The Sun. — 1841-09-29 (London, England)

REWARD FOR THE APPREHENSION OF BLAKESLEY.—The Chief constable of the Hertfordshire Constabulary Force, attended the Justice room to call the attention of the Lord Mayor to a paragraph in several of the newspapers to the effect that, in consequence of the surrender of Robert Blakesley, accused of the murder of James Bunion, there could be no claim to the reward of 1001. which had been offered by Government for the apprehension of the alleged murderer. He begged to state to his Lordship, that the paragraph complained of was calculated to impress upon the public mind that those who were certainly entitled to the reward ought not to receive it. Now the fact was, that Blakesley did not give himself up. He appeared about the market-place at Ilitchin, and was taken into cus• tody there by the two constables who had given evidence on the Monday at the Mansion-house, and who would not, whether they suspected him to have been guilty of the murder or not, have permitted him to leave them. The LORD MAYOR asked whether Blakesley's conduct was not that of a man who surrendered himself ? The impression upon his mind was that the man had given himself up. The Chie:'Constable of Hertfordshire here said Blakesley had never given himself up. He was wandering about until he was addressed by one of the constables, and from that moment he was in custody, for the orders issued to the constabulary were to take into custody any . person who was without an abode and destitute. It was easy enough for a man to make a merit of giving himself up when he found his detention was unavoidable. The LORD MAYOR said ho understood the man to have conft.esed at °ace in the open street that he was the person who stabbed the landlord and his own wife in Eastcheap. The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire. said (as our Reporter understood him) that the constables, in going up to Blakesley, and saying it was a fine night, merely used those words as a preliminary to his apprehension as a prisoner, and never for a moment thought of letting him go. If the constables had allowed him to leave them they would have been guilty of a transgression of orders, which he perfectly well knew they would not commit. His (the Chief Constable's) wish was to remove the impression likely to be made upon the public mind, that the constable', had no merit in doing their duty.  The LORD MAYOR said that he never imputed to the constables that they had not done their duty. There was no imputation that he had seen upon any person employed upon the service. The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire said, that if the City authorities had sent down to the Hertfordshire constabulary a description of the man who was accused of the murder, the probability was that Blakesley would • have been apprehended on the second day after the perpetration' of the offence but no description whatever had been transmitted to Hertford, and the man had been wandering about for six days after he left London. As the case had been brought before the Lord Mayor, he (the Chief Constable) considered that his Lordship was the best person to whom to make the statement as to the reward, to which he decidedly considered the two constables of Hitchin, who took the prisoner in the marketplace, were entitled. The LORD Mason—He was six days from London, and penniless—in fact, in a state of beggary ; and, therefore, his only resource was to surrender. The Chief Constable said—Why, then, had not the man surrendered himself in the day time? If Inspector Hodgson had entered the Market-place, and seen the prisoner, and said the prisoner was the murderer, he could have claimed tho reward, and received it, and was it reasonable to suppose that the constable who had actually apprehended the prisoner should be denied it ? The LORD MAYOR observed that the applicant, as a gentleman of good sense, having read the advertisement offering the reward, would be able to judge whether the Hertfordshire constables were entitled, according to the Wording of that advertisement, to the reward. He (the Lord Mayor) had not read it, and could not, therefore, form an opinion as to its construction. The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire said the handbills stated that a reward of 100/. would be paid to any one apprehending, or giving such information as would lead to the apprehension of Robert Blakesley. He considered that conclusive in favour of the claims of the two men acting under his orders, and he wished to hear his Lordship's opinion. The