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

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION- HOUSE.— Win. 'Henry Hunt, 25, was
brought up, on remand, charged with having embezzled
between £5OO and £€oo, the property of his employer, Mr.
Noel Whiting, colonial broker, 14, Mincing-lane.
Mr. Hodakinson appeared for the prosecution, and re-
minded the Court that on the former occasion be 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 a 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 £3 15s. 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 £3 15s. Ild., nor is there any entry of it
in his books.

Mr. Hodgkinson-I will now, my lord, go into the Cus-
tom-house cases, 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 t;11 up the bodies of the
cheques for the requisite sums, and lay them before Mr.
Whiting to sign-suck 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. fur duty on sugar, £129 Sc. 6(.1. for tea, and
£lO 12s. 9(1. on coffee; but instead of making these payments
he paid £2B 23. 10d. on sugar, and £3B 103. 11d. on tea
and cotlee-tnaking a total paid of £66 13s. 9(1., 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
ore there carried to the Custom-house accouut. The duty
of the prisoner was, whenever he had a cheque, whether
open or crossed, to pay the full amount to the Custom-
house ; but 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 of 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, 1837, and the deficiency in the
whole is very considerable.
Mr. Whiting-The prisoner was in the habit of filling up
cheques for me to sign. On the 13th February, 1857, I
theuty Custom-house.
to u
sgettotui
hcoausshee.dz:Tt
h3tesh.e cheque,bank6.;
naeden
according
nrpd atceyogirtehteee
signed a cheque for £97 Os. 10d. and gave it to the prisoner.
It
proceedswa s
i'isatd
tea,
1857, I also signed ft,
an entry in the prisoner's handwriting, was for duty on
slifoarl,2,£.
,57d. 45.0 On the
onnthteaF
cheque for £69 3s. 11d. for duty, viz., £7 3s. 10d, for coffee,
£3 18s. 11d. for tea, and £5B Is. 2d. for sugar. On the
11th March, 1857, I also signed a cheque, filled up by pri-
soner, for £59 lie. 9d., to pay for duties on sugar,
£25125. 11d.; sugar, £5 163. Id.; tea, £l3 I'. ld.; tea,
£4 ls. 4d. ; and coffee, £ll Is. 4d. If any difficult), 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. Rcscoe-All the items in the
cashbook are in the prisoner's handwriting. He has been
in my service about five years, and until recently I hays had
no reason to complain of his assiduity.
Mr. R. Lomer, clerk to Messrs. Roberts and Co., Lombard-
street, bankers-Mr. Whiting keeps an account at our
house. The cheque for .EG9 3s. 11d. was paid by me en the
17th February, 1857, over the counter. The cheque for
£59 lls. 91 was paid by a gentleman who is since dead, en
the II t h March, 1857.
Mr. White, another clerk at Roharts and Co.'s, proved that
he cashed the cheque for £97 Os. 10d. on the 13th February,
1857.
Mr. Hugh Piper Bernard, teller in her Majesty's Treasury,
Custom-house-It is my duty to receive moneys for duties
payable at the Custom-house. On the 17th February, 1857,
I received on Mr. Whiting's account the sum of £6B 53. 4d.,
but I cannot tell by whom it was paid. It consisted of
£57 43. 7d. and £ll Os. 9d. I did not, to the best of my
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 £2O
ss. 7d. and £lO 63. 4(1., making together £4O lls. 11d. I
gave the change, £9 Sc. ld. Ido not know from whom I
received the money.
Cross-examined-It is possible that some other gentle-
o.dlglkoidngsk inbc,
man might have received the sum on that day to make up
the difference. r
paid to any one.By
on_sown-eT have a books
cl atlyniille,nstho:
theit
fullifitwere
ac-
count,Mr.
prepared from the Cusioni-louse books (now hi
court), which I will put in, as it shows the whole deficiency.
Mr. Goodman-You need n0t.,1 think, go into that. You
haEvexaqinuiitneastuioffincrieesuutmtoedtaTkehea
gceansetleams iatniay.ho received the
money on the nth February is not here. I made us ex-