The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-24 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-Tu ESDAY.

William Woodier, Edward Williams, Edwin Leigh, and
William Jones, were charged with having entered the house
of Mr. Conolly Thomas Hamilton, Brunswick-vale, Bootle-
lane, on Sunday morning, whilst the family were attending
divine service, and stolen therefrom a quantity of valuable
plate.—Mr. Wardle, solicitor, appeared for the prisoners.
Jane Jones stated, that she resided in the capacity of house-
servant in the family of Mr. Hamilton. On Sunday morn-

ing last, while the family were absent at church, sfie went
out also to attend church. She left the house at twenty.
-minutes before eleven o'clock. No person remained in the-
house. She went out at the front door, which fastens by. a
snap latch. She did not lock the door. She returned about
half-past twelve o'clock, and found a person..named Trafford
(a witness in the case) standing in the road. He gave her
some information. She went into, the house .by. the front
door, and proceeded to the• kitchen door which she found
unbolted. She had bolted it on theoutside previous to going
oul

She had also locked the doors of the two bed4oomS,
- - -

and placed the keys in a parlour, the door of which she locked,
and took the key with her. She unlocked the parlour door,
and found the keys where she had. left them. She proceeded
up stairs, and found both the bed-room doors open. She
went into Mr. Hamilton's room, where she missed three sil-

ver table-spoons, five silver tea-spoons, three silver dessert-.
spoons, six silver forks, and two silver salt-spoons, from a
basket which she had placed that morning on a chair. She
found also that a box, in which plate was kept, had been re-_
moved from under a bed, and left in the middle of the room.

This box had been forced open. She found in the room a
pair of tongs, a poker, and a carving-knife, which had been
removed from the kitchen. The box had had the plate in it,
but there was nothing left in it but table linen.
Mrs. Hamilton stated, that on Friday week she put into
the plate-box, in her husband's bed-room, three silver ladles,
six silver table-spoons, nine silver dessert-spoons, twenty-
three silver forks, one pair of plated candlesticks, and a pair
of snuffers. She locked the box, and placed the key in her
pocket. The box was placed under the bed. On Saturday
she saw the box there. Shortly after ten o'clock, on Sun-
day morning last, they went to church, leaving the servant
Jane Jones in the house. They returned shortly after one
o'clock, and were informed of the robbery. She went into
the bed-room, and saw that the plate chest had been broken
open, and all the plate taken away. The value of the pro-
.

perty was about .t3O.
John Neale stated that he kept a public-house in Bootle-
lane, about two hundred yards from Mr. Hamilton's house.
On Sunday morning last, about twenty minutes before eleven
o'clock, he was 'in his house when the prisoner William
Woodier entered and asked for a glass of ale, with which he
was served. He remained in the house a minute or two . and

then went out. Witness knew the prisoner, as he had been
pointed out to him as a bad character : he therefore desired
. .

his wife to notice him. The prisoner turned up the lane in
the direction of Bootle, and went about forty yards, where he
joined two other men. Witness watched him through a win-
dow, and saw the prisoner Edward Williams advanoe towards
his (witness') house in a, hurry. He passed it, and then
beckoned to the two other men. They crossed the road to-
wards him, and witness immediately went to another window
where lie could see further down the road. He saw the pri-
soner 'Williams receive something from Woodier,' who ad-
vanced quickly towards witness house. Witness left the
window and went into the lobby. The prisoner Williams en-
tered the house and asked for.a glass of ale, with which his
(witness') daughter served him. He drank it standing in the
lobby, and immediately departed. He went towards the other
three, who advanced a little nearer to the house, and joined
them. All four then went away in the direction of Mr. Hatnil-

