The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-21 00:00:00

CARR V. BIDDLE

In this case John Carr was the plaintiff and Richard Biddle
the defendant. The action was undefended, and was brought
to recover £250, on a promissory note, given for money lent.
The defendant denied that he was indebted. The loan and
signature to the note were proved, and the Jury returned a
verdict for the plaintiff ; damages £250, with £l5 4s interest.
The court adjourned at five o'clock.
THE C A.IISE PAPER.—The following causes were disposed
of in the West Derby list :

Plaintiff, 1,2, 3,6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 29, 30, 33.
Nos. 4 and 5 were understood to have been settled out of
court. No. 31 is fixed for trial this morning.

CROWN COURT—WEDNESDAY.
The business of the court commenced at nine o'clock.
CHARGE OF BURGLARY.

Samuel Horrocks, aged 36, and Joshua Kirk, 28, were in-
dicted for having, in May last, at Failsworth, burglariously
entered the house of James Clare, a publican, and stolen
therefrom two casks, seven gallons of rum, one gallon of
British brandy, two bottles and two gallons of French
brandy, and two gallons of whiskey.
Horrocks was defended by Mr. Wilkins.
Mary Crompton, M. Clare's servant, proved that on the
night of the 25th of May last the house was properly secured.
On the following morning it was discovered that the premises
had been broken into, and a quantity of spirits, &c. stolen.
On the night of the 29th of May, Thomas Haslam, a pub-
lican, saw Horrocks and Kirk in company together at a
tavern kept by Mary Sewell. Next morning Horrocks called
upon Haslam with a cart. He asked Haslein if he would
purchase some spirits. Haslam replied that he did not want
any spirits, upon which Horrocks drove the cart away, ob-
serving that he must take the spirits somewhere else. About
a mile and a half further on was the residence of Mr. Wm.
Hurst, a publican. Here both prisoners called soon after
they had been at Haslam's. They had the cart with them.
They drank two pints of ale, and Horrocks asked Mr. Hurst
if he would purchase some spirits, indicating that he had
some in the cart. Mr. Hurst not being in want of any_
spirits, he went directly to a tavern at a short distance, kept b y
a Mr. Booth, and asked the latter if he would purchase some
rum. In all the!:e cases he said he could sell the liquor
cheap ; and in one instance, when asked where he bad got
the spirits, ho replied, he believed they were some smuggled
spirits which had been found in the cart. Meanwhile two
officers who had been cognisant of the robbery at Mr. Clare's
house, heard that the prisoners were offering spirits for sale.
They set off in pursuit, came up with the cart at Mr. Hurst's,
and apprehended Kirk and Horrocks on the return of the
latter from Booth's. Two kegs of spirits were found in the
cart. A constable named Wilde deposed, that on the way
to the lock-up Horrock's sister called out to him—" Now,
James tell the truth and say but little." He replied, " I
will. I did not do it myself, but I know who did. Only
two know beside myself." On cross-examination touching
this point, it appeared that the prisoner said further, that
" Tom Bainbridge and Kirk had stolen the liquor, and had
requested him to sell it for them. If," said he, "I am
committed for it, lam committed innocently." Bainbridge,
the constable said, had been transported for felony since the
alleged burglary took place. The kegs found in the cart
were identified as the same which had been sent by Mr.
Gill, spirit merchant, to the house of Mr. Clare, and which
had been stolen therefrom. _

Mr. WILKINS said he should prove that Horrocks could
not have been present at the burglary, and, however repre-
hensible his conduct might have been in attempting to put
off goods under such circumstances as they had heard de-
tailed, as he was indicted for having committed the robbery,
if they found that he had not been a participator in that
crime they would be bound to acquit him.
Kirk, in his defence, said he overtook Horrocks on the
road with the cart, and merely accompanied him along the
road. It was not his place to ask what was in the cart, and
he did not know that there were any spirits in it.
Abigail Clayton was called by Mr. WILKINS.—She stated
that Horrocks and his children lived with her. On the
night of the 25th of May she saw him in bed at ten o'clock.
She slept with his children in the same room with him. She
got up at five o'clock, and employed herself in weaving.
Horrocks got up between six and seven, and went out to his
work about eight.
Mrs. Mary Schofield, whose husband is a cart-owner, for
whom Horrocks has been employed to drive, deposed that
the latter went to his work in the morning of the 26th of
May, about eight o'clock, or between eight and nine.
His LORDSHIP thought that nothing had been offered to
show that the offence was a burglary, as the robbery might
have been committed after six o'clock in the morning.
The jury, after a few minutes' consultation, acquitted both
prisoners under this indictment, but expressed an opinion
that Horrocks was guilty of knowingly having the stolen
goods in his possession.
His LORDSHIP ordered another indictment to be prepared.
MINT CASES.—POSSESSION OF A MOULD—SINGULAR CASE.
John Matthew:, aged 30, was charged with having had in
his possession, in May last, a mould for casting coin to re-
semble shillings.
Mr. Sergeant Atcherly and Mr. Penny conducted the pro-

