The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WED ESDAY EVENING, JULY 29, 1863.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

SECONDARIES COURT.
(Before ➢lr. Potter and a Common Jury,)

EXTRAORDINARY FALSE IMPRISONMENT CASE.-START..

LING DISCLOS URES.-MACNAB V. FEREDAY AND AN-

OTHER.

This was a writ of inquiry sent down from the Court of
Exchequer to assess damages laid at £l,OOO in an assault
and false imprisonment case.
Mr. Kenealy appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Sergeant
Ballantine for defendant.

Mr. Kenealy, in opening plaintiff's case said,—My client
is the public accountant of the Oriental Banking Corpora-
tion of Threadneedle-street, one of the defendants, Mr.
Fereday is an attorney of Bedford-row, and the other Mr.
Martin is a bill discounter. In last year a b;ll to which
plaintiff was a party, came into the hands of defen-
dants who sued him upon it ; plaintiff, by his
attorney, obtained permission to plead, as he had
a good defence to the action. Notwithstanding this, a ca. sa.
was lodged in the hands of a sheriff's e,ffictr, and defendant
was arrested. He told the offlo,,r that he was protected,
but the officer (Mr. Hilliard) refused to li,aen to anything.
Mr. Evans (plaintiff's attorney) was sent for, and he ten-
dered the money uncle/ protest. Mr. Hilliard refused to
receive them ney, and said he had instructions to take
plaintiff to Whitecross-street. After some delay, the
officer allowed plaintiff to remain at his offices until a settle-
ment was arrived at. Defendants were communicated with'
at 7 o'clock, but plaintiff was not released till 10 at night
Defendants will say this is a mistake, but you, gentlemen,
will, I am sure, protect an officer in a public situation from
such indignity and harsh treatment. I ask you to give sub.
stantial damages for a most unwarrantable and unjusii..-
able outrage.

Plaintiff was called, and fully bore out the statement cf his
learned counsel.

Cross-examined--I receive £9OO per annum from the
bank. I also carry on business as a paint manufacturer at
Hill-street, Finsbury. I carry on that business as Sinclair
and Co. The bill on which I was sued was for £7O,
I do not know if it was accepted in the name of my firm.
I know that it purported to be signed by Sinclair, Roberts,
and Co.

The learned sergeant commented strongly on plaintiff's
contradictory evidence.
Plaintiff-4 saw the that bill was accepted by Sinclair,
Roberts, and Co, on the summons. I co not know that
there are thirty or forty bills out signed by my
firm. 'There are some. I have taken no steps
about them. The bid I was sued on is a forgery,
but I have made no inquiries as to the person whom I sus-
pect. Roberts is my cleik, at a salary of X 2 per week. He
never was my partner. Roberts may have drawn and ac-
cepted bills with my full consent. He has not done so sine
January. There were trade bills before that time drawn in
Roberts' name and circulated by me. There may have
been. I know of no instances, I cannot recollect. I have
never taken up bills drawn by Roberts. They may have
been taken up by my firm. All the bills you show me are
in the handwriting of Roberts. I kept a bill book. I have
not brought any of my books. My attorney advised me not

to do so. These bills were never entered in u y books. Mr.
Elliot, my new elerk, carries on the business for me now.
Roberts left me in February. I saw Roberts two days
Sinclair and Co. I now assert that this
ago. Up to January my firm was Sinclair, Roberts, and
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine—Roberts is in court. Why do
bCioll"isnoawfoirtgiesryon. only
you not give him into custody ?
Plaintiff gave no answer.
Mr. Hilliard proved arresting the plaintiff.

Mr. Kenealy said that the wrong sustained was grossly
exaggerated by the line of cross-examination pursued by
defendant's counsel. Defendant had admitted the wrong,
and it was not right to mystify and transmogrify the jury.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, in a very powerful speech,
stated that the whole affair arose out of the mistake of
Plaintiff, but if plaintiff's attorney had only acted coutte-
ously, and given due notice of the entering of the appear-
ance by the plaintiff, all might have been avoided. The
learned sergeant then commented very strongly on the fact
that all the plaintiff had was £9OO a year at the bank;
he was carrying on a different business under a name not
h,s own. Roberts, although only a clerk in plaintiff's em-
ploy, was set forth as a partner, and Roberts had put out to
the world bills of exchange as the hilts of the firm. Honest
men had parted with honest !limey on those bills, and the
owner of the firm repudiated them. But Roberts had not
baen given into custody, or a very different state of facts
would have been brought out. What he (the learned ser-
geant) set out was that these bills were the plaintiff's. He
boldly said that the whole matter was a shuffle from begin-
ning to ths end, and a farthing would be quite enough for
the plaintiff, who had given his evidence in his own
manner.
lhe learned Secondary briefly summed up, and the jury
awarded plaintiff £5O damages.
One of the jury was challenged by defendant before the
case was opened; and he was directed to- retire- and give
place to another juryman.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE This Day.

GUILDHALL.

