Hertford, Saturday, July ...
The Times, 1824-08-02T00:00:00

Jrmes ffars-i,, James Greets, andI James Thomas, alias Davis, were indicted for burglariously breaking and entering thc dwellinvr- house of John ffaines, at Hertbirsfordbury', in the night of the 9th of June last, and stealing thierein 32 sovereigns, aud various mnorrieg and securities,to the amount of 1,B00l.,the property of Peter Leopold Louis Francis Nassau Clavering Cowper Earl Cowper.Ote counts laid the property to belong to John nlines Ohe The trial of this important case was flxEd for eight o'cloc'k this morfning, and excited very general interest, from the amount of the robbery, the rank of the person robbed, and the daring circum- stances under wlhich the offence was committed, At an early hour thte court wag; crowded to exces.. MVr. Sergeant TADDy, in stating the cave for tbe prosecutionl, said, that this was perhaps one of thle most darinig robberies of the kind within the memory of any living person. There was reason to think that six perstons were concerned in it; but there was no doubt that five were actors, oni the occasioni. It seamedl to have been a deep-laid plan, and arranged by a person conversant with the internatl arrainge- ments of the house in which the robbery was effected, as well as the habits of its inmiates. WVho that person was, had not yet been di- vulged ;but that there was suich a person it waes impossible to doubt, as must be manifest from the circumstances under which the. robbery took place. The nominal prosecutor of this indictment was Mlr. John Maines, the steward of Earl Cosper, who lived in a hiouse. thie property of his lordship, at C-ole-green, near the town of Hertford. lr. f Halnes was in the habit of receiving hlis lordship's; rents, It had become known. that on the 9th of June he hadl received money to a very considerable amount. Hlow this information was eircu- lated, could not at present be ascertained. The prisoniers now on the trial were natives of London, and probably were not personally! acquainted with this part of the country. It was more likely, there- fore, that some person acquainted with Mlr. -Haines's usual habits and duties as steward, was at the bottom of the plan. The learned counsel thent proceeded to detail the facts of the case as given in evi- dence by the following witnesses:-- Mlr. John Raines, jun., (a lad about 1.5, of very weak and sickly appearance), deposed, that on the night of theg9tl of June Pce went to bed about half-past ten; hiis ch~amber was next to hiis 'father's, the door of whilch opens into a long Passage. Wasalarrniedinthenight, about one o'clock: he heard a noise, and at first thoughit it was his, little brother, who was in a side bed it was a noise like knocking. Hetsatuo anu listened, nanatthatmoomnent-his littlebrothier knoc'k& aga,insLtthebedsidleboard, whichiconvinced himthat his brot.ar haed mal thie first noise, and therefore he laid down) againi. He wras, however, immediately alarmed again by a noise like the opening of a door. IHe then got txp, and stoodI against his own door to listen ; he heard some one coming up the passage very gently. Hie thetii opened the door, went eita, and saw Ifour or five men in the passage. On golinginto thie pasage, one of them put a pistol to hiis; heazd, and siwore he vwould blow his brains oat, if he did not go back into his room ; anid the othiers halloopd out as loud as they could. He then caught hold of' the pistol, and tried to eet it awvay from the man. They had a str'sggle for the pistol. The other'men rashed in upon him, andI threw him on the bed. Thiey struck at himn witli a bludgeon, but it got entangled in the curtains, anid didi not huir, him. 'hillst in the passage he sawi liis father coming to his own bedroom door, and one of the men sgid "1Rush at the dloor." One of the men called outS "Avis," or "1Davis." They then rushed to his father's door, and he heard them pushing, it. The donr was forced. After they were in hnis father's reom, he heard tbctn threat- etling to shoot his father. One of the men remained at wvitness's door, walking up and down the passage. Heard thle men ask rils father for money. They kept swearing, that the-y wouldl shoot his father, if he did not tell theni where the money wias. Can speak esitivelyto the prisoner Davis; ftc is not s3o positive as to Green, ut ' mst erainhe s ne f te en- Knows Davis, because he pt te pstolto is ead.Themenhad a light with themi. Sawv theligt trouh te kyhoe o hi rom-door, before they came to his oor Iswasa lnten, nd t apeared to be fastened at the buttn-hoe ofone f th men For men had entered hiis rootuj. Davmwasone f te me wh cam in Does not kcnow who struck at hm when he was in the bed. The clock in his father's house was rather too fast that nivght. Saw Davis again some time af'ter in Hert- ford Gaol; he was irj the yard among 14 or 15 other prisoners. Ilec seclected him himself from the others;- he was nut pointetd out by anybody to witness. in the cross-examination nothitig material came out. Mlr. Johin Haines, father of the last witness, stated that on the 9ith- of June he hadi recetved as steward, on thie Earl'u axcount, 1,186G1. 