The Sun.
London, England, 1809-06-17 00:00:00

LAW REPORT.

,

COURT OP BENCHJUNZ

THE. KING, V. VEREIV: AND ,SHARVE.-
The Aelkiesiiii-GeNee-Ae moved the judgment
at t he-Court on the Defendants:
Lord -Eta.A:Nnoirouon teported the, trial, Wl'deli
hat t‘iitenptrice before his Lordship and a-Special
Jine, tilt tee lath Sittings for Westeniuster.
,' It tees'
ao indie4inent ageihst these Defendants, the one of.
rite its the Beadle Of the parish, and the other Head-
borotieh of the same place, anti Mastery of the
Wateri-house, •in White Florse4treet,- which' -is
w Ohio a '•rnile and a half of 'the West India
; fordu aisault 'oil, and false imprisonment
of, 'Richard 14e:worthy and John Weisman, two
tit tiers of the revenue, belenging to the West
India Docks, who happened to totneyby the above
watch-house, with some tamarinds itt their .posses-
' &ion, about twelve et trighr, in the month of'Atigust
hist. ',the DefencianiS took these officers into cusr
wits , that they Nver6 susp:eiont persont
coining with that parcel. at that time of the night.
The officers shewed to the Defendants their depti
Cations, so that there could 'he no difficulty abOnt
knowing who the officers were ; notwithstanding
which the Defendants insisted on confining the ot-
ficers, lodged them in a dungeon, where they were
Newell night ; brought them before the,Magistrate
at Worship-stiozet the following morning ; they
werent course dischatged. Upon which they
dieted these persons, who were found guilty of the
nesdeineenour of assaulting and falsely, imprisoning
these two persons, and now they came toreceiVe the
judgment of the Court. -
114r.tair addressed the Court in behalf of the
Defendants, who, unless he law this ease in a
wrong -point of vieW, he said, 'were objeals of the
lenity of the Court ; -they had soled upon a .pure
mistake ; for they had 'apprehended these. two
persons at -an unseasonable hour of the .night
with these,samarinds, under very suspicious circutu
stances.
Lord ELLENDOEOUGH Observed, this ele-
ctric, might have done for their stopping the rol-
fii ers ; hut When they had shewn their dept 7 te-
nons, the Defendants bccsme wilful offeeeers
with their eyes open, and so were entirely without
txcus -. , •
The Arronteet-GetenitAl. said, he thought his
Learmid Friend, Air: Best, did • really take the
View he suspected himself to be taking of this ,case,
when he.expiiited the Court totreat it lightly.---For
the wedeln t of the. 'Defendants was the etre& of de-
liberaime—an ufience of the mind. The "Mend,
ants were police officers; who exercised the powers,
Which the. Prosecutors now hate, until the West
India Duck was eStabliihed,and now the Proeceo..,
tors did so, and they perf4fmed their duty' with
fidelty ; and their labotirs.were :erviceable eo• the
by seizing such' goods as ,vere con-
veyed tri,m the West India Docks, and whit h pro-
fits accrued Co theM on the seizures whir•lt they
made ; but 'persons in the situation of the :Defend-
ants considered these officers of the ,West India
Docks as ptrachers upon their manor ; for until
these Meets were erected, persons in the situation
of the. Defendants had 3111 the profits oft hese
And it was evident, from the cis nduct of
these watchmen, sUbsequent to their havit.tg seized
these Prosecutors and the tamarinds, that if they
had left the stibjeirt of their seizure behind them, as
a prey to the keepers of the.WaleK-house, the otti,
woeld have been Fo-;t at liberty, :for they
keew them to
..be Castomshonse officers lions their
deputations. •
Mr. Justice Lit BLANC said, it might. he'the
iotention ha secure .to themselves inerely the goods
leized, hut that did not appear before the Court.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that tattitig this
case in itiiiybicb it could be presented to
rhe Court, it was 's wanton exercise of ower ;
striking instance of the " insolence Of office," and •
not to be slightly treated ; and that unlesh a serious
punishment was infliaed on these men, tl re officers
of il)e revenue would go ,unprotr6led.
I‘l4-.-Jtistice Geese 'pronounced the joilgurent of
the Court, which, upon g view of all th e etreum-
Stances of the ease, Was.; that each of there should be
imprisoned in the ,King's Ben& Prisoir for two
Weeks, and then discharged. •
Ore of than wished to address the-Omni. but
he was told that he was to late, unless he meant to
Move that' the Coutt should revise its judgment.
TlicCOMt lent considered every circumistatice of
thk case, and had been willing to impute much. of
what 'had beet> clime to the possibility- of 'mistake,
-• otherwise it, must have. visited this offence as a sery
erioli4 one; he' tat ing.6o officers of tlee retenua
Il.r,,*deird‘ of the night, anti confining them "fere
•.ehoi,;! eight in a, ouneeon, was a. serious thing. The
wrt trlt ed it was owing to a mistake, otherwiSe
indgir,eUt roust; have been much More serious.
The Defendants had in this case been treated diost
wercitudv.---Cenduaectto prison,