The National Register.
London, England, 1815-10-01 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY.

Tuesday, Daniel Hill, George Sweting, and Charles Taylor. were
indicted for stealing bai.k notes to the value of 401. out of the office of
:An Bell, proprietor of Bell's Weekly Messenger, at the corner ut
Clare-court, Drury-lane, on the night ()lac Mb of June last.
Thomas Holland, a clerk of the prosecutor, proved, that the office or
CiAinting-house in Clare-tuurt, was leettd on the evening beti,re the
robbery, and that there was in the desk, wltieb was also locked, ■ ten
pound note, two notes of five pounds each, :aid a number of one pound
notes. lie wa nut certain of the number of the our bound notes bat
believes there were twenty or twenty one of them. Thel,rst morning,
the desk was found broken open and the notes gone. There were
marks of violence on the counting-house door, which was, however, not
broken open, but a pane of glass had been removed from the window.
Thomas Delany, a pritotr, in the employment of the prosecutor, Coll-
Armed the evidence or the last witness, as to the house being locked in
the evening, and the marks of violence which appealed on the desk
and the claw of the counting-house The house was used merely as
nn office, and nobody resided in it. Ile had strong suspicions of
prisoner Sweting, who was a fly-buy in the employment of the prose-
cutor ; and, in consequence of those suspicions, Sweting was appre•
hended the next night at a public-house in Drury-lane. He received
aY message the next morning trom Sweting, who was in the watch•hoase,
and upon his going there, Sweting told rola, " that bad company had
been the ruin of " that he had not been present at the robbery,
inif that be had given information to the prisoner Hill, and to another ;
person Ot the name of Charles (whose surname he did not know) of
the !moiler in ►vLiclt it might be done. They afterwards gave him a
'OM pound note and Iwo three shilling tokens l'r the information they
tad given them, The other two prisoners were afterwards appre-
tended.

John Bean, one of the patrolg belonging to St. Clement's parish, saw,
On the morning in wl.ich the robbery took place, the primmer Taylor
(whom he knew belore), the prisoner Hill, whom be observed most
attentively, together with another man (who has not been appre-
hended), awl two women -of the town, opposite Exeter Change,
Strand. Knowing Taylor, and suspecting that they were about some-
thing improper, he hollowed them, but lust sight of them, for some
time, in Drury-lane. A little before 3, however, he sAw them again
and the prisoner Sweting was then in their company. He watched them,
Awl saw the pri•ou tr, Taylor, dividing something like hank notes
amongst them. To one man, he saw him give a note which he took out
.'f his side pocket and a 3s. token. One of the party, however, recog-
nising him, said, ( with an expression too gross to be repeated) there ►s
.hack Ikea. They immediately separated, and he saw no more of them
that night ; he had known Taylor before, and he had observed Hill
eery attentively for near ten minutes. He had stated before the Ma-
gistrates the dubs which Hill wore, and a dress of 'needy that descrip-
tion was found at lodgings when lie was apprehended. There
was also found there a large slater's hammer, which being brought to
_the counting house, which had been robbed, was found to correspond ,
exactly to all marks of violet:cc that had been used', and there could be
lie doubt but I h tt the desk had been broken open with that hammer.

Another officer corroborated this statement.
The prisoners were then called on for their defence.
Sweting pr,ltested his innocence, and said, that all he had said before
was false, and that lie had been made to say so.
Taylor and Hill also declared their innocence, and Hill undertook to
prove an alibi.
Two journeymen printers spoke to the character of Sweting. and
one of them said that if he was discharged, he should nut hesitate to
give him employment as a fly-boy.
Mr. Hunt, the keeper of the billiard rooms over Exeter Change,
spoke to the character of Taylor. He said that he had received a very
good character with km, and he had been in his service for the last
.six months. Ile employed him to take care of a horse mod chaise, and
occasionally to attend ut the billiard rooms. He never knew any thing
.against his character.
This witness, on his cross-examination, 'admitted That he had himself
been confined fur six months in Horsenionger Gaol ; upon which the
Common Serkeaot told I , that instead of coining I;rward to give
chalacters to others, he should rather get somebody to give him a cha-
•racier. Hill attempted to prove his alibi by the testimony of a com-
mon prostitute, of the name of Louisa Bolton, with alma' he had co-
habited for the list six mouths It appeared that she had taken
the name of Bolton from the 111d11 who was shot ill attempting to rob
a linen draper's shop in Piccadilly. This witness was a handsome late-
-sting looking pang, girl, nut above lg. She swore positively to

OCT. 1.

