The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-12 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION- HOUSE.-- ll' 'Henry Hunt, 25, was
brought up, on remand, charged with having embezzled
between £5OO and £6OO, the property of his employer, Mr.
Noel Whiting, colonial broker, 14, Mincing-lane.
Mr. llodgkinson appeared fur the prosecution, and re-
minded the Court that on the former occasion he had gone
into the cases of small sums embezzled by the prisoner, but
there were numerous cases yet remaining.
The Lord Mayor said it would be unnecessary to go into
all the cases.

Mr. Hodgkinson—l would occupy your lordship's time for
a month if I were to do so ; but I will only take one other
case similar to those already gone into, and then take some
of the Custom-house cases, which are of 3 different character.
Mr. Charles Smith—l am clerk to Messrs. T. Smith and
Co., 34, St. Mary-at-hill, wholesale grocers. I know the
prisoner at the bar. I recollect paying to him the balance
of £lss. 11d. mentioned in the receipt produced, on the
sth June, when he gave me this receipt.
Mr. Noel Whiting—The prisoner has never accounted to
me for this sum of 13155. 11d., nor is there any entry of it
in his books.

Mr. Hodgkinsou—l will now, my lord, go Into the Cus-
tom-holm eases, and shall deal with three which relate to
sums of £97 03. 10d., £69 3s. 6d., and £59 lls. 9d. ; but I
must first explain that the prisoner was what is called the
Custom-house clerk, and that when there were any
duties to pay it was his duty to fill up the bodies of the
cheques for the requisite sums, and lay them before Mr.
Whiting to sign—such a course being rendered neces-
sary by the extensive character of Mr. Whit-
ing's business transactions. In the case of the first
cheque, for £97 Os. 10d., the prisoner should have paid
£57 4s. 7d. for duty on sugar, £29 3.5. 6d. for tea, and
£lO 12s. 9d. on coffee • but instead of making these payments
he paid £2B 2.. 10d. on sugar, and £3B 10s. 11d. on tea
and coffee—making a total paid of £66 13.. 9d., and show-
ing a deficiency of £3O 7s. ld. I must also explain that it
was Mr. Whiting's practice, when the cheques were under
£lOO, to leave them open, so that the prisoner might get
them cashed, but when they exceeded that amount they
were always crossed, the custom being to take them
to the Custom-house, where they are changed for
cheques on the Bank of England, and the proceeds
are there carried to the Custom-house account. The duty
of the prisoner was, whenever he had a cheque, whether
open or crossed, to pay the full amount to the Custom-
house ; hut he had a sort of running account there, and it
had been his habit, instead of doing so, to misapply a
portion of the money so entrusted to him from time to time,
and pay eft' occasionally with the cheques received from Mr.
Whiting the deficiencies left on amounts if duty formerly
due, instead of those for which the cheques were actually
given, so as to conceal his defalcations. This has been
going on since February, 1857, and the deficiency in the
whole is very considerable.

Mr. Whiting-The prisoner was in the habit of filling up
cheques far me to sien. On the 13th February, 1857, I
signed a cheque for £97 Oa. 10d. and gave it to the prisoner.
It war his duty to get it cashed at the bank and pay the
proceeds at the Custom-house. Tits cheque, according to
an entry in the prisoner's handwriting, was fer duty on
sugar, £57 4s. 7d.; on tea, £29 33. 6;1. ; and on coffe,e,
£lO 12s. 91. On the 17th February, 1857, I also signed a
suga,
r
cheque for £69 3s. 11d. for duty,
viz., £7T3s. 10J. for coffee,
£3 184. 11d. for tea, and £5B ls. 2,1. for sugar. On the
11th March, 1837, I a'so signed a cheque, filed up by
pri-
soner, for £59 11 9;1., to pay for duties on
X'2s Hs. 11d.; sugar, £5 164. ld. ; tea, £l3 Is. 1(1.; tea,
£4 Is. 4;1. ; and coffee, Is. 4d. If any difficulty had
arisen with regard to any of the items, it would have been
his duty to explain it to me. The prisoner has charged
himself with the payment of all the sums I have referred to
in the cashbook.
Cross-examined by Mr. Roscoe-All the items in the
cashbook are in the prisoner's handwriting. Ile has been
in my service about five years, and until recently I have bad
no reason to complain of his assiduity.
Mr. R. Lomer, clerk to Nless s. Hobart+ and Co., Lombard-
street, bankers-Mr. Whiting keeps an account at our
house. The cheque for £69 3s. 11d. was paid by me en the
17th February, 1857, over the counter. The cheque for
£59 lls. 9.1. was paid by a gentleman who is since dead, en
the 11th March, 1857.
he cashed the cheque for £97 Os. 10J. on the 13th February,
Mr. White, another clerk at Roberts and Co.'s, proved that
1857.
Mr. Hugh Piper Berna-d, teller in her Majesty's Treasury,
Custom-house-It is my duty to receive moneys far duties
plylb'e at the Custom-house. On the 17th February, 1857,
I received on Mr. Whiting's account the stun of £6B 54. 4(1.,
but I cannot tell by whew it was paid. It consisted of
£57 4s. 7d. and £ll 04. 9d. I did not, to the best of nay
belief, receive any moneys on Mr. Whiting's account on the
13th February.
Mr. Henry Poole, teller to the Treasury-On the 11th
March, 1857, I received, in the name of Mr. Noel Whiting, for
customs duties, a £5O note. It was for two sums of DO
ss. 7d. and .E. 20 6:. makine. to ether 1'49 114. Ild. I
gave the change, 10 Bs. id. Ido not kno a, from whom I
received the money.
Cross-examined -It is possible that some other gentle-
man might have received the sum on that day to make up
the difference.

paßidYtoMarn.
Mr. Hodgkinson—We have a siateinent of the full ac-
count, prepared books will show it if it were
prepared from the Custom-house books (now in
court), which I "ill tut in, as it shows the whole deficiency.
Mr. Goodman—you need not, I think, go into that. You
have quite sufficient to make a case as it is.
Examination resumed—The gentleman who received the
money on the 13th February is not here. I made na ex-