The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-01-20 00:00:00

TAR STAIVSMAN.

irthe ?kill tiff ;asto . sjedibris' re
'mitre,/ with the'► Jury; ifillife Coil not "rip
s lying, that it was not :4 ease, whAckcallest Ale
light damage,.
The Jury, without hesitationvgatelwoettlictfoiJ
the Plaintiff—damages 1501.
••e , i
-'
• PO Licg. reeve!
MA NsioN.llovsz.—Evati and Joseph Jones,
in custody for stealing 111 it'd( from the premises of
Mrs. B 'ellen and Tucker, droggists, in Camo.
mile.street, were yesterday brought up for a se.
coed examination ; but Mr. 'Saltier net hewing
obtained any new infermatien oil thesubject, they
were again remanded.
SWINDLING EXTRAORDINARY.
A young luau, about '23, named John Cooper,
of genteel appeerauce, was then brought before
his Lordship on various charges of having obtain-
ed gouds of divers descriptions on felse pretences.
' The cases established against him discovered a
scene of imposition as enormous as any that has
been practised in the metropolis for many years.
' The first charge heard was that of Mr. 13Iun.
dell, niercyr, of B shopsgate.street, who stated,
that on the '2oth of December last, Cie Prisoner
came to his shop and chose some set-suet, to the
value of 61. 3s. 6d. which he desired might be
bent to the Bull Inn, Bishopsgate-street, saying,
that on its delivery it would be paid for. Mr. B.
accordingly sent his porter with the goods, who
met the Prisoner under the gateway, and having
liken with him the difference between the bill of
parOels and 71. the Prisoner took it from him, and
' gave him two Bank notes, one fur five and the
'other for two pounds, with which the porter re-
turned to his master; but, on exeminetepti, the
notes were discovered to be country motes, drawn
by a bank in Hampshire, and made) payable at
Jegeet anti Coes,..,City Chainhers, and signed and
I entered in the names of Cooper and Ilardeicke.
Mr. Blundell immediately went to the City Chain.
hers, ant made seine inquires respecting the notes,
but was informed they were merely fictitious; as
no sech batik as that specified in the notes was in
eeietence. From that time Mr. IS. saw nothing
of the Prisoner till ho heard he was is custody. •
The next person examined was Mr. 13onstead,
hosier, who deposed, that the Prisoner came to
his home, and iirdered hosiery to the amount of
lee pounds, which ho directed might be sent to
Broad.stroet Chambers, and he would pay for
them; they were accordingly sent to the Chain.
bees which the Prisoner occupied, and they were
paid for. In a few days afterwards the Prisoner
rifled again, and ordered shirts, handkerchiefs,
Ste. to the amount of 351. 18s. and gave simil tr
larders, as in the first instance, tl.at they should
he sent to his chambers, but, on their being
brought there, •he see!, his clerk had just gone out.
and taken with him the key of the desk, an that
he could riot get at his drafts, ha therefore begged
the messenger to call again, wheel he did, hut
from that Moment Mr. Cooper became invisible,
and never paid Nis 4ccoutits.
NamOrotis other persons then came forward,
who lisd all been swindleil out of their property
by the Prisoner and a young man who lived with
h:m at Broad-street Chambers, flamed Hardwicke,
to I very considerable amount, under various pre.
loners. Amongst those examined were Mr. tiara.
Nock, gunsmith, of Fleet.strect, from whom
Hardwicke had g'it a gun and a pair of pistols,
of the Tahoe of 401. on a fictitious bill of ex.
change; Mr. Mortimer, of Ledgete-hill, gun-
' smith, of a doeble.barrelled gun, and other things,
Fey a flume of the same sort ; Mr. Chad*icky,
silversmith, of Cortihill, of silver forks and
spoons to a large amount ; Mr. Deynes, of 'Wel.
worth,, of cut.glass candlesticks and decanters of
-high value ; and Mr. lestliy, of Newgitte.street,
of lincu to the amount of 231. bssides nutty ether
persons, who were not examined.
' From thb testimony of those who stated their
respective cases, it appeared, that the prisoner
Cooper, is company with liardwicke, had chain.
bera in Broad.street Chambers, whither goods
iele#4 generally ordered, and at which place bills
ilinte suede payable, A clerk was employed there,
:whae blueness it was to give answers and keep up-
'thel mask of respectability, by which means many
'Aetna
owretrhe daenedeiaveu.
unTtineyhiti)iudse salts. 91Vilesht:iiiii.
et each of which answered the purpose of a
se
leisot, and place of reference, as circumstances
0
height require; but having once gut the goods
Into their possession, and the person being saes..
fled for the moment as to the payment by some
vague or fraudulent excuse, they were nut again
'to be found at home, and the credulous trades-
' people were, of course, defrauded of their pro.
perfy.
Hardwicke sometimes wont by the name of
, Cooper, and Cooper occasionally callest-1441.44
'Jackson. It likewise appeared from the state.
'aient of a gardener, who arranged the garden of
the house at IValwertli7Jun who was not etaid,
'stet the furniture of the house was carried away
'one night, and the cart uilleaded in the middle of
a.. field to avoid detection, and the goods having
eimeahied there some short time, were loaded on
another cart, and removed no unit but the Pri.
toner and hid partner in iniquity Knew whither.
Sur, in fact, the instances of fraud and deprede.
titsit that were committed on the public by . them
L were so numerous, that it would be impossible to
laced them all. It is supposed some hundreds of
person have, in Tepees ways, fallen within their
schemes, and have been cheated of property to
au enormous amount.
From the information of persons who know
Jones personally, we understand ha ja the son of
a gentleman' of high respectability and large for.
tune residing at Hammersmith,* who has, eu snore
instaskes than one, extricated him from the most
imminent danger, brought on by his criminality
and profligacy ; but having shewn so little a dise
position to reform, and having continued bii ca.
reer of disgraceful conduct to lung, he has at last
determiucd to abandon him to his fete as incorri.
gible.
Oat being called am for his defence by the Lord
Mayor, he burst into tears, and said, that a great
part al the culpability !hick woe attributed to
•

;~ ;

kim, !belonged to • Iliardwieltp; ho did not, how.-
vett mean to deny that he had acted improperly.
cad was then a4ked how he first became acquainted
" with liiirdwicke ? tie said he was introduced to
him as a person in distress, and had given him
come pecuniary aid, after which their acquaint.;
ance had -ripened into a closer connexion, which
led to his present unhappy 'situation. He confes-
sed that he had assisted itardwicke to remov• the
furnitere from his housi; in the night, and said
that Hardwieke was the [Ornery cause of kis
guilt..
lie was remanded for a future examination, at
which, no doubtsnew discoveries of a serious oa.
ture will be wide.
mils wife., who, it appearv, was a woman of bad
character, and who induced him to marry her
about fourteen months since, was in Court all the
time of the examination, but did nut evince any
symptoms of distress.
A warrant wit 4 then issued fur the apprehen.
sion of ilardwicke, who has not been• seen fur
three weeks past, and, .it is said, was formerly is
the Navy.