ton's house. Witness went out in about five minutes to look
after them, but could not see them, nor did he see them again
till they were in custody. Witness was quite sure the pri-
soner Edwin Leigh was one of the men who passed his house
with the two other prisoners Williams and Woodier, and he
had then a red handkerchief round his neck, similar to that
produced. He had also a top coat on.
James Trafford, a miller, residing in Bond-street, stated,
that on Sunday morning last, about nine o'clock, he left his
house for the purpose of taking a walk. He went up the
canal as far as the Bootle Coffee-house, and then turned to
come through Bootle. He was passing Mr. Hamilton's
house about eleven o'clock, when he saw six men standing
together, about twenty yards therefrom. He passed them,
and noticed them sufficiently to make him quite sure that
the prisoners, Woodier, Leigh, and Jones, were three of
them: Witness went on about fifty yards, and then turned
and looked at them. Two of the men passed him and went
to the end of a lane, where they stopped. Witness went to
a hay-stack, and lay down in such a position that he had a
view of every house in Brunswick-vale. When he got there
he only saw two men, and they were walking backwards and
forwards in front of Mr. Hamilton's house. About ten mi-
nutes elapsed when lie saw two men come out of Mr. Hamil-
ton's house and join the two men that were walking about.
They turned away to the left, upon which witness left his po-
sition near the hay-stack, when he saw the other two men at
the end of the lane. They turned up a small lane that leads
into the Walton road.' Witness passed on into Kirkdale
road, thinking they would go that way. The three prisoners.
Woodier, Leigh, and Jones, passed him, and went along
Boundary-road. Leigh was carrying his top coat over his
arm. Witness returned to Mr. Hamilton's house and re-
mained there till Jane Jones, the servant, returned home.
He told her his suspicions, and went into the house with her,
and found matters as she had described them. He afterwards
went to the police-office and gave information of the robbery,
and described the men. He knew Woodier, by name, and
gave information of his name at the police-office.
Lloyd, a constable, and Cottam, a police-inspector, de-
scribed the apprehenAon of the prisoners, and stated that
none of the stolen property. was•found upon them.
They were all committted for trial.
WEDNESDAY. )1
CRUELTY TO A NEGRO, AND ASSAULT.
Thomas Robinson, a young and broad-shouldered seaman,
was placed at the bar, charged with having committed an
assault on Mr. Walter Smith. The latter stated; that he
was on duty at one of Harbord's warehouses, when he saw
five or six sailors cruelly ill-treating a• black man. Annoyed
at their •conduct, he went and remonstrated with them. They
resented his interference, and one of them put himself in a
fighting attitude. As they continued their sport at the ex--
pense of the poor negro, he requested them to desist. The
prisoner asked him if he were going to take the part of
darky, and, without waitior fora reply, put himself beffere
him (Mr. Smith) in a boxing attitude, and struck at him
fiercely several times.- He received one blow on his neck,
which had' injured him Severely: It "was at first very bad,
bugle had•hud leechestii it, which had relieved it. The pvi-
soner denied that be had touched the black man. Mr. Smith
said, ifs he could have brought the negro as a witness, his
appeartihae`and' torn apparel would,have .shown how he had
been ill-treated. He wished it to be understood, that he had
not brought the prisoner -there so much to gratify any
resentful feeling of his own, as to show the prisoner that a
black man was not to be ill-treated any more than a white
one. Police-n4cer- 111 confirmed Mr. Smith's statement
The priSoner was fined five shillings and costs. In default
of payment, he wad sentenced to be imprisoned seven days.
YESTERDAY.
STEALING A WATCII.ThSINGULAR CASE.
Henry Aaron, a Jew, was brougfitupcharged with having
a stolen watch in his possession. It aPpeared that the de-
fendant, who is a hawker of pens, jewellery, °&c. called a
day or two ago at the shop of • Jame-s Lepp, watchmaker,
Bath-street, wishing to dispose of sonic of his goods. Lepp'
offered him a watch in exchange, but nO business was trans-
acted. This morning (yesterday) defendant called again,
when Lepp asked him if he would buy a watch. He did not
do so, saying that he had one, which he produced. Lepp
looked steadily at the watch, and, after consulting his books,
claimed it as his property, and said that it had been stolen
from his shop. Aaron told him that he had bought it of
Mr. Jones, watchmaker, Manchester-street, for 255. ; and
took• him (Lepp) up to Jones's shop, in order to prove the
truth of his assertion. On their arrival, Lepp again declared
that the watch was his property, but that an alteration had
been made in the dial. Jones (having heard this statement)
then denied having sold the watch to the defendant, and
stated that Aaron had employed him to alter the dial and
pendulum. On the suggestion of Aaron, they then went to
the police-office, for the purpose of having the matter pro-
perly investigated ; and when there Aaron called some per-
sons who,witnessed his payment of the money to Jones.
A boy, in the employ of Jones, when asked whether his
master had sold, the watch to defendant, so prevaricated in
giving his evidence, as to render it of no value, and to create
a feeling of dependence on tie testimony of the defendant.
A cousin of Jones's did not See him sell the watch to defen-
dant.

At this period some persons were despatcheir from the
court to make further investigation into the case ; the result
of their inquiry was not announced in the court, but it must
have been one of favourable import to the prisoner, (who,
from his demeanour, and straightforward conduct throughout
the trial, had not the appearance of a guilty man), as, on
Mr. Rushton again taking his seat on the bench, he said,
although it was evident that a robbery had been committed,
and that the persons brought before the court had been in
very recent possession of the property ; still, from the con-
tradictory nature of the evidence, he d►d not feel justified in
keeping any one in custody. The prisoner was accordingly
discharged ; and, in reply to a question from Mr. Jones,
Mr. Rushton said, that the less he (Jones) said about the
matter, the better.