The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-27 00:00:00

THAMES.

ROBBERIES IN THE DOCK.—A CAUTION.—DanieI
Buckley, a labourer, was brought before Mr. Ben-
son, charged with the unlawful possession of 4 ozs,
of tea, the property of the London and St. Kathe-
rine Dock Company.

The prisoner was stopped by Inspector Elia, of
the Dock Company's police, with 4 ozs. of tea in
his pockets. Ile was leaving the London Docks at
the time. He said he picked it up. The tea was
quite clean, and the inspector had no doubt it came
out a pile of tea in one of the warehouses, or had
been stolen from one of the chests.

Mr. Benson sentenced the prisoner to 21 days'
imprisonment and hard labour.

William Henry Lloyd, a well-dressed man, stated
to be in a good position, aged 37 years, was brought
up on remand before Mr. Benson, charged with
being in the unlawful possession of a pound of raw
coffee, the property of the London and St. Kathe-
rine Dock Company, and not being able to give a
satisfactory account of the same. The prisoner
was stopped a few days since by Thomas Riff, a
watchman, as he was leaving the St. Katherine
Dock, and a pound of raw coffee was found in his
trousers pocket.

Mr. Joseph Smith, solicitor, who now attended
for the prisoner, said he was a cooper in the dock,
and had been employed there 14 years. The pri-
soner had not been charged with any offence before,
and great confidence was reposed in him. A supe-
rior officer had promised the prisoner a sample of
raw coffee, and laid it on his desk. The prisoner
did intend to obtain a written pass for the coffee,:to
enable him to bring it out in a regular manner, but
he put it in his coat pocket, and forgot to obtain
the pass ; in fact he did not know the coffee was in
the coat-pocket when he was leaving the dock. The
coffee was worth 5d., and the only irregularity of
which the defendant had been guilty was the omis-
sion to obtain a pass.
Mr. Benson said he had remanded the prisoner
to enable him to obtain one or more of the many
persona who he said knew the coffee was given to
him, and who could prove that he was promised
a pass to take it out of the dock. He
should like to see the regulation which
allowed any superior officer of the dock to carry a
sample of anything away, except upon due autho-
rity from the owner or broker, or any regulation
which authorised a superiorofficer togive his inferior
a pass to remove stolen property. The defence set
up that day was exactly the one the prisoner made
on a former day, and he did not believe a word of
it. The only difference was that Mr. Smith had
told the story at greater length, in better language,
and more consecutively. Ho saw no difference in
this case and the last. Both were cases of unlawful
possession, in fact stealing property necessarily ex-
posed on the dock quays and warehouses.
Riff here said that the coffee was found in the
prisoner's trousers pocket, and not in his coat poc-
ket, and that he had been employed on the lime-
juice floor adjoining the coffee floor.

Mr. Benson said the prisoner was not to escape
because he had a better coat on, a better place,
better wages, and was altogether in a better position
than the poor man he had just convicted. Be
could make no distinction in the two cases, and he
committed the prisoner of unlawful possession of
the coffee, and sentenced him to 21 days' imprison-
ment and hard labour in the House of Correction.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

GRAVESEND, Monday Morning.
Arrived, July 26.—Hebe and Emma, from Gefle ; Earl
of Aberdeen, from Hamburg ; P;,rtlia, from St. Peters-
burg; Margaret, from Pram; Able, from Quebec In-
tegrity, from Cronstadt.

Arrived, July 27.—Fyenoord, steamer, from Rotterdam ;
Orion, steamer, from Antwerp; John Bull, steamer, from
Havre ; Amelia and Ann, from Dordt ; Amaranth, from
St. John's, N.B.

Sailed, July 26.—Hydaspos, steamer, for Lyttelton
Palmerston, for Colombo.

DEAL, Monday Morning.

Passed, July 2G.—Joseph Straker, screw steamer, «•ith
the George Pyman, cefew steamer, in tow, from Dieppe,
for West Hartlepool.'`
Passed, July 26 (in tow).—Countess of Kinfore, ship,
from New Zealand, for London ; Dunkeld, from London,
for Hongkong.

Passed, July 27 (in tow).—Valkyria, from Picton ;
Channel Queen, from Falmouth ; Edward, barque, from
the west—till for London; Orient, of Banff, from the west,
for the north.

Passed, July 27—Fleetwing, barque, and Balmoral, of
London, from the west, for London ; William Hunter,
screw steamer, from the nor,b, for the west ; Alvirado,
screw steamer, from the west, for London; Canopus, from
the west, for the north.