The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-03 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS—May 2.

(Before W. 11. Bodkin, Esq., Assistant-Judge.)

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF TAKING FORCIBLE POSSESSION
AND PULLING DOWN A HOUSE.—Henry Holmes, the elder,
Henry Holmes, the younger, Samuel llolmos, Alfred
Holmes, and Joseph A shford were indicted for maliciously
damaging a house. There were several counts varying
the offence. Henry Holmes, the younger, did not surren-
der at the commencement of the case.

Mr. Montagu Williams prosecuted ; Mr. Kemp defended
the prisoners.

It appeared that Mr. Alfred Samuel Moon Vospor in
1863 purchased some promises for a term of years in Morn-
ington-road, Bow, where he carried on the business of a
manufacturer of sulphuric acid. In 1863 he let a house at-
tached to the factory to Henry Martin Radloff, as tenant
from year to year. In 1864 Radloff got into pecuniary
difficulties, and the business was carried on by two per-
sons named Terry and Watts, inspectors under the autho-
rity of the Court of Bankruptcy. In March, 1865, during
the absence of Mr. Vospor, two of the Holmes family and
another man went to the premises, representing that they
had come from the Excise authorities, and not only took
possession of the premises, but locked themselves in. They
put themselves in a state of defence, and barricaded the
house against all comers. They defied all who might
come to dislodge them. They did not stop there, for they
went to the Perseverance Oil Works, belonging to Mr.
Vospor, and took possession of them. While these per-
sons had got posse'ssion of the premises and continued to
occupy the house, they used the water that Mr. Vospor
had to pay for, they used his gas, and they broke up doors
and even furniture of the house, which they burnt as fuel.
An action was brought by the inspectors of the Court of
Bankruptcy to recover possession of the Perseverance Oil
Works, and as there was substantially no title sot up by
the Holmes family to the property, a writ of ejectment was
ordered to issue, but unfortunately that did not include a
dwelling-house also on the same premises. A few days
after this, on Mr. Vospor going to the premises on the sth
of March, he found Henry and Samuel Holmes on the roof
of the dwelling-house taking the bricks from the parapet,
throwing bricks into the chimneys, unroofing the house,
smashing the windows, breaking up the window sills, and
breaking up the brickwork underneath. Henry Brown,
foreman, also proved that he saw Henry Holmes, jun.,
chopping the timber off the roof, and Samuel Holmes was
stripping off the lead, which was lowered into a van. The
van was driven off, and on being asked by a bystander
what they were going to do with it, Samuel Holmes said
they were going to take it to sell ; but, a policeman coming
up, the van and lead were taken to the Poplar police-sta-
tion. The house was completely demolished, and injury
done to the amount of between 4200 and X3OO.

thisriTh
ht PI
eyr oj ou pi r
ye.
There were many witnesses ready to be examined, but
as Mr. Kemp, who appeared for the prisoners, said he did
not dispute the facts,
Mr. Williams said that was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. Kemp then addressed the jury for the prisoners, and
said this was a case of disputed possession, and ought to
have been tried at civil law. The Haolmaelsegfaamriligyhhtatdo
lived in the neighbourhood for 200 years, and, whether
and found all the
rwtlsr: c
ci.o nugi lt yt
e,
dt hire
eyn br
ye l
Hi e vo
lemd
es, theyse n .ha
,
other prisoners guilty.
The Assistant-Judge deferred passing sentence until the
next sessions.

James Wheeler was indicted for stealing a quantity of
boots, the property of Kauffman Grunbaum, his master ;
and Susannah James for receiving
them, well knowing
them to have been stolen.

Wheeler pleaded guilty, and no evidence was offered
against James, who was acquitted by the jury.
Mr. Collins prosecuted ; Mr. M. Williams appeared for
Wheeler.

prosecutor on taking stock
gtohoeds to the value of between .£7OO
The prosecutor is a wholesale shoe dealer, carrying on
that goods had been stolen by the
business in Crown-street, Finsbury, and Wheeler was in his
rsdweoemamfisacenit deficient
naf
actneoddf
them had -
fas oenur dvn ixdc 6811
oi as
.ss e
Ifloft
prisoner, and
ton, a boot and shoe dealer in Southgate-road. Entries of
purchases to a large amount were found in his books from
the prisoner.
Mr. Collins asked, as there were other charges against
the male prisoner, that sentence should be deferred until
the next sessions.

The Assistant-Judge ordered the Witness Reddington to
stand forward, and said he had received a presentation by
the grand jury to the effect that they considered his conduct
most blameable, if not criminal, in buying such largo quan-
tities of shoes from this man ; and to give effect to the
observations of the grand jury, he should refuse him any
expenses, and he cautioned him as to what he was about, for
if he came there again it would be remembered against
him. Ho also found in the same presentation of the grand
jury a recommendation that police-constable Miller, 148 C 4,
should receive an acknowledgment at the hands of the Court
for his truly meritorious services, and the great intelligence