The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-22 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS—June 21.

(Before the Assistant-Judge.)
Thomas Blackburn, 28, alias " Lurcher ," printer ;
Thomas Gardner, 21, waiter; and Thomas Jones,
19, weaver, were indicted for breaking and entering
the dwelling-house of William Palmer, and stealing
therein a plate-basket and other articles, value £6,
his property.

Sarah Palmer, wife of the prosecutor, said she
lived at Richmond-cottages, London-fields, Hackney,
and on May 24, at about half-past two in the after.
noon, in consequence of something that was told
her, she went into a front room and there missed a
plate-basket and its contents from a sideboard.
When she missed the things the room window was

open, but it had been previously closed. Amongst

the things stolen was a pair of nutcrackers.

Henrietta Palmer, daughter of the prosecutor,
said she was at home when this matter happened,
and was looking out of the top room window at half•
past two in the afternoon. She saw the prisoners in
a field opposite, walking backwards and forwards.
Another person was also lying down in the field,
and he was one of the witnesses for the prosecution.
Arthur Wtn. Palmer, a little boy, son of the pros
secutor, said he saw the prisoner Jones on the day
this happened, and he came to their house and
knocked at the door, and on its being opened he
asked if there was any china or glass to mend. He
told him he would go and see, and was absent two or
three minutes, and when he came back the prisoner
was still at the door. He told him there was nothing
to mend, and he went away.
George Cunningham, a lad, said he was a brick.
layer, living at 19, Duncan street, Hackney, and
on the day of this occurrence he was in a field oppo.
site to Mr. Palmer's house. He saw the three pri•
soners standing near a partition in the field opposite
Mr. Palmer's house. He saw Jones go to the house
and knock at the door, and after being away a short
time he returned to the others in the field. After.
wards he saw Gardener go to the house, get in at the
area window, and soon afterwards come out with a
plate-basket, which he covered over with his apron.
While Gardener was in the house the other men
were walking up and down, and they kept looking
about them. When Gardener came back from the
house he gave the basket to Jones, and they all
walked away together. Gardener opened the area
window by forcing back the fastening with a knife.
The basket was covered by Gardener with his apron
too quick for him to see what was its size and shape.
When he saw this, he told the landlady of the house
that a robbery had been committed, and that the
thieves had gone towards Shoreditch Church.

Gardener cross-examined this witness, and wanted
to know how it was that as there were many people
in the field he did not at once give an alarm, and ho
replied that he was afraid to do so, or something
might have been done to him. Only on Saturday
last he was knocked down in the Broadway, at
Hackney, and very seriously beaten by three men,
whom he did not know.

Richard Clark, police-constable 223 N, said, on
the 27th May he saw all the prisoners together,
they having come out of the Vinegar-ground, in
Old-street-road. He took Gardener into custody,
telling him that he wanted him for stealing a plate.
basket and a quantity of plate from a house in
London-fields, Hackney, to which he made no reply.
The witness Cunningham was present at the time,
and he had given previously a description of all the
prisoners. On the person of Gardener he found the
knife produced, which could be used for the purg
pose of forcing back the fastenings of windows.

John Gardener, 498 N, said he took Blackburt,
and afterwards went to his lodgings at No. 17, Sun-
street, Vinegar-ground, St. Luke's, where he found
the large bunch of skeleton keys produced in the
drawer in the looking-glass; also a centrebit and
file.

William Dew, another constable of the N divi-
sion, said he also went to the same house as the
above, and in a room occupied by Blackburn and
Jones he found a
jemmy and a pair of nutcrackers,
the latter identified by Mrs. Palmer as being one of
the stolen articles.
Thomas Robinson said that the prisoners lodged,
in his house, No. 17, Sun-street, St. Luke's.
The Assistant-Judge summed up the evidence,
and

The Jury immediately returned a verdict of
guilty against all the prisoners.

Blackburn and Jones were then charged with
having been previously convicted, to which indicts
ment they pleaded guilty.
Sergeant Franklin, 13 E division, said that Black.
burn, alias Thomas Richardson, was sentenced on
the 30th March, 1850, to two months' imprisonment
for picking pockets;
in the name of Thomas Keen,
he was sentenced to one month on the sth of June,
1851 ; in the name of Thomas Cook, 12 months on
the 9th of July, 1855 ; in the name of Thomas Wil-
son, at Clerk.enwell Sessions, three months on the
19th May, 1857; in the name of Thomas Richard-
son, one, month on the sth of November, 1857 ; in
the r.ame of Thos. Richardson, six years' penal servie
tr..de at the Central Criminal Court on the 13th of
1 December, 1858. He was liberated with a ticket
of leave which would expire in December next.

Smith, police-constable 99, proved three previous
commencing on the Bth
f June,
terminating in December, 1859.
e convictions
christolpBhseas, against
nnodsutldJ,o pn e
• constable 187 N, said
Jones was tried at Clerkenwell Sessions on June 18,
1860, for breaking into a dwelling-house, and sen-
tenced to three years' penal servitude. Since then,
on the 14th of March, 1863, he had served one
month for illegal possession of a silk umbrella.
Gardener.
No previous conviction was proved against

The Assistant-Judge said he would give Gardener
the benefit of nothing being known against him,
believing that he had been employed by these
notorious thieves to get into the window, and he
thought public justice would be satisfied by his
being imprisoned and kept to hard labour for 18
months. As regarded Jones, he had been sen-
tenced to penal servitude for three years, and after
that he had been found in possession of stolen pro-
perty. The sentence of the Court, therefore, on him
would be fire years penal servitude. As respected
Blackburn, he appeared to be a notorious thief, and
had been sentenced to six years penal servitude in
1858, and that time had not yet
expired. In his
case the public must be protected, and the sentence
upon him was that he be kept in penel servitude
for ten years.