several policemen to secure
and take them to the station.
Miss Louisa Stone (daughter of the first witness) said—l
saw Williams seise a child by the throat, and both prisoners
throw oboist several children in the most shameful manner.
The children were crying. The prisoners swore at me, and
said they would serve me oat. One of them had a child
by the hair and the other knocked the child down.
The mother of the child attended, and said the little girl
was much frightened by the treatment she bad received, and
The
by being thrown against iron railings.
The prisoners, one of whom is a married woman, said
they bad met friends who would insi.t upon treatiag them,
and that having taken share of some gin they did not know
exactly what they had been about afterwards. They said,
too, that in their country they were in the habit of throwiag
'Whine about without hurting theta, and that they sop.
pond they had handled the little girl in that way ; and the
prisoner who was sensed of having seised the child by the
throat declared that she mistook in her intoxication the
little sufferer for one of her cousin's children, and wanted
merely to give her a kiss. (A laugh.)
Sir B. W. Carden regretted to see young women of
respectable appearance under such a charge. He believed
that the drink they bad been induced to take was the cause
of the bad conduct which had been described, and be
hoped that his sentence would tend to improve their habits,
which the language and the violence they had used showed
required immediate correction. He then fined each of the
prisoners 20s.
The Prisosere—We have no money.
Sir B. W. Carden—Then you must go to prison for 21
days. You may depend upon it that your confinement upon
low diet will cure you both.
Committed.
GUILDHALL.

Mr. Alderman Finnic, in referee*, to the can of the two
Spaniards, Manuel de Cortazor, alias Campo, alias Regaled°,
and Miguel Masip, whom he recently committed fer trial on
two charges of obtaining 1,1001. and 7001., by means of
forged letthrs of credit, said he had received • communing•
Lion from Messrs. Barton and Gander, a highly respectable
firm at Bordeaux, complaining of a similar fraud practised
upon their home by means of stolen letters of credit, and
forged bills, or drafts, epos Messrs. Drummond, the ban
kers, of London. Having seen a report of the examination
and committal of the two Spaniards, in ealignani's Messen-
ger, they believed. from correspondence they had bad with
persons at Gibraltar, and other places in Spain, that there
existed • regularly organised band of villains infesting every
continental town, who made it • business to forge letters of
credit, and use stolen letters for the purpose of forging bills
of exchange. They also thOoght, from the following sir
eninstantes, that • party who bad victimised them to the
amount of 20W., was either one of the two Spaniards
in custody, or a member of the same gang. It appeared
that on the lit of June last a person, having all
the appearance of an Englishman, drove up to their
ogles in • carriage and pair and stating his name was
A. R. Sutherland," presented two letters of credit for
5001. each, drawn in that name and signed by Messrs.
Drummond. On one of the letters of credit the amount of
475 f. was endorsed as having been advanced to the bearer
by two douses, at Malaga and Seville, leaving • balance of
oily 251. due upon it. At the IN quest of the bearer Messrs.
Barton and Gunder advanced him that amount, and a fur-
ther sum of 1751. upon the other letter of credit, taking his
bills for both sums upon Masers. Drummond. Oa the fol-
lowing day they forwarded the bills to their London agent,
but on being presented for payment Messrs. Drummond
declared them to be forgeries, as the real Mr. Sutherland
was in Roglaed at the time the bill* were suppoerd to have
been signed by him at Bordeaux. As soon as Miens. Barton
and Gunner discovered they had been robbed they gave
swift to their correspondents at Paris, Toulouse, and
Nantes, to put them on their guard. They also inquired at
all the hotels, but no Mr. Sutherland had been sees, and the
police had been equally unfortunate in treeing him. There
was also a letter from Mr. Alexander It. Sutherland, of
Sliver-hill, Torquay, stating that be was retuning from
Seville to Malaga on the 21st of February last, when a
small black leather bag, containing the two letters of cre-
dit for 6001. each abovementioned, was stolen from his bed-
room during the night he passed at the Ponds Nueva di
Palmer Ramps. He immediately informed the Spanish
authorities, as well as the nasals and bankers at Malaga,
Cadiz, Seville, and Gibraltar of his loss. He also wrote to
apprise Messrs. Drummond of the circumstance, and they
took the necessity steps to stop any advances being made
spots the letters of credit.
Alderman Finals said than was no doubt there was a very
extensive gang of desperate characters who had their agents,
all over the continent, and made it their business to watch
travellers from town to tows, seeking the first opportunity
of robbing them of their portmanteaus, by which means
Wee desperadoes possessed themselves of genuine letters of
credit, which enabled them to forge others, and carry on
their system of plunder to an almost ruinous extent. From
all the circumstances that had come to hie knowledge, he

really feared there was some truth in the report ti
•p-
-peund some tute hack with regard to the two Spaniards,
Cortesr► and Masip, being connected with • band of
brigands and forgers frequenting all the continental stations,
and he believed, if publicity wets given to the ease, that it
would lead to the detection of the aoi diming Mr. Sutherland,
who, be believed, would be found to belong to the same
gang. He hoped, through the medium of the press, that the
public would be cautioned, and that travellers on the con-
tinent would see how necessary it was to look carefully tc
their property,