The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-28 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—June 27.

MANSION-HOUSE.—SHAMEFUL TRICK ON A
LICENSED VICTUALLER.—Dennis Shea, Michael
Lee, Patrick Lee, and Cornelius Croley, four coster-
monger lads, w ere charged with wilfully destroying
eight gallons of brandy, the property of Ephraim
Green, licensed victualler, at the Box Tree public-
house, Gravel-lane, Houndsditch.

The prosecutor said that on Saturday, between 12
and 1, . three of the prisoners went to his skittle-
ground with another man, and played Mere till
about three o'clock, during which time they had
only two pots of ale. Three of them then went
away, leaving the fourth behind them " speechless
drunk," and very shortly after the three who had
gone away returned, with a number of other men,
making nine or ten altogether, and a barrow, on
which the drunken man was placed and wheeled
away by one of the gang, while the others remained
in the skittle ground, where they played for about
another hour, and then again went away, some of
them evidently the worse for liquor, although they
had been supplied with a very small quantity of
drink from the bar. They returned a third time
with some more fresh faces, and again went away,
after an hour's stay, and under the same circum-
stances. When they returned a fourth time his sus-
picions were aroused, for-he remembered that there
were two quarter casks of brandy in the skittle
ground, bath with spile-pegs in, and he determined
to ascertain what was doing. So he pounced upon
them when they had been on the ground about 10
minutes, and he found the four prisoners all col-
lected round one of the casks, from which they had
removed the spile, while the brandy was running
out "as if he had turned the engine," and one of
them, he could not say which, he was so excited,
was holding a bottle to catch it. Hastily securing
the cask in a proper position he went off the skittle
ground, fastening the door behind him, and so kept
the prisoners safe until policemen arrived, when he
gave them into custody.
Police-constable 664, deposed that he took the
prisoners into custody, Shea being so drunk that
they were compelled to carry him to the station-
house on a stretcher. The other prisoners had also
evidently been drinking, but were able to walk to
the station-house. After their arrival at the sta-
tion-house, another officer went to Lee's house and
found two men lying there so drunk that medical
aid had to be called in. •
All the prisoners denied that they had bean to
the prosecutor's more than once, and were equally
positive in their denial of having touched the
brandy, although Pat Lee admitted candidly that
he would have had his dose of it if he had
seen it, as it was very tempting, while Shea
accounted for being intoxicated, by stating
that he had been waiting at market all day for
some cherries, and that when his friend offered to
treat him with some beer, he accepted Eis offer and
drank all he could. _ _

Mr. Alderman Carter inquired the value of the
brandy.
The prosecutor said about eight gallons were gone
altogether, about one gallon being lost on the
ground, and he had some suspicion that portions
had been carried away in bottles on each visit.
'Alderman Carter—Was it not very incautious to
leave two casks of brandy exposed in a public
skittle-ground ?
Prosecutor—Perhaps it was; but mine is more