The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-09 00:00:00

Another Robbery in the City.

A very daring robbery has been committed at a
house in Birchin-lane, one of the busiest thorough-
fares in the city, connecting Cornhill with Lombard-

street, and in -the immediate vicinity of the Royal
Exchange and the Bank of England. The premises
in question, No. 6, consist of a shop on the ground

floor, with offices above, all of which have a common
entrance from the street. The first floor is occupied

by Mr. Lyons, a stock and share broker, the second
by Mr. Crane, an agent for the sale of fire arms, and

_ .
the third is at present unoccupied. No one sleeps on

the premises, and the occupant of the shop, beingthe

last to leave in the evening, closes them for the night,

asin the case of Mr. Walker, the jeweller in Cornhill,
Like him, too, there is reason to believe that the shop.

keeper himself unknowingly locked in the thievewho
afterwards ransacked the place and escaped with the
spoil. It so happened that Mr. Lyons on Saturdaylast
before leaving his office for the day took from an iron
safe in it the money and securities for money which he
had there and depositedthem with his bankers, but he
left in it a cashbox, which, however, contained only a
few documents of value to himself. That being so he
thought he would at once leave the safe-door open,
for otherwise in the event of thehousebeing robbed the
thieves might spoil his safe by forcing or attempting
to force it open. Failing to pick the lock of his office
door the thieves had cut away the jamb into which
the bolt shit, and had then prised the door open with
a:crowbar. They wrenched open a drawer in the same
way, but without finding in it anything of value, and
they took from an open drawer a quantity of post-
age stamps. Of course, they soon discovered the
cashbox in the unlocked safe, and that they forced vio-
lently open, leaving it afterwards bulged and broken
in a room above. They were more successful in the
apartments on the second floor, in the occupation of
Mr. Crane, which were stored with a choice selection of
small arms, especially revolvers, in which he trades,
in the capacity of an agent. Having forced an en-
trance by cutting away the bearings of the lock and
prising open the door they carried off about 50 re-
volvers, some of them worth five and six guineas
each, and of the value in all of £l3O. On Saturday
the premises were closed for the night at 7 o'clock,
and the robbery would appear to have been effected
in little more than an hour afterwards, for two of
the pistols stolen from the rooms of Mr. Crane
were pledged about 9 o'clock the same evening at
the shop of a pawnbroker in the Borough.
Yesterday a man who gave the name of James
Roberts, but refused his address, was brought before
Mr. Alderman Lusk, at the Justice-room of the
Mansion-house, and charged with being concerned
in the robbery.
Mr. John Henry Crane was the first witness
called. He said—l am agent for fire-arms, and
occupy an office on the second floor of the house,
6, Birchin-lane. I do not know the prisoner. No one
sleeps on the premises. The robbery was effected be-
tween the night of Saturday last and Mondaymorn-
ing. On Saturday evening about 6 o'clock I locked
up my office, leaving the shopkeeper below, Mr.
Chamberlain, who is always the last to leave the
premises, to lock the outer door. I pass through his
shop to get into the street. On that night I had left
nearly 140 pistols in my office. They were sample
revolvers and others, and some lay on a table in
cases, and others below the table in holsters. On my
return on Monday morning I found my office had
been broken into and about 50 pistols of the esti-
mated value of about £l3O stolen. On examining
the premises I found that a padlock which I had
placed on the door over and above the ordinary lock
had been wrenched off and the door itself had been
prised open from the jamb without the lock having
been injured. When I arrived the place was in
charge of the police. The revolver produced is one
of those stolen from my office. The cost price of it
would be about £3. Of the 50 stolen 16 were in
holsters, and the thieves left the holsters behind.
Mr. John Chamberlain, umbrella manufacturer at
6, Birchin-lane, said he occupied the shop on the
ground floor, and was the last to leave the premises
on Saturday night. He left at 7 o'clock. He first
locked and bolted the front door of the shop on the
inside, according to his custom, leaving the key in
the lock on the inside, and then left by the back
door, on 'which were two good locks and a padlock
besides. Before leaving he did not go upstairs to
see if any one was in the upper part of the house.
He returned on Monday morning a little before 9
o'clock and found the back door by which he usu-
ally entered all right, but he was alarmed on going
into the shop and not finding the key of the front
door in the lock on the inside where he had left it
on Saturday evening. He also missed a green bag
from the shop. He then went upstairs and found
that the office of Mr. Lyons on the first floor had
been forcibly entered, and on going to the second
flfoorocredheopfoeunn. d
ithieatcalltha of Mr. Crane h
edt
in apoliceman,
,ad also
been
and
d
left
the
premises in his charge. Witness did not know the
prisoner.

Frederick William Jarrey, assistant to Mr. Fol-
kard, a pawnbroker, at 160, Blackfriars-road, de-
posed that on Tuesday afternoon the prisoner, whom
he did not know, entered the shop and offered to
pledge the revolver produced, asking 30s. on it.
Having taken two similar pistols previously in
pledge, and having received some information, his
u
police,
s s suspicion
ew a excited,prisoner
n atnhde hme
ecaonmt
immue n tam. tegd
aweittahinthede
in the shop by witness's master. Witness returned
with a constable, and gave the prisoner into custody.
Edward Hancock—l am a city detective officer.
On Monday morning last I went to 6, Birchin-lane,
and examined the premises. I found that a great
part of the door post of Mr. Lyons's on the first
floor had been cut away and the lock forced. Ivent
to the second floor and found that the door of Mr.
Crane's office had been forced with the " jemmy"
produced. Mr. Crane had handed me the "jemmy"
and a dark lantern, which he said a constable had
found on the stairs. I compared the jemmy with
marks on the door and the lock, and found them to