The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-01 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL.

LANCASHIRE.
ROBBERIES BY LETTER-CARRIERS.--On Thursday
George and William Clifford, father and eon, letter-carriers
at the Manchester Post-office, were r barged at the police-
office with having stolen half a sovereign from a letter ad. '
dressed to Mrs. Holleran, No. 10, Oldham-road, on the Bth
inst. The prisoners had been in custody since the Wednes-
day previous, upon which day they were brought up, but
remanded to this wiak, to give time to procure the necessary
evidence. Mr. Janion, solicitor, appeared on behalf of the
Poet-office, and Mr. Myers for the prisoners.—Elizabeth
Dickinson, of Norton, near Morton, in Yorkshire, stated
in evidence that the letter in question had been written
in her house by her daughter, Ann Itorke ; that the half-
sovereign hed been put into • card and enclosed in an
envelope, which was sealed in her presence ; that she bad
taken it and got it registered at the Marton Poet-office,
whose mark it bore. Sbe also identified the card in which
' the half-sovereign had been placed ; it was secured is
' the card by two slits being cut in it just large enough to re-
ceive the coin, through which it passed ; and she herself had
cut the card to fit the envelope. Monaghan, a police-officer,
stated that, after apprehending the prisoner, he returned to
search the house, when he found sixty-nine letters on the
table, which the prisoner had ordered to be sent to Thomp-
son, another letter-carrier, for him to deliver.—George
Iludillestone, a clerk and inspector of letters at the poet-
office, proved the delivery of the registered letter to the
elder prisoner, and with it a certificate which he should
have signed on the delivery of the letter. The certi-
ficate was found unsigned, and the envelope and
card in which the money had been secured was
else found in the prisoner's possession. The seal had
evidently been broken and the letter re-sealed, for the Mor-
ton post-mark was so near to the seal that it could not have
been stamped without breaking the seal. The evidence
not appearing very strung against the younger prisoner,
Mr. Maude said he would take two sureties in 2.5 i. for his
appearance to answer any charge which might be preferred
against him by the post-uffice. There were two other cases
of a similar nature against the elder prisoner. Daniel Ire,
another servant of the poet-office, proved the delivery to the
prisoner of a letter addressed to a Mrs. Riley, containing
money, which he had not delivered. Henry Iluddleston
asked the prison( r about the letter, and he seemed confused,
but said he would mike it all right before he left the office.
The one case was on the 12th alt., and the other on the 22nd.
The prisoner was fully committed to the Assizes for trial.
THE lI.:ILDER AT HEYWOOD.—Great dimatisfaction
has been created in the neighbourhood by the conduct of Mr.
Dearden, the coroner engaged in the investigation of this
case. The Manchester Times says : Mr. Dearden not only
' ideci reporters, but he excluded attorneys both for the
piusecution and for the prisoners ; he even shut out the pri-
soners, whose lives might be affected by the proceedings he
was engaged in. Our reporter met in another room Mr.
Thomas Grundy, solicitor, who had come over at great incon-
venience by desire of Mr. Kay, the magistrate (whose ser-
vant the murdered man was); Mr. Hunt, solicitor, of Roch-
dale, who had made application to be admitted as counsel
fur the prisoners ; and the reporter of one of our contempo-
raries. These parties bad all been excluded. Mr. Hunt had
stated that be wished not to interfere with the proceedings,
that he only held • " watching brief," and wished to be
present that he might advise hiselients,and know how to pre-
pare for their defence (should it be needed) in another court.
The following are the only particulars we could glean of the
coroner's proceedings. The witnesses examined at the first
sitting on Wednesday, and also fore the magistrates, were
again questioned, but they could throw no materiel light on
the transaction. The coroner then had recourse to one of
the prisoners (Garnett), who it vi.is hoped would be induced
to give evidence for the prosecution to save himself. After
his examination, which it appears was to little purpme, the
adjourned till:the next da:,, at Randle ; and at
two o'c 3.2 n in the afternoon the coroner and jury met under
the second adjournment at the Itlilwav Inn. The three
prisoners (Tetlow, Wolotenholme, and Garnett), who had
Lien conveyed from Heywood in a coach, were placed in one
of the chambers at the inn, in care of several of the county