The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-08 00:00:00

REMARKABLE CHARGE AGAINST THE

LONDON POLICE.

A strange charge of violation of duty was on Thursday
preferred at the Marlborough-street Police-court against
Inspector Tierney and Sergeant Mackenzie, of the metro-
politan police force. Mr. Montague Williams appeared to
support the charge, which was that the police officers in
question had exercised a most offensive, illegal, and
unnecessary surveillance of a house in the Haymarket,
alleged to be a nighthouse. The particular act charged
was that at two o'clock on the morning of September
28th, the complainant being in her room alone,
and partly undressed, preparing for a bath, the
defendants rushed up stairs, endeavoured by every
possible means to obtain an entry into the room, and, be-
cause this was refused, remained on the stairs till six
o'clock. Mr. Williams said complainant, Rose Burton, had
been summoned for harbouring prostitutes, and fined £5
all the proceedings taking place under this inspector's
direction. The complainant availed herself of the right of
appeal, as a similar decision (given by Mr. Knox) had
been reversed, and she had appealed to the Middlesex Ses-
sions, where the appeal was shortly to be heard. After
this conviction, Inspector 'Tierney, night after night,
visited Rose Burton's house, but could find nothing amiss,
and no other summons had been since taken out. But
The police would not let her conduct her business in peace.
They were in the habit of entering the house and annoying
the custornon in various ways by turning their bull's-eyes
full on them, taking up the glasses of lemonade and smelling
the contents ; these facts, he contended, amounted to an
excess of duty, the police being established for the protec-
tion of the public, and not for the purpose of making
themselves obnoxious to any class of persons. These
irregularities on the part of the police culminated
on the 28th September, on the night of which Inspector
Tierney visited the complainant's house. The complainant
was at supper with a neighbour when they came, which
was just before one o'clock, when the house was cleared
and about to be closed. The inspector said he would
search the house, and asked where the proprietress was,
and on being told she was out, said, " Very well, I will
visit the house again." At that moment the complainant,
Rose Burton, came in, and had gone upstairs to take her
usual bath preparatory to going to bed. A gentleman who
was on a visit came in at the same time, and was accom-
modated with a bed in another part of the house on the
third floor. • The complainant's bedroom and bath-room
were on the second floor. Tho inspector and the
serjeant returned to the house, there being only the
barmaid and one of the waiters present, and on being
told that the complainant had gone upstairs to bed, said
they would search the house. It would be important to
know that the bedroom and bath-room had nothing to do
with the refreshment department of the house. The
two officers went upstairs, knocked at the bath-room door,
and began shaking it, demanding admittance. The
complainant had partly stripped herself for the bath,
and could not open the door. The officers knocked again
at the door, called out "Police," flashed their
bull's-eyes under the door, and demanded admission
into the room. The complainant said, " I cannot let you
in ; lam naked." This did not daunt the constables ; on
the contrary, they the more strongly insisted on being ad-
mitted into the room. The complainant would not open
the door. The officers went upstairs to the bedroom
of the woman servant, knocked and demanded admission.
This was at first refused, but on account of the disturb-
ance they made the door was opened and they searched
the room, finding nobody in it but the woman servant
and a little boy who slept there. The officers went
downstairs to the bath-room again, and from about
half-past one o'clock until about half-past six o'clock they
continued knocking at the door, and insisting on being let
in. This conduct, he asserted, was a violation of duty on
their part, for, admitting that the complainant was acting
illegally in refusing admission to the police the proper
course to adopt was for the police to take out a
summons, and on the offence being proved the complainant
would have been liable to a penalty of £5.
This charge, which was first preferred against Inspector
nerney, was supported by the evidence of the complainant
and her woman servant. The former, in cross-examina-
tion, said: " I did not think it right that the police
should be admitted either into the bath-room or my
private bedroom. The reason why I refused to admit the
police was because I did not think they had any right to
demand admission ; and this is the matter I want to have
settled by the magistrate. I did not think it right for the
police to remain four hours outside my door."
For the defence Mr. Lewis submitled that the police
were authorised to visit licensed houses, and it would bo
absurd to say that the police must visit only that particu-
lar room set out for refreshments, and that they must be
debarred from visiting other parts of the house. If
this were so, what would be more easy than to
have a refreshment room on one floor, and to
have another room on an upper ficor called
private, but really for refreshment purposes? He con-
tended that from the basement to the attic the police
had a right to visit every part of a refreshment house.—
Police Sergeant Mackenzie, the other defendant appeared
as a witness on behalf of Inspector Tierney. He said :
"We went down stairs to the floor where Mrs. Burton
was. We knocked at the door, and some one said, (I
think it was Mrs. Burton), It is my bedroom.'
The inspector replied ho was certain there were
persons in the room, and he would not leave
until he saw who they were. I heard more than one
voice in the room. In a few minutes Mrs. Burton opened
the door, being dressed all but the body of her dress, and
on the inspector turning on his light the door was slammed
to. She said it was her bed-room, and that we might stop
for a fortnight before she would admit us. The inspector
said he would wait until he was satisfied as to who was in
the room with her. We remained four hours and a half;
we placed ourselves on the stairs. We did not speak
loud, or laugh. I said it was very cold, and wished I was
out of it."

