The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-30 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—May 29.

MANSION-HOUSE.—George Deal, a nice-look-
ing boy, despite the soiled clothes he wore, of the
tender age of 9, was charged with robbing his
father of £8 9s. under painful circumstances.
A feature in the description given of the prisoner
in the charge-sheet with great exactitude was, that
his height was " four feet one inch ;" and, in truth,
his head was barely visible above the bar. Befort
him lay a mimic sword and rifle, and a small silver
mounted whip, with which the little fellow was
armed when taken under the protection of the
police, and on which he was supposed to have ex-
pended a considerable sum, and his eyes were
swollen with weeping.
The prisoner is the son of George Deal, who de-
scribed himself as a funeral coachman, living at 60,
Castle-street, Leicester-square, and on the previous
afternoon Henry Mills, a city policeman, had his
attention directed to him when on the Old Shades
Pier, London-bridge, by some gentlemen, before
whom he had exhibited a sum of money in gold.
The boy, on being questioned by the constable, ad-
mitted that he had several sovereigns in his pocket,
but refused to say how many. He subsequently
produced a portemonnaie, and on being asked what
he was going to do with it he said he was about to
take it to a fish salesman in Billingsgate-market,
whose name he mentioned, but which the constable
could not now remember. He accompanied the boy
round the market, but no salesman with the name
he gave could be found there, and not liking to
leave the prisoner in the street alone with money
in his possession, he took him to the station for the
sake of protection. The constable afterwards went
with the prisoner to a house in St. Martin's-street,
Leicester-quare, where_he said his father lived, but
his story turned out to be false in that respect. Af-
fecting not to be able to find his father's house in
several of the adjacent streets into which they wan-
dered, the policeman took him to a school in St.
Martin's-court, and confronted him there with the
children of the school, several of whom recognised
him in a moment, and mentioned his name, but
could not tell where he lived. Finding he was about
to be locked up, he stated at last where he lived,
confessed that he had taken a sum of money from
his father's desk, and £5 18s. 6d. being found upon
him, he said that was all het had taken. It seemed
that after purchasing the gun, sword, and whip
with which he was equipped—in the Lowther Ar-
cade as was suggested—he went in a halfpenny
steamer from the Adelphi Pier to London-bridge.
and on landing there his appearance attracted the
notice first of the people on the pier, and then of
the police.
The boy's father, a well-dressed man, about
40, on being examined, said he (the father) had on
Monday week £l5 in a locked box in his house,
to which 10s. was afterwards added, and on
opening the box on the evening on which the
boy was missing £8 9s. was wanting. His wife
had left home that afternoon to see her sister, and
during her absence the prisoner had taken from
the pocket of a dress she had put off a bunch of
keys, with one of which he had opened the box
containing the money.
Mr. Goodman, the chief clerk, addressing Deal,
the father, asked what he wished to have done with
him ?

Deal said he should like him to go into some re-
formatory.
Mr. Goodman—l dare say you would. How
many children have you ?
Deal—Only two. He has robbed me repeatedly
before. I have done all I can to cure him of this
propensity in the way of education and advice, but
in vain.

The Lord Mayor—Have you ever given him a
sound whipping ?
Deal said he had more than once, until " weals"
appeared on his back. He had talked to him on
" religious matters." He had kept hiin on bread
and water, he had sent him to a school in connexion
with Dr. Cumming's church, but all in vain He
found he had only been three days at school in six
weeks, when he thought he had attended every
day.

Mr. Goodman—ls the prisoner not a child by a
previous marriage ?
The father §,,aid he was.
The Lord Mayor—Aye, I thought so. That ac-
counts for it all.
Sarah Deal, the second wife, a respectable-
looking young woman, with a baby in her
arm's equally well dressed with herself, was
called, and corroborated her husband's state-
ment as to the money having been stolen during her
absence. She bore testimony, with much apparent
good feeling, to the incorrigible habit the boy had
of pilfering and running away from home, and to
the anxiety her husband especially, and she also,
had shown to reclaim him. She said that she had
always gone out of the room when his father chas-
tised him, because she could not bear to be present.
She added, with some emotion, that she had a great
respect for the child, because she knew his poor
mother. (The prisoner wept at this reference to his
mother.
Mr. Goodman asked the father if he wished the
boy to be dealt with by the Court under the Act of
Parliament or to be sent for trial.
The father said he should not wish him to be sent
for trial. He would prefer to leave the matter in
his lordship's hands.
The Lord Mayor (addressing the father)—l am
not satisfied with the case so far as you are con-
cerned. If a child of this tender age had been pro.