The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-14 00:00:00

POLICE
COURT.-YESTERDAY

(BEFORE HR. ROMILY.)
DARING ROBBERY. CAPTURE OF THE THIEF.--
Inspector Murphy (of the detective police) brought up
a superiorly dressed young man, named Frederick
Binnion, on the following charge. From the statement
of the inspector, and the evidence given to support it, it
appeared that on Saturday morning, the 3rd inst , about
ten o'clock, a cash box (containing upwards of £4O) h
been stolen from the publichouse of Mr. Wells,
Gloucester-street, and from information which the
inspector received, he proceeded to London, and on
Saturday he arrested the prisoner in Bishopgate-street
without. The manner in which the robbery had been
effected, was as follows :—A person went to the house
of Mr. Wells, called fora quart of ale in a jug, and while
Mrs. Wells went to the cellar to get the ale, the prisoner
jumped over the counter, seized the cash box, and ran
away with it. The prisoner was identified by Mrs.
Wells, by a woman named Sarah Wicklesworth, and a
girl named Jump, as the person who rail off with the
cash box. Mr. Murphy asked for a remand of the
prisoner, as he said he was sure to secure the individual
who was with him the time the robbery was committed.
The prisoner was remanded accordingly.
SUSPICIOUS.—Thomas Fowler, remanded from Saha-
day, on a charge of having a quantity of jewellery,
supposed to have been stolen, in his possession, was sent
to jail for two months, as he could not account for the
possession of the property. A report of this case
appeared in our paper of Monday. One of the gold:chains
found on the prisoner was identified by Mr. Joplin, a
publican, residing in London-road, who said it had
been stolen from him on Saturday night, the 12th of
April, while he was going home, " a victim to hospit-
ality." _ _

ROBBING A SOLDIER.—Jane Taylor was again brought
up on a charge of stealing £2O from Junes Conner, a
soldier, recently returned from the Crimea, where he
had fought in three engagements. 'The particulars of
this case appeared in our impression a few days since.
On the former occasion, some witnesses were called to
prove an alibi, and the prisoner was discharged, but on
the present occasion, these witnesses were not again
called, having, as alleged, committed perjury on the
former examination. The prisoner was again dis
charged.
FALSE PRETENCES.—John Parry was charged with
obtaining £4 4s 6d from John Beasley, under false pre-
tences. The monzy was obtained in payment for repairs
pretended to have been done to a ship, but it was found
that no such ship was in the dock. There was a similar
charge against the same prisoner for obtaining £3l9s 6d
from Mr. W. Cower, a publican, Regent-road. The
prisoner was remanded for a week.

UONDAT.

(BEFORE MR. MANSFIELD.)

