The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-24 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

(Before Mr. WALESBY, Chairman, and a Bench of
Magistrates.)
On Saturday John Thompson, aged 64, was indicted
for having stolen the sum of 4s. 6d., the moneys of
John Wood, under the following unusual circum-
stances :

It appeared that the prosecutor carries on the bu-
siness of a tailor in Crown-court, Pall-mall, and that
on the 27th of the last month, about 12 o'clock in
the day, the prisoner called and inquired of Mrs
Wood if the name of her husband was not Wood ?
and upon being answered in the affirmative, ques-
tioned her as to whether he had not a brother and
sister living in Australia, from which country, he
added, he had just arrived. Mrs. Wood said that
they had relations in that country, whereupon the
prisoner rejoined, that when there he had ocoupie d
the house next to those parties in Adelaide, and that
he had brought a letter for Mr. Wood from his bro-
ther and sister, who had expressed a wish that he
should inform them of their desire that the prosecutor
and his wife should treat him with much kind-
ness, hospitality, and attention. Mrs Wood upon this
called her husband, who, with his wife, on hear
ing the statement made by the prisoner as to the wishes
of their relatives abroad, determined upon complying
with them, and in pursuance thereof gave him an ex-
cellent dinner and every comfort they had it within
their means to proffer. In the course of conversation
with reference to the letter, the prisoner stated that
it was locked up together with a great number of
other things which he had brought over as presents
for them from their relations, in the London Docks,
and that he should' not be able to get any of them oat
until the following Wednesday. He then went on
to say that the whole of the duty upon all the goods
had been paid, but that he really did not possess suf-
ficient money to pay for the porterage of so much
property. Unless, therefore, the prosecutor could
then let him have 4s. 6d., the things must remain in
the docks for some little time longer. This the pro-
secutor did; whereupon the prisoner went off, saying
that he wuuld soon return with the letter, &e., and
also tell the prosecutor and his wife a great deal more
about their brother and sister at Adelaide, and how
they were getting on. The prisoner, however,
did not return, and he had not been seen by
them until a few days since, when he was given into
custody.
The prisoner here said he had done the act through
distress.
The policeman stated., that be had taken the pri-
soner in York-street, 'Westminster, for obtaining, as
he informed him, 4s. 6d., under false pretences, from
the prosecutor. He took him at two o'clock in the
morning. The prisoner denied having done so, but

1 848.

on the way to the station-house he confessed his guilt, I
! that 11, 11:1,1 Iri; t
ue:is, and expressed. a hope that he might be trans-
ported for 16 years, for he should be glad to get
away from this - country.
The Learned CHAIRMAN here remarked, that so far
as the evidence had gone this appeared to be a case of
false pretences rather than a larceny. The man at
the bar appeared at present, therefore, to have been
wrongly indicted. To make a larceny of an act, the
property must be taken by force or by that which
constituted force. In this case the parties would
seem to have given up the money of their own free
will upon what had turned out to be a false pretence.
It was clear there had been a mistake as to the form
of the indictment in respect of the character of the
offence the prisoner had committed. But it was not
to be expected that the wife of a tailor in Crown-
court, Pall-mall, or even the tailor himself, could
know any great deal about the description of the of-
fence in the eye of the law. He should like to ask a
few questions of the prosecutor if he was in court.
The prosecutor then stood forward and said, that he
had a brother and sister living in South Australia, at
Adelaide, and that he had heard the representations
made by the man at the bar. The man, in speaking
of his brother and sister, said that he had come from
South Australia, by which he himself had understood
that as his brother and sister were spoken of the pri-
soner meant Adelaide, where they resided. He be-
lieved the statement the man made, and therefore had
had no hesitation in giving him the money to enable
him to pay for the porterage. He had also felt a
pleasure in complying with the supposed wishes of
his brother and sister to treat the man well, and
therefore he gave him a good dinner and treated him
jin the best way he could.

The Learned CHAIRMAN again said, this was a case
of false pretences, and not of larceny, and therefore,
however rauch the prisoner might wish that he had
committed an offence which would obtain for him a
14 years' visit to foreign parts, he must now inform
him that it was not in the power of the Court to
meet that wish, or to gratify him on the present
occasion.

