Winter Assizes.
The Times, 1824-12-31T00:00:00

teonrge iiuapees was incictea lor teloniously receiving, oifthel10tl Bf June last, in the parish of St. t)lave, Southwark; knowitig to have been stolen, a 201. Bank post-bill, a 201 Banlk-note, three 101. Bank.. notes, ten 51. Bank.notes, and other notez and monies, which bad been burglaiious8.ystolen on the 9th of .une frpm- the dwelling- house of AMr. aines, steward to Earl Cowper, at Hertingfordbury, in the county of Herts. - The trial lasted from nine, in the morhig till six in the evening 'The case was launched by the evidence of the convittlon of James Davis and others at Hartford assizeV, isn July last, of the burglary and robbery in air. Ilaines's house, on the night dfthe 9th of.June, when Bank-notes and other monies to the amount of 1,8681.13s. lid. were stolen by a party of eight men, who hada planned the rob- bery at a publ ichouse caUed the KoTse-Shea gad WVheat-aheaf, in Melior-streer, Borougb then Ikept by-a-man itimed---Wnaton,. singe deceased. One of the men concerned- inm the rabbery' wa Benjamnin Jacobs, tbrmerly a baker at Kingston. This man was now a principal witness, and he gave a mtnute detail of the cir&umstancesof the robbery. His evidenice. cs-far as it affected the plisoner Dadfield, was. that on the morning of the 10t'h of June, after the robbery, moat of the gang assembled again between seven aild eight o'clock, at the Horse-Shoe and Wheat-Sheaf. Two of the party were sent to Dadfield's house, in Shire-lane. And ekortly af- terwards he arrived, and was introduced intoaprivate roormi up statrs, where notes to the amount of 1,0081. were produced, He was in. formeIe by one of the thieves that the property came from Mr.Haines's house and that he had better be careful of theotes. At first le bid 700i. tr the whale quantity, but at lergth he agteed. to give 7501., and the thieves consented to seU them or that amount. The notes were delivered to bim, and two of the men accormspained hirm home to receive the money. He, however, gave thern only 3501., prnmsing to bring the remainder in an hour and a half. In fact, the robbers never reeeived any more money from him. Mlrs. Wat- son, the, widow of the person who kept the public-honse, swore po- sitively that Dadfield was at her husbanid's house with the thieves on that morning. He changed a sovereign with kef in pa ment of one of the glasses of brandy which the party had had. The course which the case for the prosecution then took, was in tracir.g the stolen property to the possession of the prisoner. It was proved that at twedve o'clock on the night -of the 10th of June, the prisoner and an elderly man unknown anived at the George Inn, Baldock, by the Boston coach, a-ad slept in a double-bed(ded room. Nextday they went together in a post-chaise to Royston,and thence to Cambridge, and re- turnedtogether toLsndon the same night,and weresetdown ata public- house inChancery-lane. At Roy`ton,the elderlymanalone exchanged Bank of England nates to the amount of 1501., at the banking- bouase2f Alesars. Fordham azj Co., for SI. notes of their bank. At Cambridge, the same man eschanged Bank of England notes to a large amount, at the banking houses of Foster and Co., Fisher and Co., and Barker and Co., fbr their notes, respectively. Mlembers of these several establishlments were, examined-; but as they had omitted to bring their books, no satisfactory evidence could be given of the identity of the notes wifch the old tnun above-men- tioned had exchanged. The bank post-bill for 201. was, however, clearly identified by a clerk from the house of Foater and Co. A 201. note, two tens, and six fives, produced, were sworn to by Air. Raines and Mt. Jobnson, who assisted him in collecting Lord Cowper'a rents, as part of the stolen prope$wy, from marks woich they had made. These notes had' passed through the hands of the Cambridgeshire, bankers, but were no otherwise identified. Between the hours of nine and ten on the niorning of the 12th of June, Cambridgeshire and Rovaton notes to the amnount of 5501. were exchanged at the banking houses of Mlessrs. Jones, Lloye, and Co., Aessrs. Grote, Prescott, and Co., and MIessrs. Currie, Raikes, and Co., for one 2001. two 1001., and a 501. Bank of England -note. At two of these houses, the notes were exchanged b a female, who gave the name of " WVilliams," and at the third by a man whom thea witness firmly behleved to be the prisoner Dudfield. At ten o'clock a city officer, named Hcsketh, saw Dutideld atanding under 'the piazza at the Soutlh end of the R3,tyal Exchange. He missed hirn' for u motnent, bat -in a few of EngRland, where the prisoner had just receivell from tlr.Kingston,_ theclerk, -550 sovereigns, in exchange for thc identical 2001., two ., nud 501. bs.nk.notea which had been paid by the banking- houses last above mentioned, in iievu&fbrovincial notes of the Roy- Mton and Canmbridge banks. The prisoner, told 'hr. Kingston that his name was Williams, and that he lived in Prescott-.street, Good- man's-fields. This name. and address were written en the note. The ofcer, knowving that this nrame and atldress were false, imme- diately took the prisoner into cuatody, and fiound 550 sovereigns in a handkerchief in his band. Thiia is an outline of the esce proved in evidence. he prisoner, n lils deFence, declared solemnly that he had never seen in his life either Jacobs, the accomplice, or Mr. Watson, the keeper of thc public..houce in .Mellor-strceet. He complained that a young woman named Alatilda Blanchard, wlho could have proved an alibi for him, had been practised upon, and kept out otf *the way. As to the notes Gf theBank of England changcd on the.morning of the 12th of June, he said he had recivea them that morning in the course of business from a merchant. It was not surprising that lie was possessed of so much money, because lie vas engaged inm a large way of business.- Mrs. Watson was called on behalf of the prIfoner, to prove that she wan taken to Huoremonger-lane gaol to see the prisoner. She had a view of him Wvhen he was neparatel from other prisoners, bhut was quite certain he was the man she had seen at her hloue on the morning ot the 10th of June. Nh.other witnesses were called for the defence. Mlr. Justice BuigaouaH summed ur the evidence with great MiluteresS, leaving the jury to find a a verdict as would satisfy t}teir eongeiences.. The Jury deliberated about two ntinutes, and found-the prisoner Mir. AnTDstEws and Mhsr Btoinuxcx then natbmitted, in-arrest of judgmnent, that the Bank notea. which tho prisoner wias charged with aving feloniously received could not be treafed.as goods and chat- tels, within the meaninR df the statutes of 3 William and Mary, c. 9, and 5 Anne, c. 31, and.consequently that receiving them, know- ing them to have been stolen, wsas no offence. AMr. BOL'LAXeD, MIr. DOWLING, and Mr. PLAT`T, referrcdto2 Geo. II., c. 25, and 3 (eo. IV., c. 24, as affording a complete'hn- swer to the objection; The first made it felony to steal, and'the se. cond fe'lony to receive, bank notes knowing thceus jo have been stolen. MWr. Justice.Biumtua UGHverruled the objectxita, esS entenced the priooncr to be tr'ansported fof 14 5ears: * '? - f . . ' ! 1 _> * *en sole WINTRR ASSIZES. t. - RC~INGSTON, TtftnSDAY, DEC. 30.