The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-30 00:00:00

The Birmingham Bank Forgeries.

•
At the Mansion-house yesterday Mr. Wyatt, the solicitor
who defended the prisoners Benjamin Taylor and Henry
Kelly, who are charged with committing a series of extensive
frauds and forgeries upon the Birmingham Bank, attended
before Sir R. W. Carden, the presiding alderman, to offer
two persons as bail for the defendant Benjamin Taylor.
Mr. G. Lewis attended to oppose the application. It will
be remembered that the prisoners were tried at the last ses-
sion of the Central Criminal Court upon several indictments
for forgery, but the Common Sergeant, who presided, was
of opinion that this particular offence had not been estab-
lished. There were several other charges of conspiracy
against the defendants, and they were postponed to the
October session, but the Common Sergeant driected that
the defendants should be admitted to bail upon finding re-
cog,nisances to the amount of £250. Two persons had offered
themselves as bail in the beginning of the week, but they
were rejected as not being sufficiently responsible.
One of the persons who now offered himself as surety was
the father of the defendant, an aged grey-haired man, of
most respectable appearance. He stated, in reply to ques-
tions put by Mr. Wyatt, that he resided at Birmingham,
and had retired from business and lived upon his property,
and he said that he was worth more than the amount re
quired as surety, after all his debts had been paid.
Mr. Lewis then proceeded to put some questions to him,
and, in reply, he said that his property consisted principally
of a number of the Midland Banking Company's shares,
which were worth £l6O each, and in the whole were of the
value of £5,000. He said that he had been surety to the
same bank for his son to the extent of £3,000, and he sup-
posed his shares would be liable, but they were still in his
possession, and he had not mortgaged or incumbered them
in any manner.

Mr. Lewis inquired whether he was not aware that the
total amount of his son's liabilities was something like
£40,000 ?

He replied that he was not. He had paid the bank
£l,OOO account of his liabilities to them.

In answer to further questions the applicant said that
since these transactions he had let his house and sold part
of his furniture, but he denied that his son's difficulties had
anything to do with this proceeding. The poor old gentle-
man burst into tears, and complained of the course of ea-
amination to which he was subjected.
Mr. Lewis said it was painful to him to have to put such
questions, but he had a duty to perform, and he could not
avoid doing so. The two prisoners under charge were
accused of a very serious offence, and had obtained large
sums of money by means of fraud, and nothing was more
probable than that, if they were once at large, they would
never be heard of again. Under these circumstsnces his
duty to the public, and as the solicitor for the prosecution,
left him no alternative but to take all the precautions
in his power to prevent any other than responsible sure-
ties from being accepted.
quite
for the sum of £5OO, which was the amount of the recog-
nizances required upon the two remainingindictments.responsibly
Mr Lewis said upon his own showing it was not so. It
was clear that he had been ruined by his son, and while
he commiserated his position he felt bound to submit that
his bail ought not to be accepted.
Sir R. Carden observed that the circumstances were
he
un-
doubtedly very painful, but upon the facts before
felt bound to refuse the bail.
The parties then retired.