THE GREAT GUN TRICK.—A miserable looking old
man, named Michael Kavanagh, charged a fellow, named
Matthew M'Cormick, under the following circum-
stances:—The poor fellow told a dismal, yet most
laughable tale. He said he was a gun man, and
exhibited the fragments of a brass gun, amid great
laughter. The only chance of its ever being re-
paired, lay in the cure recommended by an old
man once to a neighbour, who told him the way to
repair his gun, was to put a " new lock, stock, and bar.
ref into it." The complainant went on to say, that he
had been an inhabitant of Birkenhead market for 15
years, and the only support he had was his gun and
his nuts. (Laughter.) Mr. Mansfield Do you shoot
nuts out of the gun ? Witness : No, my jewel of a
Worship, (roars of laughter,) I never see'd the man
afore in all my born days. Mr. Mansfield : You don't
shoot nuts out of the gun—what do you do with it?
The witness : The devil a pinsworth I'll ever be able
to do with it now; only just look at the havock he made
of my beautiful instrument. (Here again the fragments
were held up, amid renewed laughter.) Mr. Mansfield :
But what used you to do with it when it was a gun ?
Witness (with a heavy groan) : Oh ! I used to have it
for shooting for nuts—three darts a penny, (laughter),
and there's the fellow there that put an end to my exist-
ance, (renewed laughter,) and I call on you, my jewel
of a Worship, to ax him if I ever done him hurt or harm,
or offend him since the day of creation. (Uproarious
laughter.) Mr. Mansfield : Well, tell me how he broke
the gun? Well, my Worship, I was comin from the
usual occupashin of my daily labour—that's from the
nut shooting at Birkenhead, on Saturday night, and
what do you think, my Worship, I was thinking of? Mr.
Mansfield : I don't want to know what you were think-
ing about, tell me how he broke your nut gun ? Wit-
ness : Well, as I was telling you, I was just thinking of
nothing at all, and Louis Napoleon, (laughter,) and
walking alone along Marybone, when, my Worship, up
he aims, snaps the gun off my back, and without say-
ing "by your leave," or any thing else, he made mummy
of it on the flags, without any mercy or remorse. (Great
laughter) Policeman 298 said he was on duty in Mary-
bone on Saturday night, be saw the poor fellow walking
very quietly with a basket of nuts on his arm, and the gun
slung behind his back, the prisoner, who was on the
other side of the street, crossed over, and, without any
provocation, snapped the gun and broke it in pieces on
the footway. (Here the prisoner groaned loudly, and
exclaimed, " oh ! my beautiful gun, my beautiful gun."
There was, we are pained to say, very little sympathy
shown for the loss of the " beautiful gun," for instead
of groaning with the owner, a burst of laughter followed.
Mr. Mansfield : What is the value of the gun ? Wit-
ness : Why, it's not so much for the value of it, as for
the loss I care ; you see, my Worship, this is a holiday
at Birkenhead, and the club meets there, and I wouldn't
take less than a pound in cash for the nuts—only for the
loss of the gun—for this day is the best day at Birken-
head, from year's end to year's end—the value of the
instrument was eight-and-twenty shillings. The prisoner,
in reply to the charge, made a statement that caused
more laughter than that made by the complainant. He
said it was all the fault of a bottle of vinegar. (Great
laughter.) Mr. Mansfield : How the fault of a bottle of
vinegar ? Prisoner : Because it was that fellow's wife
had a bottle of vinegar, and she was walking behind
him, and she said she'd make me drink the bottle of
vinegar. (Laughter.) I thank you, ma'am, says I, but
if it's all the same to you, I would prefer a glass of
Parry's brown ale. (Great laughter.) " If you don't
drink the vinegar, Mat. M'Cormick," says she, " I'll
spill it down your throttle, and then I'll smash in the
roof of your skull with the bottle, so I will." (A loud
burst of laughter, in which his Worship joined heartily.)
Mr. Mansfield (to the complainant) : Was your wife
with you, and had she a bottle of vinegar? Mr. Michael
Kavanagh clasped his hands together, and gave a long
sigh, and then looked up at the ceiling of the court, ex-
claiming—The devil a wife, thanks be to goodness, I
ever had in my life, and what's more, my worship—l
never will, if I know it. The manner and gesture of
the witness produced another burst of laughter. At
this moment, there was heard a considerable row—that
is a row of women's tongues at the bottom of the court,
some crying out "M'Cormick," and some shouting
,• Kavanagh "—it was a Babel in minature, until the
parties were " scattered " into the street by
the police. Inspector Chew, in reply to Mr.
Mansfield, said the gun might be worth 20s. The owner
maintained it was worth 28s, and that he could have
cleared a " golden sovereign," if he had it at Birkenhead.
The prisoner, loudly protested that he could purchase
the full of the Royal George of such pop guns for 3s 6d.
(Laughter.) Mr. Mansfield: You could not make it for
3s 6d ? Prisoner : Upon my soul you're right, your
Worship ; I couldn't now, for three hundred and six-
pence, and for this reason—l couldn't make it at all, at
all ! (Laughter.) Mr. Mansfield : Well, you broke it,
and must pay for it. Prisoner : Oh aye, sir; all's very
good that way, but I have a wife and children. Mr.
Mansfield : So has he—that is, he might have had them ;
I sentence you to pay a fine of 1.55. Mr. Garnett (the
chief clerk) : Or in default, what imprisonment, sir ?
Mr. Mansfield : No imprisonment at all, as I see he has
the money, so he must pay at once. The fine was then
paid, and poor Kavanagh left the court, and so did Mr.
M`Oormick, interrogating to the policemen, as to whether
Anderson, (the wizard of the north,) ever had performed
such a "gun trick" as he had?
ASSAULT.—James Wilson, and Miles Burke, were
charged for having assaulted the police on Saturday
night. There was a street row, and when the police
went to quell it, the prisoners assaulted them. The
prisoners were fined £5 each, or in default of payment,
two months' imprisonment.
GARROTTE ROBBERY.—John Henderson, and John
Peters, were charged under the following circumstances.
It appeared that at an early hour in the morning, officers
Riley 91 and 493, saw the prisoners in Preston-street,
and suspecting all was not right, they locked them up as
suspicious persons. Some time after, a report of a
garrotte robbery was made, and the prisoners were iden-
tified as two of a gang of five persons. who had knocked
down and nearly strangled a tailor, named Doyle, at the
same time robbing him of all the money he had. The
prisoners, who are very bad characters, were fully com-
mitted for trial.
[Mr. Mansfield begged to acknowledge the receipt of
5s from W. J. P., for the benefit of the poor woman
Neill, whose case we reported in Saturday's paper.]
(BEFORE MR. ROMILY AND MR. T. BOLTON.)
UNLICENSED MARINE-STORES.—James Barton, an un-
licensed marine-store dealer, was brought up on remand.
It may be in the memory of the reader, that the prisoner
had been up twice before on a charge of offering brass,
lead, and copper for sale, for the possession of which he
could not account. Mr. Bluck was for the prisoner, and
urged, as he had previously, that the prisoner was not
obliged to give any account of how he became possessed
of the property. He founded his arguments on a case
decided by Mr. Mansfield, as already reported in our
paper. Mr. Bolton was of opinon the present did rot
come within the case quoted, and fined the prisoner £2,
which was at once paid.
STEALING TlME—Robert Webster, said to be well con-
nected, but described as a thief, having been " up " four
times already on charges of felony, was charged with
having stolen a time-piece from the ship Eliza Hunter,

