The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-14 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.

CURIOUS CASE OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—On Sa-
turday Mary Brown and Sarah Jones, two well-known
and what are called out-and-out women of the town,
were charged with hating robbed Mr. Thomas Henry
Collins, clerk to —, of between 251. and 26/. in
gold and silver. Mr. Hobler, jun., attended Er the
prisoners.
The prosecutor stated that be was a clerk and ac-
countant, and that he resided at No. 29, Broad-street-
buildings. On Wednesday last he had been out all day
in a chaise with his wife collecting, and having left her
at home at night he drove to the stables near Black-
friars-bridge, where the horse and chaise were kept, and
was returning towards his house at about ten o'clock,
when, as he was passing along Liverpool-street, Bishops-
gate, near Fountain-court, the prisoners came out of
the court, and, without saying anything, pushed him up
into the court. Jones then thrust her hand into his
trousers pocket, and drew out a canvass bag, which
contained between 25/. and 261. in gold and silver, and
both prisoners instantly ran up Baker's-buildings, where
there was no thoroughfare. The policeman Cornick,
647, who was passing at the end of the court at the
moment, upon seeing them run, asked witness whether
he had not been robbed ? Witness at first sup-
posed that an attempt had been made to- take his
watch, and made no reply ; but on ascertaining that
his bag of money had been stolen, he ran to the police-
man, and asked him whether he knew which way the
women were gone. The policeman replied in the
affirmative, and pointing at a female said, " There goes
oae of them, do you go after her, and I shall secure the
other." Witness upon going up to the woman who
was pointed out to him saw that she was not one of
the two who had come in contact with him, and let her
go. Witness then returned to the policeman, and found
that he had secured both the prisoners. At the station-
house the policeman produced the bag, which witness at
once recognized as his property, of which he had been
just robbed ; but it contained only one sovereign, three
half sovereigns, a crown piece, two half-crowns, and one
shilling, together with a small bag in which were de-
posited some private memorandums.
Mr. Hobler, jun.—Pray, were you sober at this time
Prosecutor—Perfectly ; I had taken nothing the whole
day but a glass of gin, and I took that because I was
poorly inside.
Mr. Hobler, jun.—Did you happen to be in company
with two other women before you saw these ? Prose-
cutor—Certainly not.
Mr. Hobler, jun.—Will you swear that another
policeman did not see you talking to one of the prisoners
in Cavendish-court, Houndsditch, before the occurrence ?
Prosecutor—Certainly ; I will swear that no such thing
occurred. I swear I was never there at all.
Sarah Jones—Oh, Sir, how can you say sick a thing ?
Wasn't you very undecent to two other women in
Cavendish-court, and didn't you want me to go into a
house with you, and didn't a tall policeman say it was a
shame for you, and didn't he threaten to take us to the
station if we didn't go?
Prosecutor—Never did anything of the kind occur,
upon ray oath.
Sarah Jones—Lawr, how can you say so ! Let that
ere tall policeman be sent for. He knows all about it,
for I heard the words; and you was in liqu oo—you
know you was.
Prosecutor—My Lord, I never get into that condi-
tion. I was as sober as lam at this moment when the
occurrence took place, and I never was at the side of the
street the woman speaks of at all.
The LORD MAYOR—Tou had nothing at all to do
with these or any other women ? Prosecutor—Nothing
but what I have stated.
William Cornick, policeman No. 647, stated that he
saw the prisoners come out of Fountain-court in a hur-
ried manner. and suspecting something wrong, inquired
of the prosecutor, whom he saw coming out of the same
place, whether he had lost anything? The prosecutor
made no answer, but went partly up Liverpool-street,
and then returned and asked witness which way the two
females had gone. Witness then took him up Baker's-
bnildings. where the two prisoners were standing up close
against the wall in a very dark place. Witness turned
the light of:his lanthorn towards the place, and saw then
the two canvass bags close to the prisoners. Nothing
relative to the robbery was found upon the prisoners at
the station-house, when the prosecutor identified the
bags, which contained what was before stated.
The LORD MAYOR—Was the prosecutor sober?
Witness—Quite sober. I know the women, and the
moment I saw them I thought they had been doing
something wrong.
Mary Brown—Oh, dear' the gentleman must have
got among some very bad'uns. I'm sure we knowed
nothing about his bags.
Mr. Erdean, grocer, No. 48, Liverpool-street, stated
that he was standing in front of his shop, when police-
man 647 called him to go down Baker's-buildings. He
saw the women close to the wall, and at their feet the
canvas b,,gs, which he picked up and gave to the police-
man. The prisoners said nothing, and were taken to
the station-house.
The foregoing evidence was given on Friday. On
Saturday the case was wound up.
The prosecutor stated to his Lordship, that he was
most anxious for a most searching investigation into the
circumstances. He felt that an attempt was made to
injure his character, by imputations upon his sobriety, at-
tributing to him familiarity with these and other females.
The LORD MAYOR said it was quite clear to him
that there was no blame at all attributable to the prose-
cutor, for whose satisfaction, and the satisfaction of his
employers, as well as on account of the public, the
investigation should proceed.
Sarah Jones, more confidently than before, declared
her and her companion's innocence, and regularly flared
up on the subject, as if she felt that a wound was in-
flicted upon her virgin purity, as well as upon her in-
tegrity. "It was a shame," she said, " when the man
knowed he acted so beastly undecent, and was after
other women, for him to go to charge two gals as had
nothing to do with him."
Jaines Stuart, probationary policeman No. 23, stated
that at about half-past nine on Wednesday night, as he
was on duty in Houndsditch, he saw Mr. Collins, in
Cavendish-court, near the top, speaking to Sarah
Jones, and ordered them to move on, and he added
that the gentleman ought to be ashamed of himself for
stopping and speaking to a prostitute. They did not
move at his request, and he then told them that if they
did not go away, he would lock them up. 'rue', then
went away from the court towards Bi3hopsgate•street,
and ho saw no more of them.
The Loan MAYOR—Are you sure that the prosecu-
tor was the person who was speaking to her ? Wit-
ness—l am confident of it—he wore spectacles as lie
now does.
The Lorin MAYOR—Did he appear to be sober?
Wmesi—No, he was in liquor.
Prosecutor—l can prove that I was perfectly sober,
and this policeman is completely in error. I never saw
him at all.