Dill being in bad with her the whole of that night oil which the robbe-
ry WUS tommitted.

On her cross-examination, however, she prevaricated rreativ in her
testimony, and Bean, the patrole, swore positively that •he was one of
the two women of the town, whom he lad seen with the gang at two
o'clock in the morning that the robbery was ctmunitted.
Hill also brought one or two more witnesses to his character : but they
appeared to know little cr nothing about him.

The Common Serjeant then recapitulated the evidence to the jury
if they believed the voluntary, confession, which it might be supposed
that Sweting first made in a moment of contrition, and that he stuls not
piesent at the actual Stealing, they should find him net guilty of the
present charge. He might be tried on a separate indictment an an ac-
cessary before the fact, but he could not be found guilty as a principal.
His story appeared somewhat confirmed toy the patrole taut having seen
him with the cang at a little past two, when they were probably con-
certing the robbery, and having seen him with them afterwards when
the money was dividing. lie then pointed out to them the evidence
applying to the other two prisoners.
The Jury then found Taylor and Hill Guilty; Switing—Not
Guilty.
The Common Serieant immediately passed sentence of trensportativn
fir seven years on Taylor and Hill; and observed to them that it nes
iiirtunate for them there was no one dwelling in the house at the time.
fl that had been the case, the conviction would have been capital,
and they might be assured that they would have incurred the sentence
of the law.

The Common Serjeant then addrettsed himself to Sweting, and ex-
pressed a hope that the fate of his companions would be a warning to
him, through lite, to avoid bad.compatiy, and, to walk in the paths of
honesty.

bolisa Bolton, after a very severe reproof from the Learned Judge.
was ordered to be committed to Newgate, until the Court should deter-
mine whether it would order her to be prosecuted fur perjury.
On Thursday, the unusually long Sessions at the Old Bailey ended,
when, in addition to the sentences passed the pi evions evening on
via-ions offenders, the following were brought up, and received judg-
ment, viz.
Sentence of death on J. Draper, J. Skipps, and J. Streamer, for
sheep-stealing; J. Binstead and J. Elms. for forgery; J. Bayley. S.
Halliday, J. Fisher W. Clarke. and H. Daniel, alias Edward Pratt,
for burglary; T. Wilson and J. Curtis, for house breaking; J. Ma-
homy, for a robbery on C. M'Dovatt ; J. Morris and F. Weaeroff,
for highway robberies; Wm. Menzies, for coining; J. Wilson, J.
Hunt, T. Thompson, P. Bend, J. Halliday, and .1. Francis, for steal-
ing in dwelling-houses; and J. Parnell, for privately stealing in a
shop.
W. Jackson, T. Pope, and W. Freeman, for 14 years; Mary Ann
Phillips, J. Pennon, Eliz. Parsons, Mary Carter., Jane Duggin, 1).
Hill, Chas. Taylor, R. Richards, Elizabeth Skinner, Eliz. Blac'A, H.
Paxton, B. Noblri, Maria and Eliza Page, J. lisyson, J. Thomas, J.
Roberts, and J. Farren, for seven years ; '2%! to be imprisoned in the
House of Correction, Clerkenwell ; 11 tor imprisonment in Newgate
for various periods ; five to be publicly, and 14 privately whipped ;
10 were tined 14. each, and discharged; two judgments respited ; and
discharged by proclamation.—The sentence ut H. Lawrence, lot
returning from transpoi tat ion, is respited.