The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-15 00:00:00

(THIS DAY.)

John Hamilton, a fashionably-dressed man, who
described himself as a betting man, residing at Vine
Cottage, Albert-road, Peckham, was charged at
Bow-street this morning with assaulting and rob-
bing Ali Suave, a Turkish gentleman, on the 7th
of April, in a railway carriage on the South-Eastern
Railway, and stealing from his person a purse con-
taining six napolecns, a Bank of England note, and
a cheque for £2OO.

On the person of the prisoner, when searched by
the police, the following property was found :—A
gold watch and chain, £7 105. in gold, a Bank of
England note for £5, 324 napoleons, 1000 franc
note, two diamond rings, a railway pass for the
South-Eastern Railway, a subscription ticket for
the Beaufort Club, a bunch of keys, and some
mems in a leather bag.
Mr. Abrams appeared to defend the prisoner.

The prosecutor could not speak a word of Eng-
ish and was examined through an interpreter.

Ali Suave said he resided when in London at 20,
Langham-street, Portland-place. He was the
editor and proprietor of two Turkish newspapers.
In the early part of the present month he
was in London, but had occasion to go
to Paris, and accordingly he left on the
7th instant by the South-Eastern Railway.
When he arrived at the Charing-cross station to go
to France he met the prisoner, and entered into a
general conversation with him, and asked the best
house he could go to in Paris. The prisoner told
him, and they both entered into a general conversa-
tion. It was the ordinary morning train, and there
were no other persons in the carriage but themselves.
Prisoner asked witness wherehe was going to in Paris,
and witness gave him his address and also the place
he lived in Loudon. The train moved on, and on
its first stoppage three other gentlemen got into the
carriage, and soon after the train had again started
one of the gentlemen produced some bank notes
and playing cards, and entered into a conver-
sation with the prisoner. After a few words
had been exchanged, which witness did not un-
derstand, the prisoner rose from the seat he had
previously occupied, and seated himself opposite the
man with the notes and cards. They began play-
ing, when the prisoner bent the corner of one of
the cards, and, showing it to witness, told him if he
wished to play he must chose the card he had
marked and he would win. The prisoner offered
to lay 1,000 francs or 500 francs against the man
who was losing, or pretending to lose, his money.
Soon after this the other two persons who had en-
tered the train after it had started, with the other
men, began to play, and asked witness to take a hand
with them and play. As soon as the four began
playing he perceived what his friends had told him
about travelling in railways and meeting card-
sharpers. Before the train reached Dover witness
saw the prisoner hold in his hand what appeared to
be a great quantity of gold coin, and, putting it
upon the cards, said, " See this is gold." When
the money was so placed, one of the other players,
seeing the corner of the card was bent, straightened
it without taking the slightest notice to either of
the other players. When that was done the priso-
ner lost, and then more solicitations were made to
the witness to join the play, but he again refused.
The prisoner invariably lost, and after some time he
appeared to become excited at his losings, and
turned to witness and told him it was all his fault,
and finally seized witness and demanded payment
of a share of his borings. The prisoner then took
witness's purse from his waistcoat pocket, which
contained six napoleons, and then he took a pocket
book from his breast-pocket, and took out of it a
Bank of England note, and also a number of papers
from a courier bag which lie had across bis shoulder.
As the train stopped, before it did finally at Dover,
all four of the men got out, and witness followed
them. Before witness lef t London he intended to draw
on his banker, and he had partly filled up a cheque
upon Martin and Co., Lombard-street, and that
was amongst the papers taken by the prisoner from
the courier bag. Witness went to the station he
had before referred to, and wished to telegraph to
his bankers with respect to the cheque. Witness
could not write the telegram to London, as he could
not write it in English.
Mr. Vaughan--Did you give information at once
to the guard of the train of what had occurred ?
Witness—No, sir.
Mr. Vaughan--When you got to Dover, did you?
Witness—No, sir.

Mr. Vaughan—When did you then ?
Witness—l went off by the boat, and when I got
to Amiens I met a gentleman by whose help I was
enabled to send a telegram to my banker.
Witness proceeded—When he got to Paris he re-
ceived information that the cheque, which was for
£2OO had been presented, but payment of it was re-
fused as the signature was informal. He returned
to London on Saturday, and yesterday he saw the pri-
soner at the Cannon-street station. He never called
out when the money was being taken from him,because
he was frightened. He thought all four were asso-
ciates, but when he
got on board the boat he told
the whole circumstance to the captain. He had
brought the subject forward as the matter was, he
believed, an every-day occurrence.
Mr. Vaughan—lf such a system is going on it is
most disgraceful.

Detective Sergeant Shaw said there was another
Turkish gentleman in Court who had been robbed
on the 4th inst., under similar circumstances, by
the prisoner, and he was present to prefer a charge
against him.

Mr. Vaughan (to witness)—Why
did you not
complain to the parties at Dover ?
Witne3s—Because he was a stranger to the law
of England and everything connected with it.
Sergeant Shaw said he went last night, in com-
pany with the witness, to the Cannon-street
railway station. On the arrival of the mail train
from Dover, about six o'clock, the prisoner got out
of the carriage and walked down the platform. The
prosecutor at once pointed him out as the person
who had robbed him some days before. He spoke
to the prisoner, and told him he was ajpolice officer,
and that it was his duty to take him into custody
for assaulting and robbing a gentleman on the South
Eastern Railway about a week ago. The prisoner
saw the prosecutor, and then said, " I went to
Dover with him a few days ago, and he's a wicked
man to say that I've robbed him, He played with
me and my friends at cards. I lent him £lOO first,
which he lost. I then lent him another £lOO,
which he also lost, and he promised to give me a
Dover we went to the telegraph-
office, where the gentleman wrote the cheque,
cwhehqeune for
wereached
ac theh ed amount when we reached Dover.
which he did very badly, and I gave
the cheque to my solicitor, in the New
Kent-road, to get it cashed. I shall be able to
prove his signature, as he was seen to write it by the
telegraph boy and all the porters. I went with him
afterwards to breakfast at a cafe." He first was in-
structed about the robbery from Inspector Thom-
son. He had known the prisoner for years as a man
who frequented the railway train to play cards. He
knew the prisoner had been sent to the sessions, but
he did not know whether he had been convicted. Ile
didn't know him as a betting man, but he did as a
card-sharper. Ile was connected with a gang who
hold season tickets solely for the purposes of plunder,
He knew of four more cases of gentlemen who
had left the Turkish Embassy, all of whom bad
been victimised.
Mr. Vaughan—What ! as well as the other gen-
tlemen in court ?
Witness—Yes, sir. They are all ready to come
forward, if necessary.
Mr. Vaughan—And to prove a case against the
prisoner ?
Sergeant Shore—They have not yet had an op-
portunity of seeing the prisoner.
Mr. Vaughan—l will have this case fully inves-
tigated, and therefore I shall remand the prisoner
to give time for inquiry.
Sergeant Shore—Will your worship grant a sum-
mons for Mr. Wood, of the Kent-road to attend?
Mr. Vaughan—Yes, certainly. ,
Mr. Abrams—Will you take bail for the prisoner ?
He is able to give substantial security for his ap-
pearance.
Mr. Vaughan—No, certainly not.
The prisoner was then. removed.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-THIS DAY.