Sarah Jones—How can you say so ? You must
have been in liquor, or you could'nt act so undecent,
and deny what this here policeman says. Why, he
threatened to take both of us to the station.

The LORD MAYon—Well, you ladies must make a
jury believe you.
Mr. Hobler, jun., submitted that where the evidence
was so conflicting, the prisoners were entitled to the be-
❑e6t of the doubt.

The LORD MAYOR—I shall certainly send the case
to a jury. The prosecutor—l trust your Lordship
will. It is most important to me that my character
should be cleared.

The prisoners, upon whom no money whatever was
found, were then committed for trial.

It is supposed that they swallowed between them
about twenty sovereigns, and that they were interrupted
at the close of their meal by policeman No. 647, who
acted very well on the occasion.

TWREE WEEKS AFTER MARRIAGX.—A fat, jolly-
looking woman, named Mary Charles, was brought up,
charged with having gone down the steps at London-
bridge at one o'clock in the morning, evidently with the
Intention of drowning herself. A policeman who had
frequently seen unfortunate women fling themselves into
the Thames, followed her, suspecting that she intended
to dispose of herself in that way, and conveyed her to
the station-house.

The LORD MAYOR—She doesn't look like a person
who wished to destroy herself.

Mrs. Charles—Destroy myself! No rich a thing !
Why should Igo for to destroy myself ? I was only
tied in wedlock three weeks ago.
The LORD MAYOR—I thought you had no notion
of the kind.
Mrs. Charles—Notion ! not a l.it of it. Ax my
good man. Are you there, Jack ?
Mr. Charles, a pale, meagre-looking fellow, with
goggle eyes—Here I be—what do you want wi' me?
Mrs. Charles—Why this here policeman would follow
me, and says I was a going to take a leap in the tide.
Mr. Charles—Pooh (putting his hands in his po-
ckets) ; that's all nonsense. I knows better than that.
Mrs. Charles—Tell the gentlemen, Jack. I'm blessed
if I aint ashamed (dropping her head to the left side).
Mr. Charles—Why, you see, my Lord, my good lady
sometimes haves a wiolent pain in her inside, and so she
gets into as private a place as she can, out of the way,
of the men for a little while. Well, she was wery poorly
that night, for we had only a bit of cheese and ingons
forher oshurmysuseplpf ; m
er,byut our beer was too hard, and I told
dear, says I, don't you touch it, for
dyv
ooe
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dk
,rionetf w
mtyhioneu'd rnemi
gtendermy words, .—(Great
daGsn
t:de
aaytnodul
laughter.)
may h
she
hedisturbre.
)ee
Well,
eel inp
tst
hhh
eee
swipes.

The LORD MAYOR—But what took her to London-
; bridge at one o'clock in the morning ? Mr. Charles-
-1 Wait a bit, your Lordship. Well, I seed by her com-
plexion how it would be, for the ingons was a rising in
her stomach every now and agin ; and I says to her,
" My dear,' says I, " you'd better walk about a bit."
~Why," says she, " I think I will, Jack ; for I believe
somehow the fresh hair will take it off, so I'll try and
get
rid on it jist below the stairs., '—(Laughter.)
Mrs. Charles
(Lodding)—Tbat's the ticketoLyLotd,
'selp me God.