The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-09-27 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE

LIVERPOOL.
(BEFORE MESSRS. BOLTON AND DIXON.)
SWELLS CAUGHT.—Two young men, dressed in very
swellish style, who gave the names of Thomas Preston,
and Richard Burke, were charged under the following
circumstances. Mr. Duck defended Burke. It appeared
that a lady named Lydia Roberts, who resides in Market-
street, Lancaster, was at the railway station, Tithebarn-
street, where she was taking a ticket. She took all the
money out of her purse, and returned the latter to her
pocket. The prisoners were in the crowd, pushing up
against the lady, and Mr. Chadwick, the carriage inspec-
tor at the station, was watching them, and saw Preston
pick the purse from Mrs. Roberts pocket, and hand it to
Burke. He seized Preston at once, and then Burke ran
into the water closet, where he was arrested, and the
purse was found on him ; but, as remarked, the lady
had taken all her money out of it. Mr. Bluck made an ad-
dress for his client,when Mr. Dixon observed, that railway-
stations were infested ,by many such robbers as the priso-
ners, and he thought there was a great deal of credit due
to Chadwick for his exertions, and he trusted he would
receive a reward • the detectives had done a good deal of
service, but he thought Chadwick fully equal to them.
The prisoners were committed for three months, with
hard labour.
The next case put up was, John Davis, and Esther
Wilson, who were remanded from Monday, on a charge
of picking pockets at the same station, on Saturday last.
These prisoners, in this case, were superiorly dressed.
Mr. Bluck defended the man, and Mr. Goodier appeared
for the woman, against whom there was a second charge,
for picking the pocket of a lady, named Mary Dallon, who
resides in Everton. The details of both cases were
published in our paper of Tuesday. The outline of the
case is as follows :—Chadwick saw the man in company
with another, and the female prisoner at the station, oa
Saturday; the other man picked the pocket of a lady,
and gave the purse to Davis, who was at once seized by
Chadwick, and then the prisoner flung it away from him,
and the other man, along with the female prisoner, got
away. The woman was arrested at a subsequent period
of the day, in Commutation-row, on the charge of picking
Mrs. Dallon's pocket, of -e3; this day, a lady, named
Laura Rimier, came forward and identified the purse
which Chadwick picked up, and it. contained the exact
amount of money which she lost. Davis was sent to gaol
for three months' with hard labour. but the evidence
against ,the woman was not of a sufficient description,
and she was discharged.
(BEEORE MR. 7. AMIN.)

"A MonsmAN."—A very well dressed young man, who
gave the name of John Mitchell, was brought up by
officers 764 and 4, under the following circumstances.
Mr. Bluck defended. The constables said they were in
Lime-street the previous night, where they observed the
prisoner " loitering " about, speaking to several dis-
reputable females ; they saw him go into some public
houses, and return quickiy, and they followed him through
several streets, knowing him to be a Manchester thief.
They took him up to prevent him committing any
depredation. In reply to Mr. Bluck, officer 764 said, the
prisoner was walking with suspicious characters in the
street. Mr. Bluck : What hour was it ? Officer : About
nine o'clock. Mr. Bluck : Was he doing anything except
walking in the streets ? Officer : Yes, he was looking
very hard into several doors. Mr. Bluck : What did you
follow him:Tor ?—did not you expect to get him at a
" job?" Officer : Certainly we did. Mr. Bluck : And
when you could not get him at that, you arrested him ?
Officer: Yes. Mr. Bluck contended that England was a
free country, and that most respectable men went into
public-houses at nine o'clock at night, as well as. the
prisoner. It was unfortunate for a man to have a bad
character, but he contended that there was no chance of
a man reforming, for the police hunted the life out of
every one whom they called " suspicious." He strongly
contended that the prisoner should be discharged. He
was discharged, with a strong caution as to his future
conduct.

PUBLICANS' AND BEERHOUSE CASES.—Stephen Rockliff,
publican, corner of Hopwood street, was summoned for
Sunday trading. Mr. Bremner appeared for the defendant,
and disproved the complaint, which was dismissed. The
following beerhouse cases were disposed of:—John
Nichols, Park lane, for Sunday trading; fined 5s and
costs. Henry Roycroft, Trowbridge street ; fined lOs and
costs.‘, Mary Hensey, Pellew street ; fined 5s and costs.
Pat Cogley, Maddox street; fined 5s and costs. James
Cuthbert, Great Homer street, fined 5s and costs.

CHESTER.
Edward Palmer, a stout, strong-looking fellow, was

charged with assaulting several lads
on the previouseven-
ing, and setting a dog on them ; also, with assaulting the
police, on being apprehended. The prisoner, it appeared,
had been drinking, and on passing through St. John's
Churchyard, was offended with the laughter of some boys,
there at play. He kicked and cuffed several of them, and
set a dog, which he had with him, after them, which bit
one of them :in several places. The lads then procured
a policeman to protect them, whom he kicked, beat, and
maltreated, in a most brutal manner—the dog, of the
bull and terrier breed, again taking part in the melee, by
biting the legs of the policeman. It ultimately took the
united efforts of three constables to lock him up. For
the assault on the boys, the prisoner was tined 2,15, or in
default 21 days' imprisonment; and, for the assault on the
police, committed for trial at the sessions.