The prisoner—l hope you will, sir. I want to get
away from this country.
The Learned CHAIRMAN told the prosecutor that
if a similar case occurred to him he would advise that
he should, before he advanced any money, ascertain
the name of the ship.
The prosecutor said, that amongst other things that
the man at the bar had stated he had brought over
from his relatives was a parrot, of which he had also
brought several.

The Learned CHAIRMAN then intimated to the jury
that they must acquit the prisoner on this indictment.
He had been wrongly indicted. The offence was a
misdemeanour and not a larceny, with which latter
offence it was that the indictment now charged him.
The jury Acquitted the prisoner.
The prisoner then asked what he was to do. He
had no place to go to; he had no bed, and prior to
this affair he had slept for five weeks under the arches
of London-bridge.
The Learned CHAIRMAN said, that as the man at
the bar Wr.£ an Irishman he must go to the relieving
officer of the parish wherein he last slept, and he
would then be passed over to his own country, where
there was now a poor law.
The prisoner said that was just what the Lord
Mayor had told him, but then it was necessary, to
entitle him to claim of the relieving officer of a parish,
that he should sleep in a bed. That would cost him
3d. and as he had not possessed so much money he
could not get the bed. He had therefore been coin-
palled to sleep on or under London-bridge. Three-
pence would get him a bed, and then he could get
passed to Ireland.
The Learned CHAIRMAN said that he must go to
the relieving officer of that parish wherein he had last
slept, and he would pass him to Ireland. What
parish was that ? The prisoner said it was under
London-bridge ; but that would be of no use, because
it must be "in a bed " that he must sleep. If the
judge would only provide him with a bed for one
night—it would only cost threepence—he should then
be sent home.

The Learned CmuuNtlx here made inquiries of the
officers, from whom he ascertained that he was a very
old offender. He then told the man that he must ap-
ply to the relieving officer of the parish.
The prisoner—" Only 3d. will get me a bed for the
night ; only 3d. will get me sent home to my own
country." He wanted to get away from this country,
where he was almost starving in the streets.
When the man had been removed it was stated that
he had been convicted two or three times for a similar
offence.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.