13s. lIId, in draughts, and cash, anld bank-notes. There were about :32 sovereigns, se veral 51. notes, some 101. notes. and one Bank poist hill for 201. Thtis money he.gave to Mfrs. Haines, that shie mnight dlepostit it in a place of safety. He and thie faminly went to bed about half past twelve. His clock was about 20 minutes faster than thle cloc'k at Hertford. Ile was awakened about one o'clock by Al"r. Hlains, who asked Itim what thiat noise was ? lInmediatelv upon that, he heard a screa,ming in bhe passage, at the end of whiich his room is situated. He juped out of bed, and went to the door and opened it, and staw fu rlv men in the passae. it was a tnoon- lg T niht Thecre was a light in the passage, and also in his own ro.Telight in the passae was that of a lantern, As soon as he opened his door, he lieard a m-an say,*Rs ttedo. He closed the door again, locked it and set himiself' against the door, sossi to prevent thteir forcing it, if lie could. They tried severml timres to force the door, and eventually eff'ected their ob~ject. In thiemeantime Mllrs.I-laines rang the alarm-bell on theoutsideofthie house. Whilst the alarm-bell was ringing, the mien retreated back into the passage. The door was not forced at this tintse. He then armed himself with the poker and fire shovel, and was going to open the door to follow them ; but he then heard them come back to the dleor. They tried, to force it for some considerable time, and at last they got it open. When thte door was open, lie struck the first tm-ao who entered with the poker on the hiead. T1he mian staggered. He struck at him again, but the blow diI niot t-ake effecit. HIe then Struck at a man on his left hand. Two more men then cawne in. HeI contintted striking at them with the poker as thtey were driving himi across the room. They knocked his head through the window, and the man who struck him caught him by the throat. They hiad struck. him several times Sn going acroes the room-. When he fell, twormen. fell upon him. Hfe receivied several blows whilst he was downl. One of them held a pistol to his head, and swore he would blow his brains out if he offered tor stir. One of them said, "1 Where is the money e"' Witnessi said, "SirVhat monecy ?" The man said, " Curse your nonsense-tell me whnere the money is, or I'll blow your braias ouit directly." Thinks that man is the prisoner Harris. The man again asked himi where the money was and witness gave him the sante answer. The man continued to threaten him, anid witness sold him it vas down sttairs. At this momient hie saw the samne inan force open the cheat, in whiceh he kept the rent- money, and no other. The chest was locked. There were some of witniess's clothes In the chest; and the man said, " Curse his soul he says the mooney is down stairs ; hiere it is." The mast took hel. fa okt-ok in which aoetn of the money wats, and si, witht an oath, "1 Old man, this is not all; whvere's the rest ? " The man tIlen tok a paDer parcel, conitainingz about 1,2401. In the same chest thtere was 'a saucer contain'ing some sov,ereigns ; saw the mian take the saucer, and empty thie money into his pocket; thiere was a light in the room besqides rthe candle burni rig in witness's room wvhen the money was taken, one of thien said, with an oath, 1 INow let's bind them." They said, " Coins oldI Dan, torn, over." Hec was then lying on hiis sidie on the dloor, wlitere lie hrad remained after he had been knockedl down. They turned bim round upon his race and tied a cord round lisa rights arm, and then round tite fingets oC his left hand. He wa,n then turned over upon hiis back. They theti said,"1 Now, we'll bind the old woman." W~Jit- nesls could not thten see his wife, the curtains beinig drawn all round, except at tIme foolt, whichi was opposite tlte door. In the situation in which w,itness lay he could not see thec drawers where the handkerchiefs were. They then left him, throwing thte bedi- sidecarpt ovr hi. On of hemcattie back again and said,, wit anoatt,"I dn'tthik yu hvetied this fellow tight." lie said "Cineold man tun oer,andlet us see how