The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-11 00:00:00

CAPTURE AND COMMITTAL OF A
SWINDLER AND HORSE-STEALER.

On Wednesday a respectably-dressed young man,
who gave the name of Richard Hollins Johnson,
and says he is a native of Dublin, was brought
before the magistrates at the Preston Town-hell,
on remand, under the following ciicumstance :
On the 12th ult. he called at the house of
Giles, the Temperance Hotel and Restauran',
Fisher-gale, Preston, and representing tl:at he was
a commercial traveller, slayed the ro till the
15th. On the morning of that day, having
partaken of breakfast, he left the house, and it
was immediately afterwards discovered that he had
taken with him a silver cream ewer. Information of
the robbery was given to the pol ce, and it was
found that he had sold the article the same day at
Mr. Viener'a bazaar, in Blackpool, for IGs. It
was ascertained that on the following Monday, the
17th ult., the prisoner hired a Lorse at the stables
of Mr. Noblett, Blackpool, which, after an unsuc-
cessful attempt to sell it, he left at an hotel in Lan-
caster, taking the saddle away with him. He hal
also obtained, on trial, a fowling-piece from the pro-
prietor of oue of the shooting galleries in Blackpool,
and forgot to return or pay for it. After the he
visited Blackburn, where he succeeded in %%heed-

ling Mr. Pdling,,gunsmith, out of a double- barrelled
gun,• which he wished to try previous to buying it ;
but be did not return. On the 31st ult. he actually
had the temerity to return to Preston, staying at
Mr. Eglin's, Bridge Inn. Thence he d. spitched.
a messenger in the evening of that day to the
livery stables of Mr. Clark, Fislitrgate, to hire a
horse for him for a couple of hours. A. Mack mare
was prepared, and Mr. Clark to' c the animal
down to the Bridge Inn himself, where he handed
it over to Johnson, who said he merrly wwited to
see the country an hour or two. But the evening
passed away, and neither the horse nor its rider
reappeared, and information of this affair was alscr
conveyed to the suprintendent of police. Next
day, Detective-officer Beckett and Mr. Clark set
off in a gig, in pursuit of the scoundrel, and
succeeded in tracing him to Chorloy, where they
were informed that a man answering his description
had been seen going towards Bolt n with a
saddle on his shoulders. They continued their
pursuit to Bolton, and having acquainted the police:
of that town of their errand, visited the saddlers'
shops. At that of Mr. Knowles, 40, Deansgate,
they discovered Mr. Clark's saddle, which had
been sold to Mr. Knowles by the prisoner for 30s.
In the meantime a stranger asked police-constable
Lomax, of the Bolton police, the road to the
stAtion of the Liverpool Railway. Lomax, sus-
pecting from the description given of him, that
this was the fellow of whom the Prestonians were
in search, fetched Mr. Clark from the Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire Railway station, where ho was
on the watch with Beckett, and took him to the sta-
tion bef•ire named, where the delioquout was iden-
tified and apprehended in one of the carriages,
having just paid his faro to Liverpool. He was
then handed over to Beckett, and convoyed to
Preston. On their way to Preston the prisoner
said Mr. Clark's horse was at the stables of the
Royal Oak Inn, in Chorley ; this was found to be
correct, and the animal was taken on to Preston
by them. The prisoner had given the riding-whip
to a person at whose house he stayed a short time,
in Lyon's-lane, Chorley. The prisoner was com-
mitted for trial at the sessions.—Mattchester Guar-
dian.