BIRKENHEAD.
(BEFORE J. H. HARDEN, ESQ,)
This court sat yesterday. There were upwards of 250
cases entered for hearing, the majority of which were
undefended, and did not possess the slightest public
interest. All the defended cases were postponed to a
future day, at the request of the solicitors present.
INSOLVENT CASES.—James M'Donald, formerly the
inspector of smoke nuisances, then came forward on his
final order for proteetim. The Judge : Is there any
person to oppose James MgDonald ? The Clerk : There
is no auditor present. The insolvent then,. by the
sanction of the court, proceeded to read as follows :
I humbly trust that your Honour will be kindly pleased to
extraordinarype m permit na e t o lay
proceedingsbefore tlt ewehoiiei rht
}al a y
e brief
beenst a
tt
ae ikneen
n t of the
against,
me in another court, and which has been the sole cause of
putting it out of my
Honour.mypoer t
Ando c comply
i mptlryu
st withyo tuhreod Honoure order
will
excuse me by y-
r,n
excuse me, whis' I refer shortly to the original cause of my
being placed in my present position. I trust I shall be
rm
d e
able to show your Honour that my difficulties have not
resulted, as is often the case, your Honeur, from improvi-
dent speculation, the indulgence in luxuries, or in the
attempt to maintain a rank or appearance in society
greater than my position warranted. They were caused
by other and very different circumstances, and such as no
human being could have anticipated. With your Honour's
permission, I shall, with as much brevity as possible, call
your attention to what those circumstances were, without
entering into details, which would occupy too much of
your Honour's valuable time. It is only just, however,
not only to myself but to others, that I should lay
before your Honour the true causes which have placed
me in my present and most painful position. In
1836, your Honour, I was a common police-officer, at
a salary of sixteen shillings per week. In 1848, I was the
manager of the Waterworks, with a stipend of ..te4oo per
annum. Your Honour, doubtless, can call to mind the
controversy which took place in regard to the supply of
water to the town of Liverpool. In that controversy I
took no part up to a certain point. When, however,
statements were made calculated seriously to mislead and
'were my then employers, the Town Council, I deemed it
my duty to put that body in possession of such facts as
were within my own knowledge ; and I am sure your
Honour will see that had I, under the circumstances,
concealed the truth, I should have been a very nnfaithful
servant. I did my duty, nothing more, and tbr so doing I"
was brought primarily into my present unhappy position.
I was deprived of my office, and, after a servitude of some
twenty years' duration, without a stain on my character,
I was turned adrift without remorse or compensation of
any kind. Knowing that I had only done my duty, I, of
course, used every effort in my power to regain my position,
but it was a struggle of right against might, and, to my
sorrow and ruin, might prevaile]. Like many others
placed under similar circumstances, I u ill not trespass
on your Honour's time by detailing, if that were possible,
the bodily and mental suffering to which I was,
for years, subjected ; my little property was swept away,
and, during the whole of a severe winter the only beds
myself and family had were a few bags of straw on the
floor; added to this I was myself lame from the effects
of a severe injury which I received while in the police
force. At last, when homeless and pennyless, I was com-
pelled to enter one of our hospitals, with a view to having
an operation performed on my injured limb, for I was per-
fectly helpless. However, I recovered ; and, after re-
peated applications, was appointed, some eighteen months
ago, to the office which I held, until compelled to resign it,
three months ago, for reasons which I will presently submit
to your Honour. When I inform your Honour that my
losses, directly and indirectly, during the water contro-versy,
were not less than £3,000, it will excite little sur-
prise in you that I had become considerably involved.
The net salary of my office, as inspector of smoke 1
nuisances, was £135 per annum. The duties appertaining
to this office were of the most onerous, and I may
add, laborious character, calling for the exertion of
every effort, whether mental or physical, which I
could put forth, in order to give practical effect to a
law for the suppression of a nuisance which had baffled
all prior attempts. In fact, so much was I engrossed
with the performance of my public duties, that I had no
time even to attend to my own affairs, and it was only
when I had surmounted the principal difficulties I had to
contend against th it I could do so. No sooner had I got
installed into this little office than my old creditors became
not only importunate, but claimant, holding me in constant
dread of ulterior proceedings being resorted to against
me. For the reasons stated above I did my best to
appease them, but in vain ; it appeared that it was a raco
as to who would be in at the death, for, had I given
up my whole income, some parties would not have
been satisfied. In this dilemma, acting on the advice
of my friends, and with the cordial consent of
my employers, the smoke committee, I had a schedule
duly prepared and filed in your Honour's court, and
paid the costs of same, when an interim order for pro-
tection was at once granted me, and on the sth Jan.
this protection was extended until the 25th of that month.
Again it was extended at various times until the 23rd
day of May, under certain conditions. Those conditions
