The Sun.
London, England, 1801-01-15 00:00:00

HIGITWAY ROBBERY.

William Cross was charged with this offence,
in assaulting, on the 9th December kst4 on the
ilighway,-Mr. W. Allen .Thackthwaite,
putting,him in fear, and taking from, his person
a drneigl watch, with a chain,. seal and , key, and
'also a guinea and an half, and a seven-shilling
'piece, in gold, and:some-silver, his property and
-monies.

--It: appeared that, the Prosecutor, Mr. Thack-
thwaite, and his friend, a, Mr. Clifford, were
'coming-to! town on' the A6lOO • road, in a single
horse chaise; about' six o'clock its the evening,
they, were met 'near the three-Mile stone, by the
Prisoner whn watymounted., He rode' up to them
and caught hold of the reins, then got near the
side. of the. chaise, and presenting a .pistol, de-
manded their money, watches, &c. The result
this ,app4.c..ition, during which some words
pas,sed etlive-en the Parties, and several threats
from the Prison'er. was,
_that the Prosecutor re-
ittelantly parted with the property set forth in the
Indiament, and his friend with what money he
had about hint. -It being' very dark at the time,
they could not observe 'the face, or person of the
Prisoner, or the kind' of; hdtse on which he
rode; stifficiently.close,- so as to .be able satisfac-
torily to indentify either in Court.-74Fitikvever,
they shortly after gave infOrritationlef the atf,tir
to a Bow-street Parole, whent they fell in with,
`and pointed out the'. road 'which the, highway_
than had taken ; • in consequence ofivhielrhe
apprehend ti it twelve o'clock that ,night, at the
Hammersmith Turnpike,- where the 'Party were
first led to Suspect}}him- by -his refusing to 'give
'any aecount front whence he.- Came, , Alter
securing him; they, 'searched his pock'ete, and
tbund thzlein. the PrOsechtor's watch, one pistol,
nine' guineas and a half in gold, and sbme siker,
The watch being produced eintrt, was la-
tigfaftotily identified by 'Mr. 'Thackthwaite,
and the pistol -was that 'kind of one which the
Gentlemen -described to have been presented to
them by the. Prisoner..
.Ir=e his defence, he said, he was going after a
place which he heard was vacant ar HbunslOw ;
that the'person Whnhe expected to see, was not
there. He had borrowed the horse to ride this'
titer from ToWn,-and had i,toppeci two hours at.
art.lnn,ifvkire, i t the necessary, he foiled the Pis..
tot and, Watch, of,which circumstance he infofin.
ed a.,quondath fellow-servant of his then in that
hOuse, whO advised him tolerthem remain, Where
he found them, btit being in want of money, he
thoterht to bring them to ToWn,- and-endeavour
P
t 0 dtspese &them.
7,b4. Moody, The person alluded to by the Pri-
soner in his defence; 'was brought forward to
prove,. that he 'had lieurd ,ty, tae
loieetthe, pistol and watch in,the necessary.; but-
nothing fitrther,'.transpired from his evidence,
tonding to exculpate him.
Mr, Baron GRAHAM, who tried! the , case,
made a .varietY of pertinentand shrewd, eemarles
thereon, and was of opinion,' the personal identity
sins not clearly -established- by, the .Brosecutor ;
that there-was a chain of circumstantial 'evidence
sufficiently strong to involve the. Prisoner, In
this'opinion.the fury manifested their coincidence
by finding a verdict. of. —Cirei/ty---Dearb.

llriilianr Louth s` %vas indifted for -stealing a
metal watch, chain, zte.' the •property of "John
hnutnds.

The PrOsecuthr is principal domestic to a' Ceti.
tlernati, residing in Salisbury. Street; Strandi+
On Saturday the 27 t h of Dtccmber 'last, :ir
Qrtiered. sonic meat home from ' Clare Kirke
the, .Prisoher, who -was a Butcher's Servant,
brought it home, and took.it into the kitchen.
S
orge >time before this, Edmunds had tieposWd
his wat(.ll.npon the mantle piece in' that apartment,
and coining there soon after the Prisoner 'hid
brought the meat, he missed it, his ,sospicioio

by RGCHAN AN IVl‘NlJl.l.Ati!irif 31<1ti,.1-trectl Cbveni.t

naturally fell upon the' Prisoner ; stay tatdng an
Officer with him, hg. instantly proceeded
mark-et; where he aa.ed so, as shortly/4a. inlle;:e
the Prisoner to acknowledge, that he had made
free with the watch:=—Under Evidence to this
effeEt the jury-were constrainedlO- find ihePrlt
Soner—Guiit.y.

Pr;ee 'and R4.l.)eirar Biggits; wets
,indided for the Offence of, higifyisaylObbery, in
assaulting Joseph de. Sil'va, a Nigro lad, :tral
'forcibly taking froM .his person .41. 4.5. 6d;.' his
monies,
.It appeared that thiswas lithe more than an or_
.dinary pia:-locket thanutaiv re; but
()tisk' * The des,:i ilsed ht:...
'self 10 have oeen very ill ,11.1t1 C.:,..; XL-
-1.() hive coinetip,;the :he of De..
'cember last, from hi:, a-tDeptiorki, and at
three o'clock the sa•.;:c :iiternoon to ha:, re.ceiv:C.Al
fOur guitre4b. ;fad C
at the ountin we. g-ho.
:Of Messrs, 1-laggart, io wrapt
up the money,in a pieie of paper,- and put' it in
the pocket of his jacket : he was scarcely three
minutes out of the house, when he,disiAbed the
ts,vo Prisoners to have tub: upi,to Minx sand each
to take him forcibly by the. arm,' When the'rri..'
soner, Price, put his hand :into the poCket, and
took out the money, With which. he intant.ly set
otT.;—Henee the alarm was given, arid`
pursuit. ctuntlitnic.d, atid the Prisoners were short-
ly .overtaken, at d in Price''s 'great coat p9tket
foui-guitteas and a sixpence were found loose;
these circumstances were all clearly proved—the
identity was incontrovertible.; as one oldie Wii-
nesies, Mr: Walker, of Birchin,lane, had them
in sight 4he whol'of the pursuit.

