The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-07 00:00:00

BURGLARY, AND CAPTURE OF
THE THIEVES.
At the Thames Police-court, yesterday, two men,
named James Francis, a hatter, and Thomas Salt, a
labourer, were brought before Mr. Broderip, charged
with committing a burglary in a dwelling-house belong-
ing to Messrs, Brindel and Roberts, proprietors of the
Artichoke Tavern and Whitebait House, at Blackwell,
and stealing property to a considerable amount.
The house broken into is opposite the land frontage
of the Artichoke, and is occupied at night by some of
the tavern servants, and Mr. Brindel himself. On Sa-
turday evening the second cook had occasion to go to
the private house, and on leaving it all the doors and
windows were fastened and secure, and she locked the
street door before she returned to the tavern. A very
few minutes afterwards the charwoman of the tavern
went over to the same house, and upon inserting the
key in the lock she was unable to open the door. She
was making a second attempt, when she heard a
noise within and a scuffling in the passage. She im-
mediately raised an alarm that thieves were in the
house. Mr. Roberts and several domestics, both
male and female, rushed out of the tavern, and
the former very wisely directed his neighbours and
servants to form a cordon round the street in which
the house is situate and the adjacent ones, to
cut off the retreat of the burglars, and a sentinel
was placed at the door of every dwelling. A ladder was
procured and raised against the house, and a young man
named Ellis, porter at the Artichoke, having obtained
admission at the front window of the first floor, went
down stairs and opened the street door, which the bur-
glars had taken care to bolt and make fast before they
commenced operations. The thieves retreated by the
rear of the premises and got over several fences and
yards. Numbers joined in the pursuit, and the pri-
soners were seen jumping over outhouses and walls with
great dexterity, but no shelter could they find until they
reached the back of the Britannia Coffee-house, in Rus-
sell-street, about two hundred yards or more from
Messrs. Brindel and Roberts's dwelling. Mrs. Weldon,
the landlady of the Britannia, had just before gone into
her back bed- room at the top of the house, and was
startled by the hue and cry raised, and by her neighbours,
all leaving their houses with lighted candles in theirh ands.
She left her apartment and was making her way down
stairs, when she was met by the prisoners, who,
in a hurried manner, asked her to let them
go into a room up stairs. She instantly told
them to go down stairs, and they began swearing
at her, and declared they would go up. After a
severe scuffle, during which one of the prisoners struck
her a violent blow on the face, and the other kicked
her, she forced them down stairs on to the first-
fl an.. Mrs. Weldon called out " Murder ! thieves !"
and screamed aloud for assistance. The prisoners, ob-
serving the door of a dining-room open, exclaimed
" Here's a crib, we will bolt in here." A great many
persons, alarmed by Mrs. Weldon's cries, immediately
entered the house and dragged the prisoners from their
hiding places. One was found concealed under a large
table, and the other was crouching behind an easy chair.
While the waiter of the Artichoke, and a young man,
named Robey, were conducting them down stairs,
Francis called out to Salt " Give him the knife,
Jack," and he was about to use one when he
was overpowered and lodged in the Poplar station-
bouse. Watkins, a police-constable, No. 310 K, was
immediately ordered by Inspector Rutt to go to the
house, and examine it. In the front room on the first
floor he found four chests open, and their contents strewed
about the place. One of them had evidently been forced
open with a sharp instrument. A silk handkerchief was
spread on the floor, in which the thieves had packed up
ready to carry away, three coats, four waistcoats, two
pair of trousers, two linen shirts, a silk stock, and a pair
of stockings, all belonging to Mr. Brindel. All
the rooms in the house were in a similar state of con-
fusion, and drawers, cupboards, and boxes, had been
broken oven and emptied of their contents by the
burglars, who would have carried off a rich booty if they
had not been so opportunely disturbed. Three black:silk
neckerchiefs and several articles of wearing apparel were
found in several yards and gardens right and left of the
house on Saturday night and Sunday morning ; they
had been dropped by the thieves during their retreat.
A chisel and several skeleton keys used by them were
picked up in the yard behind Messrs. Brindal and Ro-
berts's house.

Inspector Butt said he had no doubt the thieves ob-
tained an entrance into the house by means of one of the
skeleton keys. He found upon the prisoner Francis a
box of lucifer matches, a comb, and a short knife.
Mr. Broderip asked the prosecutors if they had found
all their property ? 11ir. Brindel said the only thing
missing was an old silver watch.
The prisoners, on being called on for their defence,
said they had nothing at all to say, but Francis was very
anxious for the restoration of the comb taken from him,
to comb his hair.

Inspector Rutt said it was a new tortoiseshell comb,
and the produce, he believed, of another robbery.
Mr. Broderip said the inspector must not part with it.
He committed the prisoners for trial.