voni are." He turedhi ovr,an sad,wih a osh"He has gototneof'his maw. 8eslooe."He he seure wines'shand. Thle same mnan then saidl,"Now, old man, we'll have atouch at the runne?rs." He pulled lila Iegs out straighit, and was proceeding to tie them, w-hen the door. bell rang, and all the men went directly out of the room. i-ad nio :)pporturiitty of seeing the countenance of- the mnan who came back to fil, te ighs bin pu cu. oonaferwards, his bandages were itnoosd b SIs. ains. e tenwent down and saw Chiap- man, he sephed. H waslyin undr a large elm-tree, in the y-ard, apparetly in woundd stat. Has o doLubt wliateverofm th 'odn- tity ofHarrisanti Geen. ilas nodoubt in lils owni tindii at all. (ircn hd cme ito he oom iththefirsqt mnarl Harris was the frst man he struck at. Harris and Green hadrcome in together. On lite morning of the lOUt he observed that apiece of glass had beenI taken out of the dresairg-reom-window, and the fastening forced up.I The piece of glass had been taken out appareptly with adiamnond. The dressing..tootu communiicates svithi the passage. Cross-e7arniined.-Thme men lhash their-hats on, From their enter. ing the room until he was knocked dcewn, ha was engagedl in a state Df confusion and struggle. Is aware how easy onerman may bem- taken for ahother, with his hat on. At first, said he thoup ed arris was one of them ; but hans no douibt now that he is urice oi' the iniezt. Is was just past one whern lie first heard the noise. The mnen hiad entered at the dressing-room winslow, The real tinie or' the niglits was about half-pasat twelve, but by his clock it was about one. AMrs. Clara Haines stated, that on the 9th Junie, Lord Cow er's renta lied bean paid to her husband, antI tIme money wa gie to hier. A day is -appointed for lpaying the rents, end generally the second Wednesday in the month is appointed. Hler husbanc gave her 1g091 an some odd pounds; among thesis were Bn oe n sovregn-; heput them in a chest in her room. One parcel Was Peit Up before dinner. Country bank-notes and icheck-s and somne money' were received after dinner, and they were put into a pocket-.book; and the sovereigns, silver, and copper, were puit in a sauccr r'nd -all put into a chest; she was alarmed about a qurter after one, when sbe screamedl, and Mlr. Haines and hueraself jumped out of bed.; fMr. HAinies went to the door, and she went to the wirdbw facing the yard, and saw a person standing in ithe yardl there were three windows in the room, and she went to the one opposite the dloor : hiaving seen the man in "ise yard, shie caled to George and astsother man, two ploughmen,who- slep vr ire stable. one of the men answered ; slite then rung the alapr -el, and whtile so ringing the bell three mnen entere her room ; one heold a pistol to her head, end told her if she did not get into bed, he would blow lier brains out; she theti got into bed, and heard theta fighting wvith Air. Haines ; they used veryabusive lan- guage, and said then' wvould kill himn if lie did not tel themn whiere the mioney was. 'When sihe got into bed, she did not lie down, but could see fromn th-e bottomn of-the bed, and saw a tall mian open the two I- chst of dwes he _ a laner at the side of his coat.I a the drawers she hadl sine linen, and one contained some cambic pocket-haudkerchiefs. Having looked over the drawers, one of them asked her for the key of the chest. She kept her keys in a small basket, and a short man took the lamp and held her the light while she looked for it; but the others, in the mean time, wrenched open the chest: she took particular notice of the man she gave the key to, anxd is certain Green was the' i-an, Davis as the mans who presented the pistol at her hetd. The curtains of the bed were open at thebottom, and thrown back on her side, so that she cottldsee what was going on at the bottom of the room and on her sida DMr. Haines was on the other side of the curtain, whicil was drawn, and she was unable to see what was theregoing on. She afterwards examrined the drawers, and found a drop of blood ott two of the liazikerchiefs, which wyas qaite fresb. SamueltChapman stated, he was Lord Cowper's sitepherd. On the night of the Itsh of Juae he vwas alanmed by the a arm-bell at Mlr. IEaioes's house, and on enteting the yard, he saw the two ploughmen; he ran to the door, and sang the bell; and going into tehegardenf c03sa sO the hogse, saw four men; he had a stick in his hand, and obscrving one running avway from the house, he ran aEter him and overt9ok him, whnen he turned rounid and flasled a Ipisto face. It was so close, that dad the pistol gone of, it V mstlla illed hins, ZIe