Mr. Tyrwhitt said the case was of considerable import-
ance. Malice against the complainant in going to her bed-
room had been repudiated, but when he saw the desperate
eagerness evinced to convict a woman because she had beer
convicted before, he must look very closely into the law to
see if there was any authority for the defendants conduct-
ing themselves as they had done. The bedroom of this
woman had been invaded under the belief, as alleged, that
somebody was there. The Act of Parliament was exceed-
ingly wide; the words in 23 Vic., cap. 27, sec. 13, were,
"It shall be lawfnl for all constables and officers of police,
when and so often as they shall respectively think proper,
to enter all houses licensed as refreshment houses, and
into and upon the premises belonging thereto." The whole
question was whether the coal cellar was to be deemed
part of the "premises," and whether the police were em-
powered by the Act to go every hour into the premises
—whether, in fact, they were entitled to go into every
room at any time, whether females were in bed or not, to
go poking about to find if any one was there. He did
not think they were. It was said that the police had
been duped by persons being concealed on the premises
during their visits, but no evidence had been produced to
that effect. The only circumstance the police wanted to
discover was whether some person other than the com-
plainant was in the bath-room or not, and had they made
the discovery, it was a question whether such person had
not a right to be there. No doubt the complainant had
been convicted, and that it was proper for the police to look
after the house; but, then, it was rather hard she should
be persecuted on that account. He would take time to
consider the case, and would give his judgment in a fort-
night.

A. young man having blown his brains out in North
Carolina because a young lady named Susan rejected his
love, the coroner's jury that " sat on the case " brought in
a verdict of " Susancide."

At the Court of Common Council cn Thursday the
Lord Mayor said he had an important communication tc
read to the court, but the nature of it was such that he
thought it should be read with closed doors, and he there-
fore suggested that strangers should be ordered to with-
draw. Mr. John Symonds protested against hie lordship
requiring such a course to be taken whereby the great muni-
cipal constituency of the City of London would be deprived
of any knowledge in the matter. The motion was then put
that strangers should withdraw, and was declared to be
carried. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. It i 2
believed that the communication has reference to the forth•
coming opening of Blackfriars Bridge.

Some curious proceedings arc reported from Tame
worth in reference to the late election petition. The over•
seers and churchwardens of the parish levied a rate of ls. it
the pound to defray the expenses of the election petition
It was granted by tho Lorough magistrates on the 2d of
August, and duo notice given. Nine persons refused to pay
it, declaring it to be extortionate, and the case has Leen
argued at the special sessions. The magistrates' clerk said
be thought the best course would be for the magistrate's
not to act in the case, but refer it to ti.e urt of Queen's
Bench. This course was adopted, though Mr. Peters, one
of the magistrates, was so convinced d the legality of the
rate that he left the bench.
Two PERSONS STRUCK BY LIGIITNING.—A severe
thunderstorm broke over Aspull. At New Springs, a
woman, named Ellen Golding, wife of Robert Golding
collier, was standing in her house, with her little son, age d
14 years, by her side, when they were both struck by the
electric fluid, being found on the ground a few minutes
afterwards insensible. Dr. Monk, of Wigan, happened to
be passing at the time, and was called in, but though the
boy is rapidly recovering from the effects of the shock, the
woman is said to be in a dangeNus c*Ation, During the
Storm. a horn Wali WO,