The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-23 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, Oct 22.

(Before Mr. Sergeant ADAMS, Assistant-Judge, and
a Bench of Magistrates, at Clerkenwell.)
The Court sat this morning to take what are deno-
minated " bail cases," of, which there were eight in
the paper of the day.
Charles Falhner, a marine store dealer, with a shop
on Eyre-street-hill, and W. Thomas Jackson, also a
marine storekeeper in Turnmill-street, Clerkenwell,
were indicted, charged with having stolen, and also
for having feloniously received, forty pounds weight
of tinfoil, of the value of 21., the property of Messrs.
Simpson and Emsley, of Union-buildings, Gray's
Inn-lane.

Mr. Huddleston and Mr. O'Brien conducted the
case for the prosecution ; Mr. Parry and Mr. Met-
calfe defended the prisoner Falkner; and Mr. Ballan-
tine appeared for Jackson.
It appeared from the evidence that on the 9th of
June last two detective officers of the G division, of
the names of Fisher and Archer, were on duty in
Gray's Inn-lane, when their attention was arrested by
a cart which belonged to a man named Usher, a
dealer and collector of old metal. A quantity of old
lead and brass were apparently in the cart. They
made a search in the cart, when they discovered about
40 pounds of tinfoil covered over, which was in an
unfinished state. Having some suspicion that all was
not right as to the way in which Usher had obtained
possession of the foil, they informed him that he must
consider himself in their custody. After a little in-
quiry it was ascertained that the foil was the pro-
perty of the present prosecutors, from whose premiss
those gentlemen suspected it had been stolen. Al-
though they were not able to fix upon any particular
date at which the robbery had been committed, yet
they were of opinion that it must have been between
the 7th and 9th of June. Upon Usher being taken
before the magistrate, he stated that he bad purchased
the foil from a person named Falkner, at his shop,
in the regular way of business, and that the price
he had paid for it had been 7;1 per pound, and
then he called Falkner forwards as a witness in sup-
port of this statement, but that person totally denied
having had anything to do with the foil, and there-
fore that he had ever sold it to him. Usher, having
heard this denial with astonishment, asserted that he
could prove the fact by witnesses if the magistrate
would adjourn the inquiry. A remand of the case was
therefore accorded. Usher was liberated on bail, and
Falkner ordered to be in attendance on the day sp.
pointed for the second hearing. Falkner, however,
failed to perform his promise, and when his name was
called there was no reply. From that period, not-
withstanding the officers, as well as Usher himself,
were in search of him, he was not heard anything of
until the 22d of the month, when he was discovered
living at Ivy Cottage, Camberwell, where it was
stated he was residing on account of his health. The
police having obtained a clue to the locality where he
was residing, set a watch upon the movements of
Falkner's wife, and on Saturday night, the 3d of
July, followed her in a chaise to the cottage at Cam-
berwell. Having traced his wife to this cottage, the
two officers entered it, and found Falkner, his wife
and family, and a Jew, at supper. Falkner, on
being told that he was to consider himself in custody, and
that it was their intention to convey him to the sta-
tion in Lock's-fields, requested that they would per-
mit him to go there in his own chaise. This request
the officers assented to, and as Archer was in the act
of conducting him out of the cottage by the front
door Falkner managed to give him the slip ; and
then, when Fisher tried to intercept him, he was
attacked by Mrs. Falkner and the Jew, whereupon
Falkner effected his escape. Mrs. Falkner and the
Jew were subsequently committed to Kingston gaol
for this assault, the latter for a fortnight and the wife
for a mouth. Falkner contrived to evade the vigi-
lance of the police until the 15th of September, on
which day he gave notice, through his attorney, ifr.
Wontner, that it was his intention to surrender and
meet the charge. Before that act of surrender, how-
ever, had been accomplished Falkner was apprehended
by a sergeaat of the G division, when walking in
Holborn. When the prisoner was afterwards brought
before the magistrate he stated that he had purchased
the foil in question of a person of the name of
Jackson, and that he had paid as much as 60.
a pound for it. He then called upon Jack•
son to corroborate his statement. That person
refused to do anything of the sort, or even to be
sworn ; but a man of the name of Bright having been
then called up he declared that he had been a witness
to the sale of the foil by Jackson and to the purchase
of it by Falkner. This witness added, that this
transaction had taken place in the open shop of
Falkner, whither the foil had been taken by Jackson.
With reference to Jackson, the chief points against
him were, his having stated that he knew the person
from whom he had received the foil, and that it could
not be identified, as the goods were in an unfinished
state ; and then the fact of his having refused to give
up the name of that individual. The stolen property
was unquestionably identified as belonging to the
prosecutors, and it was proved that its value in its
present unfinished state was not less than ls. ld.per lb.
Usher, on being now called, stated that upon the
day on which he had made the purchase of this foil of
Falkner, the latter had been sent for by the former to
fetch away some metal from his shop an Eyre-street-
bill. He went at dusk, and among the articles he
bought of him on that occasion was this tinfoil, for
which he paid 7id. per lb. He bought the articles in
the customary way over the counter while two other
persons were present. _ _