then itrucek ait the man, and knocked sim down, bht he9ot ip a Mpd e.apd froalim; he Pursted ta abwor twenty or thirty yard37 and got hold ofhim, when two came up mid beat him on the arms, and knocked him down- two more shortly after carne up, and p aid him alU over, and kept osntinuAlr saying, Killh im;" they bcatbixn with largeeticds, makdngsever6lwoands on his head; and-lying qu iet on thegrousd liom the beating-oneof them hit hiin a heavy blow, and said " Cursehirn, heis dead." He is positive that Hlarris was the man whocameup when he hadhold of the man, and struck him. George Venables said-On the 9th of June he was in the service of Lord Cowper, as a ploughman; on that night he was alarzned by his mistress hallooihg for them to get up; he answered her; and putting on his clothes, went down into the stable, and armed him- self with a fork, and then waent to the window of the room where Mr. Haines slept;- be heard lond talking in the rooLn - then Thn man came up, and rang the bell; hearing persons walking scross the room, he opened the gate, and saw two men come past the door-wayr one was a large man, and the other thi.ner; lhe struck at the leias- with hliS fork, bat missed the blow; the man then threw him down, and the other struck him between the sheulders, when Harris said, " Now you have got the rascal down, ki7l himt." He thought theY were the men who got him down, from their size. Benjamin Venables, the brother of the last wimeas, said., hecama down wlhen alarmed by Mirs. Elaines, and went over to the dcor-way of the house, where he saw four merr, one of the mcn co7Lred his brother, and missing the blow w.hh his fork, tley both fell down. He ran to assist his brotber, and struck a tall man with the sidce rave of a cart over his head, bute ho knocked him down. Another man then came up, and dashed E pistol at his head. It was dalrk, and he should not know either of the men again. t;eorge Avis, an officer, produced some sticks and acrow-bar whch had been given to him by lr. taines. A pistol andalat wereaalso produced, wlhich were found on Mr. Hsaines's premises. He a pre. hended Harris and Davis at a cofree-shop in Chancery-lane; Harris had his thumb bound up with a riband. Pye, the constablc of G ;heshunt, said there were marks on tlhe door of M.11, Haines's roomii, which had been apparently made by the crow- bar. This closed the ease for the prosecution. sl'r. Justice BunteeousG theu called up3n the p-isoners for their defence. ifarris said nothing more than that he was perfectly innocentof' the charge. Green said he was as innocent as the child unborn, and that per- sons would corne forward to prove that he was at Astley's Tbeatreon the night of the 9th of June. Davis also said he was innocent, and that he had witnesses t50 prove it. Harris added, that with regard to his thumw, it hnud been hurt) r- fore it wvas said he was in the'house, and that it had been tied * Several witnesses were called for the defence, but their teztuimony was csmnpletelh shaken by the cross.-examinadion. Air, JTustice'BuRnouLG proceeded to sum up the case for the Jury. He read the whole of the evidence on both sides with great minuteness, and left them to consider the effect of the testimony adduced on the part of the prisoner Green, as contrasted wita the po. sitive evidence of identity produced on the part of the prosecution. A n alibi was the best possible defence, whe.eit was genuine; bbutiHnot genuine, mnust heae the most conclusive effect against the party by whom it is set up. It vies che peculiar province of the jury to de_ cie upon the credit of the witnesses ; and taking the whole easeinto tleir mnast seri.us consideration, they would discharge the import; ant dutv now intrustei to them witu: a due regard to the interests of publie jl stice on the one hand, and the perilouts situation in which the prisoners were placed on the other. The Jury deliberated about ten minutes, and fo-und all the pri- soners guilty. The learned .Judge then proceeded, in the most solemn and im. pressive manner. to pass the awful sentence of the law.. dis Lord. ship told them that they must expect no mercy on this side of the grave. Their criine was of' too agravated andt outrageous a nature to escape the punishment of those laws which were made for the pro. tection of' society. He therefore earnestly implored them to make the most of the short time now left themn for repentance, for most as. suredly the law must take its course. Dnlfildd is still in Hertford Gaol, but is to be renmoved to New. gate in the course of the week. HERTFORD. SATJRnDAY. JULYl 1. . R7ltTI7aaAnV AT PARL r.AcWPPU77-