Star.
London, England, 1821-02-21 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY, FEBRUARY 19.

J. Kiesall was put to the bar on a capital indict-
ment, charging.him with stealing, .in the dwelling-'
house of J. Chitty, Esq. in Bedford-square; a quan-
tity of plate, value £lOO and upwards.—k appeared
that the prisoner had been a short time in the ser-
vice of Mr. Chitty, as footman. That on the 6th .of
December, about six in the evening, he left the house
of his master, taking with him the whole of his
livery, &c. About nine .o'clock, on the return of the
butler, it was discovered that the plate-ehest had
been completely emptied; and the pi isoner not re-
turning, suspicion fell on him. Mr. Chitty adver-
tised the prisoner, and a Constable, at Gloucester,
named Marsh, seeing the advertisement, apprehended
him in that City, and brought him to London : other
servants made out the charge against the prisoner.
The prisoner, in his defence, stated, that on the
night of the robbery, a wottlati called on him at his
master's house, to receive some linen she was to wash;
that he went out to fetch some porter for her, and
while he was gone she left the house, taking with
her the property charged in the indictment ; and be-
ing fearful he should be ,taken for the robbery, he
left the house.

Mr. Justice BEST summed up the evidence, re-
marking on the improbability of the prisoner's story.
The Jury, without turning round, found the prisoner
Guilty—Dead,. Aged 23.

W. Harrison and W. Haines were indicted for
breaking and entering the house of K. Plunkett, with
intent to steal.

The Judge (RicuanDsois) in summing up, said, if
.the Jilt,- were satisfied that the prisoners entered the
house with intent to steal, they would • find' them
guilty ; but he should feel it .his duty to submit to
the rest'of the Judges, whether the pulling.down of
the sash was a sufficient breaking to constitute the''
crime of burglary.
Verdict againsr both prisoners, Guilty—Death.
-James Pitcher was indicted for stealing 170 yards
of poplin, a large quantity of bombazines, cottons, i
silks; and other articles, the property of C. L. Maltby
and W. New, in their dwelling-hduse.
. The prisoner, in January,lBl9, was taken into the
service of Maltby and New, who are drapers
in Holborn, as, porter, and continued in the employ-
rinenruntil January. last. During that time he con-
dticted himself apparently like an honest and faith-
ful servant, and gained the 'confidence of his em,
ployers, from whom he experienced many acts of
kindness. On the loth of. December he requested
leave to go to his native place, near Reading, to see
his father, who was very ill, Leave was given, and he
w4s absent two f h p. He took a large think with hip:
Oa the 18th of January, early iu the morning, he

• • - - • •
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went up to Mr. Maltlifi.rooe, and1'
stating that his',
father was dead, requested leave to go to attend his
funeral, Which was immediately granted. He de-
parted, and it was loon discovered that he had taken
all his trunks with him. In a fews days Mr. Maltby •
received a letter from the prisoner, informing him
that he was detained by unexpected circumstances,
and begging him to provide himself with another
porter.- Very shortly after the receipt of this.letter,
a Gentleman called upon. Mr. Maltby, and gave him
such information as induced him to go to Theale, near
Reading, where he discovered that, for a consider-
able time past, John Pitcher, a brother of the pri-
soner, had been in the habit of selling silk and dra-
pery goods to persons in the neighbourhood at low
prices. This traffic he had carried on to such an ex-
tent, as to excite the attention of the Excise Officers,
who conceived that the goods must have been smug-
gled ; and on examining some articles that had been
sold, they found that they had not the usual Ex-
cise stamps; in consequence of which they went
to John Pitcher's house, and there seized a large
quantity of goods' of the description above-men-
tioned, which they lodged in the Town Hall.—
The goods had not been long there before a letter
was received by one of the Officers of Excise from
the prisoner, enclosing an affidavit, sworn before an
Alderman at Guildhall, London, in which he de-
dared that the goods seized (of which he enclosed a
schedule or inventory) were his bona fide property,
and that he had purchased them of a Mr. John S—.
In the letter accompanying the affidavit the prisoner
demanded the immediate restitution of the goods,
and threatened the Officer with• an action in default
of compliance. The whole of these goods Mr. Maltby
identified as his property, and he caused the brother,
who had been vending the goods, to be apprehended.
The prisoner was soon afterwarctt apprehended in
London, where it was discovered that he had been
carrying on dealings nearly as extensive as at Theale.
He had, it appeared, actually circulated bills amongst
his friends, advertising goods at a cheap rate.
The whole of these facts were most clearly esta-
blished in evidence, and the Jury found the prisoner
Guilty—Death. Aged 21.