Cross-examined—He bad had dealings with Falk-
ner for about 10 months prior to this particular trans-
action. He bought some pewter pots as well as the
tinfoil, and he considered that he had given a fair
market price for all the articles. The tinfoil be had
considered not to be at all superior in quality to the
best pewter. He had been a dealer in old metal for
10 or 12 years. It was the custom of the trade for
one dealer in old metals to sell to another, even
though it were only at a profit of ls. per cwt. The
amount of the purchase he made of Falkner on this
occasion was 6/. 18s. 11d. He was in the company
of the officers when they followed Mrs. Falkner in
the horse and chaise from Eyre-street-hill to Ivy
Cottage, Camberwell. The wife was also in a
chaise. It was about midnight on the 3d of July.
At the time he was before the magistrate in the month
of September Falkner confessed that he had bought
the foil of Jackson, and that he had sold it to him-
self. Falkner also called upon Jackson to corrobo-
rate his statement as to this fact, but that person re-
fused to be sworn. He had used every effort to ob-
tain the apprehension of Falkner with a view to the
clearance of his own character.
W. Eyares, lately the proprietor of the Red Lion-
yard Me ,vs, Clerkenwell, proved having been present
when Falkner purchased the foil of Jackson ; and
further, that after Usher had been apprehended he had
accompanied Falkner to Jackson's, to whom, when
they saw the former, he communicated the fact of the
person having been taken into custody to whom he bad
sold the metal, and he then requested that Jackson
would tell him the name of the party of whom he bad
bought it, for if he were himself to be called upon
be would be obliged to say whom he had purchased it
from. Jackson said, " It you do I shall deny it, and
you will only get yourself into trouble. The foil was
in an unfinished state, and they cannot tell where it
came from, or identify it." Jackson, in the converse-
tion also added that he knew whom he had got it of—
the person who had had the metal to finish—but as it
was not in a fir...islr:d attte it could not be sworn to.

Jackson eventually declined to give up the name of
that person.
In his cross-examination the witness said that Falk-
nor, who was in bad health, had occupied Ivy Cottage
three months before this transaction. He had gone
with a horse and chaise to bring Falkner's wife from
Kingston gaol, on the expiration of her imprisonment
for the assault upon the officers at the time when her
husband had made his escape at Ivy Cottage. Palk-
ner accompanied him on that occasion.

