The Sun.
London, England, 1829-09-05 00:00:00

BOW_STREET.

Yesterday a young girl named Elizabeth Duggan
was placed at the bar before Mr. HALLS, charged
with having attempted to steal, in the shop of Mr.
Staw, Great Russell-street, Covent-Garden, a nova
mina ring, value 14s.
The prisoner declared that she had no intention
of stealing the ring, and that it stuck by accident to
her dress.

Mr. HALLS said it was a clear case, and the pri-
soner was fully committed to Newgate for trial.
Last might two German Jews, named Philip
Levy and Solomon Barliana, were brought in cus-
tody from Hounslow, and placed at the bar, charged
with having stolen from the box of Matthias Lasser,
at Worcester, jewellery and watches to the amount
of upwards of 3004, and also a 50/. note of the
Bank of England.
The prosecutor, who is also a foreign Jew, has
been in the habit of travelling the country for some
years past, disposing of his jewellery, of which he
possesses a very valuable stock. The manner in
which he detailed the circumstances of the robbery,
his foreign accent, and imperfect knowledge of the
English language, and the pathos which he threw
into the story, having, as he conceived lost nearly
his all, excited the greatest interest among those
who heard his statement. As it would be next
to impossible to give his very lengthened account
after his own manner, the following particulars must
suffice:—

On Wednesday evening, he said he was in the
parlour of the Duke of York public-house at Wor-
cester, where it appeared he was in the habit of
setting up, when the female servant of the house
came to him and said that the two men (the pri-
soners) who had put up at the house had gone
away without paying their lodging. The thought
immediately struck him that he had been robbed,
and taking a candle from the table, he ran up stairs
in the greatest terror, and upon entering his bed-
room discovered that the box containing the whole
of his property was not in the situation he had left
it. Upon opening it he found that it was completely
stripped of its contents, consisting of jewellery, and
money to the amount of upwards of4oo/. In the agony
and despair of the moment, he tore his hair and cried
aloud, upon which the neighbours came running to
the house; and as most of them had known him for
years, they joined in his sorrow, and offered to assist
him in pursdmg the thieves. When he came a little
to himself, he recollected that the box contained a
secret drawer, in which he had deposited some
money. This drawer lie opened, and found that it
had escaped the notice of the thieves. He then
thanked God that they had not deprived him of his
all. The drawer contained three 201. notes, and a
tradesman's acceptance for a few pounds, besides
some loose sovereigns and silver. Having lodged
this money in a place of security, he then ran out
into the streets, inquiring of all whom he met if they
had seen the prisoners. He went round to the dif-
ferent places where he knew chaises could be hired
at, and at one of them he learned that two men,
answering the description of the prisoners, had been
there wanting to engage a horse and - chaise to take
them to Oxford, where they said they must proceed
immediately. Not liking their appearance, the chaise
was refused to them, and the prosecutor finding the
route which the prisoners intended to take, deter-
mined upon following them at once to Oxford, and
the next morning he mounted a Worcester coach,
which was just setting off to Oxford. He heard
nothing of the prisoners until he arrived at Oxford,
when he learned that the Paul Pry coach had ar-
rived from Worcester about half an hour before, and
had started for London. He then went to the
coach-office, from which the Paul Pry had started,
and there learned that " two Jewish-looking chaps,
very shabbily dressed," had arrived by that coach
from Worcester. His informant added, that they
were provided with two large green bags, which
appeared to contain property of value. Finding that
the thieves had got half an hour's start of him, and
fearing that if they once reached London lie might
bid adieu to his property, he immediately formed
the resolution of taking the road to London by the
Gloucester mail, which was then about to start, and
which he knew would travel much faster than the
other coaches. He accordingly engaged a place,
and at the first town at which they - stopped to
change horses, after leaving Oxford, he learned, to
his great joy, that the Paul Pry coach was also
changing horses within a very short distance; and,
in fact, in a few minutes after, the guards of both
coaches met, and were talking together. The pro-
secutor immediately took the guard of the Paul Pry
aside, and asked him if two persons, describing
the prisoners, were passengers in his coach. The
guard immediately replied, that there were two
foreigners on the coach. The prosecutor then told
him, that he had been robbed at Worcester by those
two men, and that they had got his property with
them. " If that be the case," replied the guard,
" you may make your mind easy, for I have got all
the luggage safely locked up in the boot of the
coach." It was then arranged between the prose-
cutor and the guard, that the former should make
no stir in the business until the Paul Pry should
reach Hounslow, and in order to give him time to
arrange matters there for the purpose of taking the
prisoners into custody, the guard promised to delay
the Paul Pry half an hour on the road. It then
struck the prosecutor, that as he wore a white hat
the prisoners might know him, perhaps,as he passed
them on the road, and use some stratagem to escape
from the coach. He accordingly proposed to ex-
change hats with the guard, to which the latter im-
mediately assented, and indeed throughout the
whole affair manifested the greatest readiness to
assist in securing the prisoners. Both coaches
started at almost the same moment, but the
Gloucester mail, as had been arranged, soon passed
the Paul Pry, and upon arriving in Hounslow, at
five o'clock, yesterday (Friday) morning, the prose-
cutor found that he had at least half an hour to pro-
cure assistance before Paul Pry should arrive.
Upon inquiring for a constable he was directed
to the house of a man named Bennett. " I
knocked at the door," said the prosecutor " wid
both my fist, and I called out as loud as I
could, for God's sake get up, Mr. Constable, come
in your shirt, for no time is lost; Paul Prior is
coming; I am robbed of my property, and I want
you to take de tief." The constable, not knowing
exactly how to comprehend so strange an application,
but judging from the manner in which the prosecutor
clamoured at the door that something was amiss,
put on his clothes as quickly as possible, and had
just learned the nature of the application when the
Paul Pry drove into the town. Accompanied by
the prosecutor, he took both prisoners into custody
as the coach was changing horses. The constable
said to the prisoners " You have robbed this gentle-
man." Both prisoners immediately admitted that
they had ; and one of them, addressing the prose-
cutor in Hebrew, observed that it was a bad busi-
ness, and they did it in an unlucky hour. The con-
stable, leaving the prisoners in custody of the pro-
secutor, and an assistant, took charge of two green
bags which the guard of the Paul Pry de-

livered up to him, saying that they were
taken to a public-house, and upon the person of
Barliana the constable found four watches, and upon
that of Levy he found two watches, all of which
were identified by the prosecutor as his property.
The two bags were then opened in the presence
of Mr. Cooke, the high constable of the hundred
of Isleworth, who took an inventory of the articles
which were found; amongst which were 88 gold
seals, 173 gold rings, besides a great quantity of
pearl and other ornaments. The prosecutor stated,
that although he had valued the property stolen at
about 3501., he conceived that it was of far greater
value to him. Unfortunately, the prisoners, in pack-
ing it up, spoilt a great number of articles by using
wet grass instead of something dry.
The above facts having been reduced to evidence,
Mr. HALLS asked the prisoners if they wished to say
any thing, cautioning them at the same time not to
criminate themselves.

The prisoner Levy admitted the fact of the rob-
bery, but denied having used any force to open the
prosecutor's box. Their bed-room, he said, was
next to that of the prosecutor, and they both went
into it finding the door open, and were tempted to
open the box and steal its contents.
The prisoner Barliana declined saying any thing
in his defence, and Mr. HALLS, after ordering the
witnesses to be bound over, told the prisoners that
they were both fully committed to Newgate for the
robbery.
It is singular that the 501. note has not been dis-
covered. Both prisoners denied all knowledge of it.