The Sun.
London, England, 1806-04-17 00:00:00

ittaf,v,./ ItontC!Tl Y.

/An alrakee was in:.1101(1 fd-r ti alai titi g Gotfried
Het,ry Panzer Biefer, at of February last.,
on the King's highway, putitng. biro. in fear, and '
taking froth his person, against hii will, a silver
watch, his pfoperty.

. WAT' sox opened tide case 'for the prosecti.;
tion:, •
The. Prisoner reqUested that the witnesses "should
be examined apart ; Which the CoUrt: ordered ac-
cordingly.' •
• The Prosecutor !teed, that hdis a foreigner; bn
. the' 21. st of February -last lie was going along the
Strand, about sbx o'clock in the. evening; whi:n he
came to Bedford.;street the Prisoler rushed against
him with violence and
.pushed him on his, breast,
and at the same instant snatched his
.wntc-h out of
his fob and ran off. Tlie:lVOsecntor cried out, " Stop
thief."l--The Prisoner was-Stopped, lint gait Off—Was
takeil a sectind.time and secured--4he watch found
in his hand-taken to Bow-street, and committed.

Mr, Taylor, an engraver, say, that as he was gOing
along the Strand, he heard the cry of " stop thief ;"
when he stopped the Prisoner as 11*as Tannin;
but the ,Prosecutor speaking unintelligibly, the Pri-
soner protesting his innocence, saying, he had a
wife and children ; the mob appearing in his favour,
and -the, witness apprehending a gang of his asso-
ciates might come up, did not oppose the Prisoner's
going-off, which he
W attempted to do, by miming
,
don the street he had onceran up: T he.cry of
stoP thief," being called again,' and some. persons
saying " he. haS the watch in his hand," the witness
knocked him down; and after a straggle between
the. Witness and the Prisoner,. together: tli another
witness of the name of -Wilson, they wrenched the
watch out of the Prisoner's -hands. r•
Mr, Wilson corroborated this testimony: •-

. .
Lavender, the'Bow-strea patrole, produced the
Watch; it having ben delivered to him at the time
Of the Prisoner's ccimmitinent, and the' Prosecutor
proved it to be his property.
Mr. Justice 110-OKB observed to the Jury, that this
Was a capital-offence, that of ad highway'robliery ;
and to constitute that, ofilnice, it was necessary
.that the -party robbed .should he put in fear, or
some violence he oftired to his person. In the pre,
sent case, the tObbery was so sudden, that the per,
son robbed Could, not be said to ha put in fete, but
there was such violence qb4l2.).:ed .to his person at the:
771Vrier;" the g..atcl: imrtaben,.that' it constituted the
:offence-of highway robliery: This could not be -eon-
sidered as privately stealing from the-person; for the
-Prosecutor felt the watch go; and there could be no
doubt that it was taken by:violence from the person
without consent of the owner'; and f any thing was
'taken fronz the person, without the consent of the owner,
eind with 7..iolence,. the whole (ill care highwq rob-
lery was committed. One thing more (said the
Learned Judge) I wish to observe—lt is early in the
Session, and May he a guide to those Prisoners who
may in future wish to have witnesses examined a-
part, to consider of the prudence-of that 'course. It
is. usual with the Court to grant the request when-
ever made. I have
,never reftAed it, and the other.
Judges grant it in like manner; but I never 'have
suffered it to take place, without afterwards dire&-
ing the Jury to consider whether, if all the witnesses,
happened to agree together hi their account of the
transaCtions they related, they did not make the
case stronger for the Ylosecution thati it would
have been had -they been examined in each
other's hearing. I say this, because lam aware
that prisoners often make the request to have wit-
nesses examined apart, with a wish of slandering
them, offc.ir the purpose of wasting time.. The case
is so here; the witnesses have,been examined apart
at the Prisoner's requests and they. have made-the
ease stronger against him by it, for they agree (-T-
-tirely in their aceOunt of it, although they' did, not
hear each othea's evidence.—Guilty.---Deuth,