The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-25 00:00:00

CLERKEN WELL.

Robert White a young man whose appearance in-
dicated great distress, was placed at the bar before
Mr. Tyrwhitt, charged with the following daring
robbery.
William Richard Tuckwood, assistant to Mrs. Ann
Aldridge, pawnbroker of 10, Orange-street, Blooms-
bury, deposed that on Tuesday night last, at about
eight o'clock, he was behind the counter, when he
was alarmed by the smashing of the glass in the shop
window, and on turning round saw the prisoner's
arm through the frame, and he was grasping at
valuable property which was exhibited for show and
sale. Witness instantly went out and seized the
11 prisoner, who made no attempt to escape ; he gave
' him into the custody of police-constable 88 E, who
took him to the station-house.

The prisoner wept, and said he was driven to
commit the robbery by starvation. He could get no
work, and he had been turned out of St. Pancras'
workhouse. _ _ _

Mr. TYIWHITT said that the way in which pawn-
brokers exposed valuable property in their windows
was a great temptation to parties disposed to commit
robbery.
Tuckwood replied that the watches and other
articles which were exposed in the window were
attached to wires for security. The prisoner seized
several articles, but only succeeded in taking away a
silver butter-knife.

The police-constable 88 E confirmed the evidence.
Sergeant Lister, 10 E, said that the prisoner was
not perfectly right in his mind. He appeared to be
imbecile. At the station-house he said his father was
a carpenter out of work, who was in great distress
and una' le- to support him. The prisoner got some
work at a greengrocer's, but left there through slack-
ness of trade, and was obliged to apply to St. Pancras
parish for relief, when they put him into the casual
ward, but they turned him out of the workhouse.
Mr. TYRWHITT asked the prisoner what he had
to say to the charge ?
The prisoner (weeping) said, that he committed the
robbery through hunger and starvation; he had been
about looking for work for several days, and had not
had a morsel of food to eat. He applied to the parish of
St. Pancras for relief, when he was put into the
casual ward. On the following day they ordered him
to go into the stone-yard to break stones. He did so,
and broke a bushel of them, when he was told that
they were not broken small enough. He went back
and broke them smaller, when they were not satisfied
with his efforts, and the master turned him out of the

house, and he had nothing given to him. He had
ever since been in great distress. (The poor fellow
here wept bitterly.)
Mr. TYRWHITT directed the clerk to set down in
the prisoner's defence that he was driven to the offence
by starvation.
The prisoner was fully committed for trial.
MARY LEBONE.

A labourer named Henry Gibbs, who has re-
peatedly been in custody for outrages of a most vio-
lent and ruffianly nature on the police, was again
placed at the bar before Mr. Broughton, charged
with the following brutal attack on Jones, 209 D.
Jones stated, that on the previous evening the
prisoner, who was the worse for drink, stopped some
ladies in the New-road, and used towards them lan-
guage of an indecent description. He refused to go
on when required to do so, and after knocking down
complainant by a tremendous blow on the chest
kicked him severely on different parts of the body.
He also exclaimed, " You -, let me get at this,
and I'll do for you," at the same time endeavouring
to lay hold of a large clasp knife which was beneath
his waistcoat, suspended by a string round his neck.
Some persons who heard cries for assistance were
speedily on the spot, and on one of them laying hold
of complainant's rattle and springing it other con-
stables came up, and after a determined resistance on
the part of the prisoner, they at length conveyed him
to the station-house.

A portion of the above evidence was corroborated
by 184 D.
Inspector Porter said, that the prisoner was one
of the most determined and troublesome fellows
imaginable. Many of the men in the D division had
suffered materially at different periods from his
brutality towards them, and one constable named
Jacocks had been so barbarously used by him that
he was compelled to quit the force, being incapaci-
tated through the prisoner's conduct from continuing
to do duty.
Mr. BROUGHTON regretted that more power was not
given to magistrates in dealing with such offences,
and sentenced the prisoner to a month in the House
of Correction.