In the first itiStance they left their defence to
their Counsel.

Mr. RECORDER summed up' the evidence and
clearly pointed out the difference between the kind
of force or coercion necessary in, the eye of the
Law to constitute the crime of highway robbery,
and that used ordinarily in the street hustle, or
mode for alarming or confusing passengers: in
order the more easily to ' rifle their pockets.
From a close review of the evidence and the cir-
cumstances of the case, the Jury would judge
whether the charge,' to the capital extent' laid
in the Intli&ment, had been adequately proved.
After the charge was given the Prisoner Big-
gins obtained leave to-recite the substance of a
written defence,. which he,prepared, and had till
then- thought his, Counsel could regularly deliver.
This was a very circumstantial narrative,. -so in-
geniously arranged,-and delivered in such a way,
as appatkently had a_grear elle& with the. Jury in
ilk favour. Hesolemnly avowed his innocence of
the charge, an& 'of all knowledge whatever. of
his fellow. Prisoner, tespetting which latter point
some ,corroboratire evidence itppeared- from The
testimony of : Mr. Walker, The jury. fourid
Price 'Ciao, of stealing-.only, bkilt,cnotiitakin'Yb
with violence from the person, whicit,.obviare3 Ac
capital part.of the charge.—Biggins Not Guilty.

)1. .:1,"..44!_

t 3 . .

Su r c i Di.—On the COron4"e,r's held' on
the body of Mr. Smith,:. who: AOC hinisell
and his Stninita 640), na Atat,o4 in the last
COunty Chronicl,f, the. .edidence wat
given 1'1"c prhlcipal turnkey deposed, that in‘
consequence or hay ii sealded,his leg, I\y-Smith.
wm as reoved-to the infirmary,where Nfrs.''Sniith,
accompanied by her child and. Miss Kent, carne to
see hint .the.prisonee'saying be had something toi
communicate to' his wife, rcqueste4l,jlKwithes:
to walk gout, which ha liccordinlq
followed by Miss Kent„ In two or sthree•
mi
uses Mr..Brnith also el.tite <►ut tiud atter; going:
into a cell returned to' ihe..lntlrtnary, the door
of
which he shin, idrubSt, inunediately f.ior which
the witness bean; rWo Oa; .one
after
another, and he (Ound .T\llr, SMith lying on the
ground Mrs. SMitb "tray coning in,,wArds the
door; exclaiming, " I am shot;l arn shot !"., See-
ingthe pistols on the floor, witnness said, "'I hope,
you'aid norproeure these instruments," •-Slu4
"- No, I aid not, as L a.rn a dying
than." It 'also appeared that 'Mr. Smith desired
his wife to procure him „a btace of pistols• ten
weeks before, whiLlt Ateref-Used.
Mrs. Smith, tc bo wita,,,Wottnded in Stafford
Gaol by her husband, continbc&alive on -Wed:
tiesday. Tne balls entered the hack of he; left
shoulder • one of them was e:ttraaed. irnm6diate:
ly, below-the right ear,. and theother (tom her
neck, close to the Windpipe— The ball which
kitled.hirn; entered a .little above his left car,
and passed throtigh his head.-;-;Alhe coroner's
verditt was felo de se, and ,his body has been bu.
tied accordingly. • .

0 Friday a taker's Covercd'harrow or truck,
with 13; loat es of new bread, was stopped by
two inf,,riners in the Rorough, and carried- to
onion .I Lilt, under-authority or the Law -which
forbids the bale of bread within a given period..
'lhe Baker; by hh.Ctiubsei, contended, that the
bread in que-,tion
,was neither exptised
fOr and did not conic within the .I.)tirview of
the Att. '1 he Magistrates., however, after three
,hours deliberation,' fined the .Baker gs. for eacfl
loaf, and sent the bread to be
the Prisoners in the CountYGabl..
An infant boy was found severaliweeks since
near thecanal, in Birmingham, wh9.appearetc to
have been abandoned by,its.parents. .The Our-
seers,.; by singular .petseierance.,- traced,,the
Cher. to ..!-Hull,have .since !caged' her, 'in ..the
dungeon at,.Birmingharn,; with a .view to indKe
from her ponfessioo ,respeaing, the. father the
child, but this' she refuses ;..she says ate was go.
ing with the- boy to,Gkoncestcr, .but... her fruoney
becoming exhausted,- she could not proceed, and
unable to satisfy his, cAllsimfood, committed him
• to the: prote4ion of Providence.

AkßAVE,,irs;n, 'JAN i 3..
Pasc64 by--the raulina, from- Virglnia. -
Sail6d--Itlfc Carter, tot India.

iitittil;';anitTublisheti by-I:fan/4 tizzy rciti (ollt3ravep.l:viflarwoi, nr::ry-Luse);