in the Waterloo dock. On Saturday night, after twelve
o'clock, a police-officer met the prisoner leaving the
dock, and on searching him, he found the time-piece in
his possession. He gave several accounts of how be
came by it, but at last the constable discovered that It
had been stolen from the ship. He was committed for
two months.

BASE COIN.--Robert Swiney was charged by Constable
Amite, who said he got the prisoner attempting to pass a
base shilling, and on searching him he found sixteen
other base shillings in his pocket. The prisoner was
remanded.

Rorno OF A GOLD WATCH. —A sailor, named
Nicholas Crevia, was charged with having stolen a gold
watch and chain, value £2O, from the publichouse of Mr.
Lowe, corner of Argyle-street and Canning.place. Mr.
Lowe forgot the watch in the closet, and the prisoner
found it there, took it to a pawnbrokers, and pledged it
for 15s. He called again the same afternoon, and in
company of another person, released it; and it was
stated that the other person had the watch, and that he
had gone to Hull. The prisoner did not deny this, and
he was remanded,

ROBBERY OF A SHIPWRIGHT'S YARD,—On three or
four occasions during the last two months, the ship-
building yard of Mr. Southerbery, Neptune-street, was
broken into and property stolen ti,erefrom. On Satur-
day, two apprentices in the yard, named Patrick M‘Guin,
and Thomas Brei-±ill, along with a carver in the same
employment, were brought up on a charge of having
committed another robbery in the yard. The carter's
name is Henry Rimmer, and it appears that such was
the confidence reposed in him by Mr. Southerbery, that
he constituted him a watchman at night, and paid him
additional for that duty. The use the man made of his
privilege had been to assist the other prisoners is
plundering their master's stores, in which act they wer
caught on Friday night by the police. The prisoner
were committed for trial at the sessions.

COUNTY COURT.

-YESTERDAY

(BEFORE JOSEPH POLLOCK, ESQ , JUDGE.)
AEKER3 V. FURLONG.—In this cause, which was ad
action on a promissory note, and was tried before the
court some time since, his Honour proceeded to deliver
judgment yesterday. He said that he was of opinior:
that the verdict should be in favour of the defendant,
because, although the debt was in reality contracted
before the defendant's bankruptcy, the promissory note
was given subsequently to it; and by the Act 12 Vic.
it was provided that under such circumstances such an
engagement could not be enforced. Mr. Blackhurst, for
the plaintiff, said th .t the bankruptcy was antecedent to
the act of 12 Vic., and that it could not therefore apply.
His Honour strongly complained that so important an
element in the case had not been mentioned during the
course off, the proceedings. Of late, many cases were
submitted for judgment, in which the facts were not
fully stated, and the court had, in consequence, been
much inconvenienced by them. In this case, he should
defer judgment to the 20th, by which time he hoped all
the facts would be placed before the court.
MO,GAN V. LEVY AND ANOTHER.—This was an action
brought to recover I4s, the value of a half barrel of
grapes. The defendants, Messrs. Houghton and Levy,
had a sale of fruit, which the plaintiff (Mrs. Morgan)
attended, and purchased there a half barrel of grapes,
marked " Almeira," for I Is. She got an order fqr the
grapes, but the half barrel which was delivered to her,
was marked "H. M." This she immediately sent back,
but the defendants refused to receive it. The plaintiff
had sold the grapes in anticipation for 14s, and she
accordingly instituted the present action for that amount.
Mr. Levy stated, in defence, that the delivery order was
for the lot, 183, in the catalogue, and that he resisted
the claim not for the amount involved, but to check the
practice of attempting to change lots purchased under
such circumstances. His Honour said that the evidence
of Mrs. Morgan was very direct, and the verdict should
therefore be in her favour, for the amount claimed.