The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-23 00:00:00

THE POLICE COURT&

MANSION HOUSE.

A middle-aged man of respectable exterior, who was
entered on the charge-sheet as Frani Lang, alias Prank
Clevot. and was described as of No. 5, Thomhill-square,
Camberwell, and a commercial traveller, was charged
before the Lord Mayor with fraudulently obtaining, on
the kith inst., by false pretences, the sum of 21. from Mr.
James Whitehead, of No. 8, Gresham-street, with intentto
defraud.

Mr. St. John Wontner appeared for the prisoner.
The prosecutor, Mr. Whitehead, stated that he was the
London agent of Messrs. Russell, Law, and Co., merchants
and manufacturers, of Bradford, Yorkshire, and that he
hadoffices, at No. 8, Oreeham.street, and that on Saturday,
the 13th inst., the prisoner, who was a perfeet stranger to
him, entered the countinghouse, and introduced himself as
being the agent at Hamburgh for Messrs. S. L Behrens and
Co., merchants, of Bradford, a highly respectable firm,
well known to the witness. The prisoner then went on to
say that he had landed that morning from the Hamburg
steamboat, and that, owing to a dispute with the Custom.
house officials, he had been obliged to expend all his money
in that matter, with the exception of the sum of eight
shillings, and that he was without the means of paying
the railway fare down to Bradford. The witness inquired
if he could mention the name of any person connected
with the firm he said he was agent to, when the prisoner
I said that the manager was one of his personal friends.
When saked if there was no one in London to whom he
could apply for sufficient money to pay his fare to Brad-
ford, he replied there was no person to whom be could
look. for his firm forwarding all their goods to
Hamburg via Hull, had no shipping agent in London.
The prisoner had not mentioned any specific sum,
but the witness, believing that the representations
he had made were correct, and knowing that the
fare would be 11.55., banded to him two sovereigns. Before
leaving the counting.honse the prisoner asked whether
any of the witness's firm were going down to Bradford
that night, as if so he (prisoner) would go by the same
train, and hand back the two sovereigns to the gentleman
on his arrival at their destination. The witness told the
prisoner that no one connected with the firm was going
down, and the prisoner went away. Nothing was heard
of the matter until Saturday last, when the witness, on
passing along King William-street, met the prisoner, who
he supposed had gone to Bradford. He accosted him, and
after expressing his surprise at seeing him in London, re-
quested him to accompany him to his office. On the way
there the prisoner said he admitted that all he had told
the witness on the previous Saturday was wrong, and
expressed his regret for what he had done, and
added that if the witness would give him five
minutes he would procure the money. The witness
refused and insisted on the prisoner coming on to the
office, ns he had determined to give him into custody on
principle, as the question was not one of the 2/. only. On
arriving at the witness's offices anofficer was sent for, when
the piisoner implored not to be sent to prison and oJered
to pawn his coat, vest, and other clothing, to raise the
money. The officer having arrived he was given into cus-
tody and taken to the police-station, when, on being
searched, the only money found upon him was Id. The
witness added that on Saturday he bad written to Mews.
S. L. Behrens and Co., stating all these facts, and that
morning he received a telegram from that firm, declaring
that they did not know anything of the prisoner, and that
he was not their agent, either at Hamburg or elsewhere.
The Lord Mayor fully committed the prisoner for trial at
the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court.