The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-14 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT,

OLD COURT.
(Before the RECORDER.
The COURT was occupied the whole morning in trying
various cases of larceny, none of which were of any interest
whatever.

Louisa Valentine, a respectable looking female of
middle age, was indicted for stealing a jacket of the
value of thirty shillings, the property of Edward Cooke.
Mr. Phillips appeared for the defence.
The prosecutor stated that, on the 25th March, he
sent his wife to pawn the jacket in question, and on her
return the duplicate was placed in a small box on the
mantle-shelf, and it was missed the next day. The pri-
soner was present when his wife returned, and she was
aware of the place where the duplicate was deposited,
and no other person could have taken it.
The witness upon cross-examination said that he was
sure no person was in the room but the prisoner, ex-
cept his brother, a youth fifteen years of age. His wife's
name was Valentine, but the prisoner was no relation to
her. His wife's father was at present in London, but
he did not know where he lived. He said that he never
heard the prisoner was married to his wife's father, and
more, that such a circumstance was never hinted to him.
He was not aware that the prisoner had been on the
look out for him to charge him with bigamy. The pri-
soner had never asked him to give the address of his
wife's father. He could not say how the prisoner came
by the name of Valentine. The witness was then fur-
ther cross-examined at some length, and he prevaricated
very much, and made several contradictory statements.
Charlotte Cooke, the wife of the prosecutor, con-
firmed his statement in some particulars. Upon cross-
examination she swore that she had never heard that the
prisoner was married to her father ; and she said also,
. that never struck her as an odd circumstance that
the prisoner should go by her father's name, and she
darned that she had heard of any intention on' the part
of
the prisoner to indict her father for bigamy. The
prisoner had inquired for her father,
and said that she
had some documents belongiue to him • and she told
h r father when she saw him, that a woman had been
inquiring after him, and he said be did not want to see
her. The witness likewise swore that she did not know
where her father resided.
A boy named Cooke, a relative of the prosecutor, was
then called,
and in cross-examination he said that the
person who had been alluded to by the witnesses as the
wife's father was at that time living with them, and had
done so ever since he had returned to England, and that
they had been with him that morning. Another cu-
rious fact also came out. It appeared that the pawn-
broker in the case expressed his opinion that the pri-
soner was the person who had redeemed the jacket, but
he said that at the time she did so she appeared to have
lost several teeth ; and when the prisoner was taken
into custody several loose teeth were found in a
purse in her pocket. The prisoner's mouth was
subsequently examined, and it was found that
she had no necessity for any false teeth, and
that her mouth was quite perfect, and the
loose teeth found in her pocket were accounted for by
the prisoner's statement, that they bad belonged to her
first husband.

The RXCORDER, upon hearing the contradiction that
was given to the positive statement of the two first
witnesses, called them into the box, and asked for an
explanation, and they admitted that the father had told
them not to say where he was or that they were in com-
munication with him.

Mr. PHILLIPS said that the prosecution had been
got up for no other purpose than to avoid an indictment
!or bigamy against the father.
The RECORDER having expressed his opinion that,
under the circumstances, the Jury would not be justi-
fied in returning a verdict of guilty, they immediately
acquitted the prisoner. His Lordship then ordered
that Cooke and his wife should be committed for wil-
fully imposing upon the Court, and it was understood
that a prosecution would be instituted against them.

NEW COURT.
(Before the COMMON SERGEANT.)
James Itadburn, aged 23, and Thomas Donovan, 20,
were indicted for stealing 168 lbs of lead, the property of
Joseph Fletcher and others.
Mr. CLARKSON conducted the prosecution, and Mr.
PAYNE defended the prisoner Donovan.
It appeared that the lead was fixed on a scbool.house
belonging to the Protestant Dissenters' Society in Col-
lin's Court, Farmer-street, and the two prisoners Were
seen about nine o'clock on the evening of the 19th March,
with a bag containing some bulky substance,, and on an
alarm being given they dropped it and ran away. On
examination it was found to contain the lead in question.
It was attempted on the part of Donovan to prove an