On Saturday a person of respectable appearance,
named John Heard, was charged before Mr. Alderman
Musgrove with having embezzled sums of money, the
property of the Patent Alkali Company, established in
the neighbourhood of Liverpool.
It appeared that the accused was a clerk of the
works of the company at a weekly salary, and it was
part of his duty to keep the books and pay the men
employed on the establishment, and from information
received by the secretary the prisoner was appre-
hended on suspicion of having mis-appropriated part
of the moneys he had received.
Mr. Fenimore Evans, of Fenchurch .street, deposed
that he was a merchant, and the chairman of the
Patent Alkali Company. On Thursday he received
a letter from the chymical manager of the works,
representing that the accused had embezzled a very
considerable sum which had been sent him for the
payment of the workmen's wages, and that the pri-
sonar had also been using materials belonging to the
company for his own purposes, and that he had
returned men as employed who were not engaged
at all.
Mr. Wontner, for the prisoner, contended that if
any offence had been committed by his client it must
have been at Liverpool, and the accused himself asked
if he was to be defamed, that he might be sent to
where he could easily get evidence to disprove the
charge.
Mr. Alderman MUSGROVE, however, remanded the
prisoner for a few days.
James Quelsh, formerly in the employ (4 Messrs.
Debenham and Storr, auctioneers, of King-street,
Covent-garden, was Charged with stealing a gold
watch, the property of his employers ; and Ann
Carter, Montague Kelly, and George Bell, seaman,
and Flannagan, were charged with receiving it,
knowing it to have been stolen.
Mr. Johnstone, a solicitor, attended for the prose-
cution.
It appeared from the evidence, which extended to a
great length, that Quelsb, who is suite a boy, had been
employed as an assistant to the carman from the 13th
of November until the 25th of the same month. It
was his duty to remain in the van to take care of the
property while the carman went into the chops of
various pawnbrokers to receive goods to be conveyed
to the auction-room for sale. On the 23d of
November he went with the van to the
shop of Mr. Attenborough, in Fleet-street, where
a box, containing the watch in question and
other articles (among which were a brooch:and ring),
was delivered to the carman, and by him placed
in the cart. About four o'clock in the afternoon they
returned to the warehouse, where the carman (For-
rester) proceeded to unload the van, during which
time the prisoner was frequently left alone in the
van. In the course of the evening John Wicks, the
porter, proceeded to "lot" the goods brought in
during the day, previous to the sale, and then dis-
covered that the watch, a brooch, and ring wire
missing. To connect the other prisoners with the
robbery, a girl named Olivia Osborne proved having
seen Quelsh on the night of the robbery come from
Broad-court, in Drury-lane. He met the prisoner
Carter, and handed her a small brown paper parcel,
with which she proceeded up Drury-lane until she
met Kelly, to whom she gave it, and Osborne saw
him cross the road and show a gold watch to George
Bell. On the very same evening it was proved that
Kelly had pawned the watch in question at the shop
of Mr. Wells, of Broad-street, Bloomsbury, for the
11., and subsequently he obtained an advance of an-
other 11. Some days after this Flannagan went to
Mr. Wells's shop and offered.the duplicate for sale for
155., saying that his brother, who had pawned it,
was just about to sail on a five years' voyage, and
wished to dispose of the watch altogether, as he had
no further use for it. Mr. Skibble, Mr. Wells's fore-
man, eventually gave him ss. for the ticket.
Kelly acknowledged having received the watch
from Carter, but he did not know it was stolen.
George Bell denied all knowledge of the robbery,
although he was acquainted with the parties. Flan-
nagan made a similar defence.
Quelsh and Carter said nothing.
They were all committed for trial on the charge.
Quelsh, Emma Carter and George Bell were then
charged, the former with stealing, and the others
with receiving, a satin mantle, on the 24th of No-
vember.
It was proved in this case that the mantle was de-
livered by Mr. Priest, of Long-acre, to the carman,
with other goods for sale at Messrs. Debenham and
Storr's auction rooms, but disappeared before reaching
its destination. The mantle was pawned at Mr.
Fledges,' 136, Drury lane, by Emma Carter, on the
evening of the 24th of November, for 45., and the
duplicate, it appeared, was subsequently sold by Bell
to a young woman named Catherine Nowlan for 1 s.,
and she handed it to Pocock, F 14. Carter was with
Bell when he sold the ticket. Quelsh and Carter
were apprehended on the 4th of January inst., when
they both denied the charge. Bell was apprehended
at Southampton on Thursday last, when he, like the
others, denied all knowledge of the affair.
The prisoners were committed for trial.
There were several other charges against all the
prisoners, but they were not entered into, two being
considered sufficient for the purposes of justice.

A donation of V. has been duly received and adde
te• 7 " 7. I. ;.1." I.u;Ai
knowledgment was requested.
MARYLEBONE.

Frederick Swarman, recently a constable in the
D division, and cousin to James Coates, now in New-
gate awaiting his trial for railway and steamboat
robberies, was charged before Mr. Long with having
incited James Walkley to assist him in committing
a robbery at the house of Miss Dingley, 24, Pad-
dington-green.
From the evidence gone into, it appeared that the
man Walkley had lived at the prisoner's house for the
last three months. On Sunday, the lath inst., the
prisoner on coming off duty told him he was re-
ported at Scotland-yard, and if compelled to resign
or be discharged, he should go to sea. On the
prisoner being asked how he would be able to meet
the expense of doing so, he said there was plenty of
property in Miss Dingley'a parlour, and that his in-
tention was to go to France, and thence to Maryland,
United States. He further said, he eould put on
Walkley's coat, (a velveteen one,) and go into the
house and fetch out 2,0001. worth of jewelry and
other articles. On Thursday last prisoner had some
further conversation with Walkley, and asked him to
go to Miss Dingley's that night, saying, that as soon
as he (prisoner) could get the cook to sleep he would
let Walkley in, to take the property, and let him out
with it; but Walkley refused to have anything to do
with the robbery, and told Sergeant Hardwiek, 7 D,
of the proposal the prisoner had made to him. The
prisoner had been discharged from the polio° force
that day.
Miss Dingley's cook and housemaid admitted that
the prisoner and Walkley had been in the habit of
visiting them almost daily at their mistress's house.
The prisoner was eventuallly remanded until
Thursday next.