I complied with, and on that day your Honour was pleased
to renew it until this present court. Shortly after this
decision of your Honour's had been given, certain parties
who had opposed me from the commencement at once pro-
ceeded to Judge Grace, of the Wapentake Court, and com-
menced proceedings against, me in that so-called court.
Confiding to the fullest extent in the validity of your
Honour's protection, I at once set about making such
arrangements as were necessary, not only to enable me
to conform to the order made upon me by your Honour,
but also to set aside a considerable sum for the payment
of such creditors as had taken no proceedings against
me. I need not trespass on your Honour's time by
detailing the nature of these arrangements ; suffice it to
say that, had I been permitted to carry them out, I
should have been able to set aside at least one-half of
my income for the above purposes, without entailing on
myself any unnecessary privations. My intentions were,
however, completely frustrated by the atrocious proceed-
ings of the judge of the Wapentake Court and his sub-
ordinates. My little cottage was on three separate
occasions entered forcibly by a parcel of ruffians, who
styled themselves the officers of Judge Grace, and my
property carried off. In vain did I plead the protection
granted me by your Honour ; Grace's reply was, that he
did not care a for your Honour, or your protection
either, and for aught he cared, you and the Lord Chan-
cellor might go to —; that the Wapentake was the only
legal court in the county, and no one could or should
control him. Of course I could not oppose brute force
to him and his myrmidons, and nothing less would have
availed me. Your Honour can readily'conceive the state
of mind to which I was reduced in consequence of these
atrocious proceedings ; when, after having passed through
the ordeals I had done, and making the sacrifices I had
made, to find that all was of no avail—to find that I was
still at the mercy of an individual whom, in the discharge
of my duties as a police officer, I had on several occasions
to lock up in bride well for drunken and disorderly con-
duct, and who, moreover, taxed me with the authorship
of an article in one of our local papers, commenting on
the proceedings of his court, and who did not scruple to
say that ne would have his revenge. It would excite no
surprise, your Honour, that under such circumstances a
mind somewhat susceptible of strong emotions should
become excited, and such was the case in this instance.
my general health became so much affected under the
influence of the irritation which I felt, that I could not
devote that careful and calm consideration to the dis-
charge of my duties which their nature demanded, and
I therefore resolved, sooner than run even the slightest
risk of comeromising my employers, to tender my resig-
nation. To this step I was driven solely through the
operations of that which was most justly characterised
by Judge Crompton, at the last Chester assize, as being
" A court of abomination (adding) truly such it was."
Had I seen any such prospect of the prompt suppression
of this den of vagabonds, as has subsequently taken place,
I might have pursued a different line of policy. As it was,
I saw no chance of arresting the career of this gang, who,
in the name of law and justice, have been literally plun-
dering every unfortunate wretch like myself, on whom
they could lay their fangs. It would appear almost
incredible that such an organised conspiracy should have
been tolerated in a Christian country for a single day. 4
gang of profligate vagabonds, holding what they called a
court of law in a taproom, the landlord being the clerk of
the court. Issuing their processes with all the apparent
formalities of law ; seizing the property of those who
ere unfortunate enough to get into their meshes ; bring-
ing scores of poor creatures to beggary and ruin in order
that they might be able to gratify' their own sensual and
depraved appetites. Yet such was the Wapentake.
navy in each week was the court day, and the scenes
to be witnessed were enough to make the heart sick;
drinking from morning to night, when that came then the
orgies commenced in earnest. A sufficient number of
victims having been mulcted, the next duty of the cleeie
is to ascertain the amount of the jurors' fees, and
calculate how many crown bowls of whiskey punch can
be paid for out of this plunder. The number is often
rather considerable. It is thought to be a poor day if
these do not exceed twenty; sometimes double that
quantity is drupk at one sitting. The debauch is pro-
longed until judge, jury, clerk, and bailiffs are in a state
of happy obliviousness. This is no over-coloured picture,
of the doings of a concern, which is a disgrace alike to
humanity and civilisation, and most discreditable to our
authorities, that its operation should have been so long
tolerated with impunity. These, in my case, have been
ruinous. lam not only deprived of the means of obeying
the order of your Honour's court, but actually of the
means of living; this, too, after having conformed to all
the requirements, as I thought, of the laws of my country.
Qf course cacti villainous proceedings could not last for
ever. I laid a statement of their doiegs in my own case
before the Lord Chancellor ; that, and other information,
conveyed to the same quarter, has, doubtless, led to the
summary abolition of this infamous affair. But, that is
not enough. I submit, your Honour, that not only should
the proceedings
of these wretches be fully exposed,
but that the responsible; parties who have been tbe means