RoBBERy BY A SERTANT.—CharIes William Terry, a
respectably dressed man, was placed before Alderman
Phillips, charged with robbing his employer.

Mr. Barnes, of the firm of Knell and Barnes, 18,
Basinghall-street, said the prisoner was in their e,-).-
ployment as warehouseman. Ibis morning four pieces
of alpaca, valued at about Lll2 were missed, and
from certain circumstances the prisoner was asked whether
he knew anything about it. He denied all knowledge of
the property, but afterwards he said he wished to speak
privately to him. Ha then acknowledged taking three
pieces of stuff, and offered to pay for the goods. This was,
of course, retused. _ _

Sergeant Faunal, of the City detective force, took the
prisoner into custody on the above charge. On searching
him a number of duplicates were found, some of which re-
lated to stolen property. He had nut had time to procure
the attendance of the brokers.

Alderman Phillips asked the prisoner what he had to say
in answer to the charge.

The prisoner replied he could hardly think it could be
called stealing, as he had offered either to pay for the goods
or produce them within an hour.
Alderman Phillips—But you had no business to take
the things away.
Sergeant fuunell said there were other cases against the
prisoner, and therefore he should not ask for a remand
until Monday next.
The application of the officer was granted.

and got away from the person, and on Cane, a con table,
coming to my assistance my prisoner (Hepburn) knocked
the constable's hat off and then struck him three or four
times on the face with his stick, at last breaking it. On the
way to the station Hepburn struck me two or three times
but did not hurt me much.

Htpburn—He has told a deliberate lie when he says he
wzs pinioned from behind. I told a friend to rescue me,
but not to strike you.

Wm. Cane, 35 C, after corroborating the previous wit-
nesses, said—l was struck three or four times in the face by
Hepburn, who called out, "Jack, rescue me."
Mr. Mansfield—What became of " Jack ?"

Hepburn—There didn't happen to be a " Jack" in our
party. We did not say we wanted another Cremorne row,
but that the police wanted it.

M. Mansfield—You have not done very great damage to
the police, or I should have felt it my du'y to have dealt
very severely with you. For this piece of folly you must
pay 40s earth, or a month in default.

Mr. Minael Win. Balfe, of 69, Great Portland-street,
gentleman, and Mr. Theophilus Harris, 9, Bell•yard,
Doctor's-commons, solicitoi, were charged by Atwood,
186 C, with behaving in a disorderly manner and causing
a crowd of persons to assemble in Coventry-street.

Mr. Mansfield said he considered the punishment the
defendants had undergone in being locked up sufficient, and
discharged thew.

WESTMINSTER.

LAWLESS AND SERIOUS OUTRAGES BY BOlN.—Michael
Rearden, a ragged urchin about 11 years of age, was
ciaaged with stealing fruit from a garden at Thames-bank.
Mrs. Hannah Harris, wife of an inspector of the London,
Dover, and Chatham Railway Company, said that she re-
sided at Thames-bank. Yesterday afternoon the prisoner
came to her garden, and went up into the pear tree, where
he picked the fruit and threw it down to his companions.
Mr. Arnold—There were others there?
Witness—A number of other boys.
Mr. Arnold—Did you tell them to go ?
Witness—Yes, but it was no use. I told the prisoner.
Mr. Arnold—Do you know anything of the prisoner ?
Witness—l have seen him in our garden repeatedly. He
was there several times yesterday, and I onceavoured to get
rid of him, but could not. When he was not on the tree
picking the fruit, he and the others were throwing atones
at it.

Mr. Arnold—Why don't you keep them out of your
garden ?
Witness—We can't. I wish we could, for every thing is
destroyed, and I am afraid of being severely injured.
Mr. Arnold—How do they get in ?
Witness—Sometimes by the gate, but they have no occa-
sion to do that now, for they have pulled the fence down,
and walk in and out as they please. If we interfere to pro-
tect cur own property, they abuse and threaten us. This
boy happened to fall from the tree yesterday, or we never
should have got him.
Police-constable Tucker, 249 K, said that he had seen the
prisoner there before, and took him yesterday. There
were a great many boys there.
Mr. Arnold—Where is this place ?
Policeman—lt is a piece of ground at the end of Thames-
bank, formerly in the occupation of the Chelsea Water
Company, but now belonging to the London, Dover, and
Chatham Railway.
The boy's mother here stood forward and said he was
always at school, but there were holidays when he was not.
Nobody had ever in the least complained of the boy before.
Mr. Arnold asked him what he had to say ?
Prisoner—l only took one pear, that's all.
Mr. Arnold—You have often been there before.
Prisoner—Well, they did no: do anything to me.
Mr. Arnold—That is a greater reason why you should
not have gone again.

Mrs. Harris—When my servant assisted me to secure
this boy, the others fell upon her to resue him, and I «as
obliged, for her protection, to beat them off, and they now
threaten what they will do to us when they catch us from
home.
Mr. Arnold—This is very serious. For this the first
offence, of which he has been convicted, I fine the boy ss.
The Mother—l can't pay it.
Mr. Arnold—Then he is committed for seven days.