John Gunn, sergeant in the police, G 8, said that
after the first examination he had gone to Jackson's,
and upon entering into conversation with him that
person said, " I suppose you came about Falkner's
business." His reply to this remark was, " I un-
derstand he bought the goods of you." Jackson
thereupon added, " I suppose Falkner told you so."
The witness said " No; I don't care so much about
the selling, but what I want you to tell me is, who
the thief is on Mr. Simpson's premises." Jackson re-
" I did sell it to him, but as to the other ques-
tion, I shall think about it." A day was appointed
for him to see Jackson again, but on the 21st of June
he met him by chance in Leather-lane, when he
asked him if he bad considered the matter. Jackson
said, "If Falkner comes it on me it will be all the
worse for him; but as he has not, why should I bother
about the other poor devil ?"
Mr. PARRY, on behalf of Falkner, admitted that
his client had been guilty of egregious folly in telling
a wilful untruth, by at first denying that he had sold
the foil to Usher, and then in keeping out of the way;
but he submitted that his conduct subsequently was
an ample atonement for those acts of foolishness.
At the time that Falkner had effected his escape
from the officers he had been for some period
in very ill health, and therefore it was by no
means improbable but that his subsequent conceal-
ment had been the result of fear and timidity. When
that feeling, however, had subsided, the prisoner had
come forward like an honest man to meet the charge,
and had not merely challenged Jackson to tell the
trutb, but had brought forward evidence to corrobo-
rate his own statement upon the subject. It was im-
possible to doubt that Falkner's original denial of
having sold the foil to Usher had been the result of
Jackson's threat when applied to by him to confirm
his statement of the fact.

Mr. BALLANTINE then made an eloquent address in
favour of Jackson.

The Learned JUDGE summed up the evidence with
great minuteness.
The jury consulted for twenty minutes, and then
returned a verdict of Not Guilty, as to both prisoners
upon the count charging them with the theft, but
they found Jackson Guilty of receiving the foil know-
ing it to have been stolen, and Acquitted Falkner on
that count.