secution.
It appeared that in April last year the prisoner made him-
self known to the police of Manchester, and stated that he
could give them some information relative to parties who
were engaged in the manufacture of counterfeit money. He
stated to Superintendent Allcock that a man named Ken-
nedy, a tinker, who resided in a cellar near to him, was in
the habit of making and selling bad coin to some extent.
The superintendent attended to the information which the
prisoner gave him from time to time, and furnished him with
money with which to purchase counterfeit coin. The pri-
soner brought several packages of base sixpences which he
said he had bought from Kennedy for twopence each, and
..one shillings for which he said Kennedy had charged him
threepence each. The superintendent asked him if he could
not detect Kennedy at work making bad coin. The prisoner
said it would be very easy to do so, and on one occasion the
prisoner informed the police that if they would go that night
to Kennedy's cellar they would find him at work " making
money." The superintendent caused the cellar to be recon-
noitred that night, but nothing was seen to indicate that any
such operation was going forward. The superintendent, in
order if possible to get at the truth, frequently watched the
cellar of Kennedy through a hole in a door which communi-
cated with another cellar at the back, but he could never see
anything suspicious. At length the superintendent imbibed
the opi nii4ouni
ttyh ait,ahritsy n (the prisoner)
re i
mm ed i ma
tiegl
yh tt
ahkiemns etlof
dbiesctohveer if these surmises were well founded. The prisoner
told the officers that if they would search Kennedy a cellar
at a particular time, and look in a particular place, they
would find some materials for coining. The officers,
being
watchful to discover the truth, set one of their number to
observe the prisoner. On the day when he had requested
that the experiment should be made on Kennedy's cellar,
the prisoner was seen to go to his own residence, and to
come out with a small parcel, with which he went to Ken-
nedy's, where some neighbours were assembled, as Kennedy,
being about to change his residence, was disposing of his few
goods. The prisoner went into Kennedy's cellar with the
parcel in his hand. He went up to the fireplace, and there
lighted his pipe. Without addressing himself to any person,
he quitted the cellar, and the officer who was on the watch
observed that he had no longer the parcel in his hand. The
officers went to Kennedy's cellar at the time appointed, and
there, above the fireplace, in the very spot to which the pri-
soner had directed them, they found a mould for the purpose
of counterfeiting shillings. The prisoner's own residence
was afterwards searched, and the officers found sonic mate-
rials commonly used in coining, a piece of a mould which
corresponded with that found at Kennedy's, and several
counterfeit shillings which had been made from that mould.
The prisoner cross-examined the several witnesses very
adroitly, and with much boldness of demeanour. In the
ichcourseeoraes asked
eooduf
round
his iast
his
o twaist.fi ce r
ifhe
cross-examination of Superintendent Allcock,
Thehadofficer
searchedsaid b
e h
a belt
a dwhich
searched Kennedyh
not. but heT The prisoner
no
t
exactly
waswh inh wore
a
ore
im
acourt,
amnbidneulhtteeelry, had no doubt he had then the belt on in which he
kept his bad money. Mr. Sergeant ATCH LILLY said he should
call Kennedy, and the latter was desired to stand forward
till he was wanted. When Kennedy was examined, he said
he once had a fight with the prisoner, who hadbiiitittehne
off
ffouhrsies
of a dispute wit and man named O'Neilie,
(O'Neille's) lip, flattened his nose. Kennedy took
O'Neille's part, and fought the prisoner, who was subse-
quently imprisoned for the assault. The prisoner had subse-
quently threatened " to be revenged on Kennedy for that af-
fair of O'Neille's." Kennedy told him to stand up and take
his revenge then. He replied that he would take it in ano-
ther way. A witness stated that he had heard the prisoner
say that he would have his revenge for the six months which
he had served in Manchester for the assault. He would
transport Kennedy if he were twenty years in compassing it.
This witness was asked by the prisoner if his cellar had not

been once searched. The witness replied " Yes." " What
for ?" asked the prisoner. Witness—" Because you came
to the cellar so often. The neighbours knew you had a bad
name for ' making money,' and they suspected me because
you came to my cellar." (Laughter.) The prisoner cross-
examined Kennedy at some length. He directed him to take
the belt from his waist, which Kennedy (lid very readily. He
said he wore it to strengthen his back, and when he travelled
he secreted his money in the pockets. The prisoner, how-
ever, persisted that Kennedy had used these pockets for se-
creting bad coin. The prisoner asked Kennedy many ques-
tions tending to implicate him in felonious transactions : all
the insinuations and assertions of the prisoner to this intent
were steadily denied by the witness. Amongst other ques-
tions, the prisoner asked, " What was the reason that you
refused to sell me some had shillings in May last." " You
never asked me any such questions," said Kennedy—" if
you had I'd ha' knocked you o'er very soon ; an' that you
know." One of the sergeants of the Manchester police
proved that the prisoner had said, when taken into custodys
for the assault, that he would lagg (transport) Kennedy be-
fore he died. The prisoner broadly stated that Kennedy had
been tried at the Chester Assizes some years ago, under the
name of Valentine, for counterfeiting, for the truth of which
he referred to Mr. Powell, inspector of coins for the Mint.
Mr. Powell knew nothing whatever of Kennedy.

The prisoner addressed the jury at some length, principally
w.th a view to shew that Kennedy had been long engaged in
coining, and that the police had not duly attended to the in-
formation which he gave them, or he would have been de-
tected. The prisoner called a witness (a boy twelve years
old), to prove that he had seen Kennedy " making money."
The lad stated that Kennedy's son took him down to the cel-
lar one day, when he saw Kennedy turning money from "
chalk thing" upon the hearth, and that upon Kennedy see-
ing him (witness), he said, " Take that kid out ; he's too
old-fashioned to be here." On cross-examination many
discrepancies appeared in the testimony of this witness.
The jury retired at ten minutes to rive o'clock, the trial
having occupied six hours. They returned in ten minutes,
and delivered in a verdict of Guilty.

Mr. Sergeant ATMERLY obser-ved, that a similar case
occurred last assizes but one, the first he had ever seen.
His LORDSHIP observed that he perfectly concurred in the
verdict, and animadverted in strong terms on the magnitude
of the offence. The prisoner was sentenced to transportation
for life.