The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-13 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 13,

proved that he went in the direction pointed out to
him, and met a cab com,bg to wards him at,i a great
IA
rate, the driver of which was the prisoner lleens. I
After some further inculpatory evidence the pri-
soners were remanded for a week.
IVORSHIP-STREET.
William Murray and Frederick Poole, two well•
dressed men, were charged with the following dex-
terous highway robbery :
A gentleman named Cotterill, stated that be was
returning from the West-end, at seven o'clock in the
evening of the 30th ult., and on emerging from the
omnibus in which he had ridden at the corner of
Bath street, City-road, he suddenly found himself in
the midst of an immense crowd of persons, who had
collected opposite the Eagle Saloon to obtain a gra-
tuitous view of the ascent of one of the Buislays,
swinging to the car of a balloon. While passing
through the mob he saw that he had been singled out
for robbery, for a number of men at once surrounded
him in such a manner as could leave no doubt of
their intentions, and the next instant he telt a sharp
tug at his neck-chain, to which was attached a gold
lever watch of the value of sixteen guineas. He
thrust his hand over the chain to frustrate the thieves,
but found he was too late, quick as he had been, for
the chain was broken, and he distinctly saw his watch,
which had been drawn, unfelt by him, from his waist-
coat-pocket, in the hand of a man close to him.
This man, whom he believed to be the pri•
sonar Murray, he attempted to grasp hold of,
but he was baffled by the rest of the gang, who
cleverly hemmed him in on all sides, and when he did
get free from them, by their suddenly dispersing, both
the thief and his plunder were gone. Witness im-
mediately made his way to the police-station to ap-
prise the inspector on duty of the robbery, but he had
scarcely mentioned a word of the purport of his visit
when, to his utter astonishment, an officer extended
his hand to him with a gold watch in it, which he
immediately recognised as his own. He was quite
positive both prisoners formed part of the gang who
surrounded him, and felt almost as positive it was
Murray who had his watch.
Evans, one of the detective officers, said that in
consequence of the number of robberies which inces-
santly took place whenever this kind of ascent oc-
curred, he mixed in the crowd in plain clothes on the
evening in question, and shortly after heard an ex-
clamation of " Ob, my watch is gone," though he
could not see the person robbed. He saw both both
Poole and Murray in the crowd, and the next minute
both wormed their way through the bystanders in
great hurry, and tried to get away. Poole did so, but
he succeeded in beading Murray, whom he knew to be
a member of the swell mob, and demanded what he bad
about him. Murray declared that he had nothing
but his own property, and insisted upon being re-
leased, but he held him with one hand while he
searched him with the other, and on discovering the
gold watch in his waistcoat pocket, which he felt sa-
tisfied had teen stolen, he took him at once to the
station and charged him upon suspicion of robbery.
The charge had scarcely been taken when the prose-
cutor came in and identified the property as his, and
upon being questioned as to the personal appearance
of the other men who had beset him, gave so accurate
a description of another of his assailants, that he was
convinced it was Poole, who generally " worked"
with Murray, and, upon subsequently tracing and
capturing him, the prosecutor recognised him the
moment he saw him, as also did a journeyman shoe-
maker, named Kindersley, who witnessed the whole
transaction, and saw one thief pass the watch to the
other directly after it had been stolen.
When called upon for their answers to the charge,
Poole protested that he was as innocent as the child
unborn, and had never seen Murray in his life till he
accidentally met him in the crowd ; and Murray, on
the other hand, assured the magistrate, that having
picked the watch up in the road, he suspected it might
have been dropped, and therefore thrust it into his
pocket, but that otherwise his character was unim-
peachable.
Unfortunately, however, Brosnan, a constable of
the K division, was in court, and not only identified
Murray as an old acquaintance, whom he had him-
self had in custody for felony, but also deposed to
being present at the Middlesex Sessions on the 27th
of June, 1849, when he was arraigned for that kind
of offence under the name of Alfred Johnson, and on
conviction was sentenced to a lengthened term of im-
prisonment. Alderman, the gaoler, also intimated
that the last witness had only given:a part of that pri-
soner's character, as he had known him ever since he
was a boy, knew him to have been always a thief,
and at least convicted three times.

Mr. liAmmiLL, on hearing this, considered that the
Assistant-Judge at the sessions would be the most
fitting person to adequately deal with the prisoner
again, and the depositions having been taken by Mr.
Vine, the chief clerk, they were both fully committed
for trial.