The Learned JUDGE said he fully concurred in this
verdict, and he hoped it would be a warning to Falk-
ner not again to purchase goods in an unfinished
state without making the inquiry. With respect to
Jackson, he entertained not the least doubt but that
he well knew the person from whom he had received
the foil, and that be was a workman ; nor did he doubt
that ha had had other transactions with the same man.
What the Learned Counsel for that prisoner bad said
was perfectly true, namely, that if his client were
found guilty, such a vercict would send him out of
the country, and most certainly it would do so ; for
that Court would in all oases where receivers were
convicted, visit them with transportation, for the re-
ceivers were the great abettors of crime and produced
more than one-half of the thefts which were com-
mitted. The sentence upon the prisoner was, trans-
portation for ten years.
The trial occupied the whole of the day, and the
court was most uncomfortably crowded from the com-
mencement until its termination.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Thomas Robert Mellish, manager, and James
Douglas, clerk, to the Patent Silvering Glass Com-
pany, in Berners-street, were brought up on a second
charge of conspiring together to defraud the com-
pany. The previous charge against the prisoners, on
which they stand committed, was for forging and
uttering certain receipts for money with intent to de-
fraud the company.
The case yesterday took the form of a charge of
conspiracy against both prisoners, it being alleged
that they had for a length of time acted in concert
in charging a higher amount of wages to the com-
pany than the actual amounts received by the work-
men. Mellish, as manager, bad the hiring of the
workmen and the settling f the rate of wages they
were to receive ; Douglas, as Mellish's clerk, had the
paying of the workmen, the money being given to
him by the cashier on production of the wages-book.
Mellish had constant access to the book, and, as it
was subsequently discovered that the rate of wages
to the workmen was entered in the book at a higher
figure than the sums actually received by them, a
charge of conspiracy was made against both in con-
sequence of the largeness of the amount fraudulently
abstracted from the company, exceeding 3,0001., it
being inferred that Mellish, from his position as ma-
nager, must have been cognizant of what was going
on, notwithstanding Douglas had declared himself to
be the only guilty party.
Charles Case, silver mounter, in the employ of the
company, said he was engaged at the wages of 225. a
week. He was ill for seven weeks this year, during
which period he was away from work, receiving no
wages. In the wages-book a sum amounting to 71.
was entered, as if paid to him during the time of his
illness. He had not received any such sum.
Benjamin Dean, the cashier, proved that he paid
the prisoner Douglas the amount entered in the
wages-book as having been received by the last
witness.
Samuel Perry, another workman, had been hired
by Mellish at 20s. a week. Afterwards got a rise to
225. On the 22d of August last saw the wages-book
open, and noticed that he was down as receiving 245.
a-week. Gave information to his employers, which
led to an investigation, and the subsequent apprehen-
sion of the prisoners.
Mr. Dean proved that he paid Douglas at the rate
of 245. a week for the last witness.
The prisoners reserved their defence and were fully
committed on this charge.
Eliza Cochrane was charged on suspicion of having
been concerned with her husband in stealing 300 sove-
reigns, one 201. bank-note, six 51. notes, 800 francs
in French money, and three notes of 100 francs each,
the property of Mr. P. Duvelleray, fan maker, 167.
Regent •street.
The prosecutor said the prisoner's husband was in
his employ as porter. On Tuesday evening he ab-
sconded, and immediately afterwards the property,
above enumerated was missed. The prisoner's lodg-
ings were searched, and some small articles belonging
to him were found.
Police-constable Jarman, C 34, said he went to the
prisoner's lodgings yesterday, and found her with her
boxes packed up, and herself dressed ready to go out.
She told him her husband had gone out, and would be
back in half an hour. She said her husband desired
her to pack up, as his uncle was ill, and they must go
into the country directly. Witness waited half an
hour, and than took the prisoner to the station-house,
as there were articles of property in the lodgings iden-
tified by the prosecutor.
The prisoner said, all she knew was that her hus-
band told her to pack up everything by the time he
came home.—Remanded.
WORSHIP-STREET.
Richard Morgan and William George Stewart, and
a middle-aged woman named Eliza Roberts, the two
former well known to the police as practised utterers
of base coin, were placed at the bar before Mr. D'Eyn-
court upon numerous charges of the same description.
The female prisoner's plan of operations was appa-
rently confined to defrauding surgeons, upon one of
whom, a Mr. Sweetman, a surgeon in St. John-street,
she called, and after purchasing a powder or pills,
tendered base money in payment. The fraudulent
coin was detected, and the prisoner transferred to
Clerkenwell Police-court, but as neither the Mint nor
the magistrates like to commit or prosecute for a
single offence, which may possibly he purely accidental,
she was discharged withont punishment, and a few
days afterwards favoured Mr. Baker, a surgeon in
Dorchester-place, New North-road, with a visit of a
similar character, and again passed counterfeit coin
upon him also. In this case she was likewise de-
tected and given into custody, and, the spurious coin
having been fortunately preserved by the officer in
the first charge, although she had been temporarily
liberated upon it, she was now committed upon both

charges.
Morgan and Stewart appeared to act upon much
the same plan, though somewhat different from the
woman's ; Morgan called at a wine-merchant's ware-
house on Oxford-terrace, Mile-end, and, ordering a
quantity of refined spirits, tendered a base five shilling
piece in payment. The coin was pronounced to be
bad by the merchant's clerk, Mr. Joy, but the pri-
soner, with much effrontery, declared it to be good,
and demanded his full change. Finding that he was
likely, however, to be intrusted to the care of an
officer if he stopped, he suddenly sneaked out and
took rapidly to his heels, and was next heard of at the
house of a baker in Whitechapel, of whom he had or-
dered a loaf, and tendered bad money in payment.
Green and Macintosh, constables of the H division,
produced both the fraudulent coins, and Morgan and
Stewart, who had pursued so precisely the same
course as to excite some suspicion that they acted in
concert, and the latter with so much apparent since-
rity and ingenious indignation at such practises that
he nearly escaped detection in one instance, were
jointly committed to Newgate for trial upon four
other charges.
CLERKENWELL.
Thomas Mansfield, a low, ruffianly looking fellow,
was charged with having assaulted and wounded Mary
Mansfield, his own mother, residing in Cromer-street,
St. Panera..
Crebo, 41, E division, said that on Tuesday night,