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THE GREAT BULLION BOBBERY . The special session , of the Central Criminal Court , appointed for the trial of some of the remarkable commercial cases which Have recently" agitated society , commenced on Tuesday with the indictment of William Pierce , described in the calendar as a grocer , imperfectly educated , aged forty ; James Burgess , aged thirty-five , railway guard , well educated ; and William George Tester , aged twenty-six , clerk , also well educated , who were charged with the great gold robbery on the
South-Eastern Railway . Tester , who wore a moustache and whiskers , appeared very much depressed ; but Burgess and Pierce exhibited considerable unconcern—the former , apparently , from a natural gaiety , the latter from sullenness . Serjeant Shee attended specially , with Mr . Bodkia and Mr . Monk , of the Northern Circuit , to conduct the prosecution ; Mr . Serjeant Ballantine attended specially , with Mr . Sleigh , to defend Tester ; Mr . Serjeant Parry , also- specially retained , with Mr . Ribton , appeared for Pierce ; and Mr . Giffard ,. Mr . Poland , and Mr . T . H . Lewis defended Burgess .
fore a court of justice . The principal witness in the cose was Agar , a man who was as bad as he could well be , but yet a person who was not the original planner of the robbery , the suggestion having come from Pierce . Something had been said of the romance connected with that man ' s character ; but if there were any persons who took an interest in it , or who fancied that there was anything great in his character , he would teg them to consider what had been the result . He was a
maa of very extraordinary talent . No doubt he had given to the details of this robbery a vast deal of care . If he bad exercised a tenth part of the ability on any hoaiest pursuit , he would have been by this time a respectable man , and no doubt would have realized a large property . Instead of being a man of respectability , he was now a slave for life . He was separated from everything that was dear to him— -even from the other sex , to which he was evidently attached and was the veriest slave that ever trod the face of the
eaith , having no control whatever over his actions . Some remarks had been made by the counsel engaged for the defence about his release . He ( the judge ) did not like to mention the subject during the progress of the trial , but this he might say , that if he was released it would not be on account of any evidence that he had given upon the present trial . " He warmly reprobated the atrocity of Pierce in deserting Panny Kay . " In all , " said his Lordship , addressing Pierce , " you must have got out of Agar about 15 , 000 £ . This you stole and appropriated to your own use . It is a worse offence , I declare , than the act of which you have just been found guilty . I would rather
have been concerned in stealing the gold than in the robbery of that wretched woman—call her harlot , if you will—and her child . A greater villain than you are , I believe , does not exist . " QLoud cheers in court . } He should inflict upon Pierce the most severe sentence which the law allowed him to pass , namely , two years' hai-d labour—with , during that time , three months , the 1 st , 12 th , and 24 th , solitary confinement . He regretted that lie could not pass a more severe sentenee upon him , who was far worse than either of the others . With regard to Burgess and Tester , he must pass upon each of them a sentence of transportation for fourteen years .
The three prisoners , who seemed to struggle with violent emotions during the delivery of the sentence , were then removed from the dock . In answer to an application by Mr . Bodkin , who requested that the Court would make an order for the property found in possession of the prisoners to be handed over to the South-Eastern Railway Company , Baron Martin said at present he should make no such order ; a . rid T with regard to the Turkish Bond taken from Pierce , it appeared to him that , if any one was entitled to it , it was Fanny Kay .
Our readers are already so familiar with the facts of this extraordinary case , that we shall not repeat the evidence , but confine ourselves to the defence and the final result . In cross-examination , by Mr . Serjeant Parry , ; Agar ,. the approver , said : " I was once in the service of a linendraper for four years . That is fourteen years ago . It may be twenty years ago . I cannot speak positively . There-was no robbery committed in . the establishment while I "was there . I was never in any other service . I got my living by ' speculating' in America . I speculated in various things . I went to America several times . I decline to answer how I got my living before I ' speculated' in America . I never was engaged in forgeries . I knew Saward at this time . I decline to say "how I got my living . " Baron . Martin told the witness he had better answer . He could not be
worse off than he was , unless he had done something for " which , he might be hanged . ( A laugh . ' ) Agar said he should still decline to answer . SerjeantParry : "Have you done anything for which you might be hanged ? " Witness : " I decline to answer . " ; He denied that he committed , forgeries while in America , or that he had passed forged cheques anywhere . Of the cause of his present conviction ha gave this account : —" While I was at Kilbura , I -was living with a woman named Emily OampbetL . She had lived formerly with Humphreys , and it was out of revenge that he got me arrested . I tad tent him 230 ? ., and was going that afternoon by
appointment to receive it back , lie lived a door or two from the corner of Bedford-row , and just as I g-ot to the corner I mot a man who said to me , ' Bill has sent me to toll yon not to come in . There ' s a . screw loose . ' He pulled out a bag at the same time , which he said contained 2 . 00 ^ . J ust then I saw somebody coming behind us , and the man ( who called himself Smith ) said , You'd better run ; ' I did so , and he immediately called ' Stop thief ! ' I stopped , and the police-officers took me into custody . I gave up the bag , which was found to . be full of farthings 5 but Smith pretended to know nothing of it . That is all I had to do with the charge on -which I was convicted . "
After several witnesses had been examined , the Court adjourned till the next morning , the jury being conducted , to the London Coffee-house , under eharge of tho officers of the court . The concluding evidence was received on Wednesday , whan it was shown , in cross-examination , that Pierce waa not in the service of tho railway company at tho time of the . - robberies—a fact which in some , degree modified the charge against hhu . Thursday was entirely occupied with the speeches of the counsel for the defence , tho summing > -up < of tho judge , the verdict of the jury , &o . The defence in each ease rested mainly on the admitted : bad character of Agar , combined with tho avowed dtsiaB for revenge which had influenced him in bringing fotwatrd , the charges against bis former comrades . The counsel adsa contended that Agar's assertions were not sufficiently corroborated by the other witnesses to justify tho jury injeottvicting the prisoners ;
Baron Martin * in mumming up , said that Pierce , if found guilty , could only be convicted of . a aimpJe larceny , as ha was not in the service of the company att the tima the robbery -was committed ; but -the othoc cases wets different , and would tender the proonera liable to more 8 < we * e puniahmont It was lamentable to reflect upon . th « fronds which , had taken place since theao great companies had been formed . Formerly , a great deal \» aa heard of the attachment of clerks and servants to thoir employers . ; tout in tho great companies all this had been , dona away with , and public associations : appeared to be legdaraata otjjacto of spoliation . —After commenting on ttw evidence , and pointing out the degree of confirmation it received from , the testimony o £ the other witnaaaaa , the Judge dismissed the jury to the consideration ot thmr verdict . They only remained absent , however , for ten minutes , when , they returned with , a verdict of &IIILTY against all the accused . Baron Martin , in passing sentence , said " the jury had . found their verdict on tho cleares t evidence scroc laid ha-
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A Man Probably Innocent Condemned to Death . —Two Irishmen , named Loughnan and Kelly , are now under sentence of death in Guernsey gaol for the murder of a couple of Frenchmen in that island . The double execution is appointed to take place in a very few days ; but there seems good reason to believe that one of the condemned men ( Loughnan ) is innocent of the crime of which , together with Ida companion , he has been convicted . The two prisoners were tried List December before the highest tribunal in Guernsey , on a charge of having murdered two Frenchmen who died from wounds inflicted by a knife or dagger . They were each tried separately , and both found guilty , although , in the case of Loughnan , several of the jury did not
concarried on business as a butcher , was charged bv a fellow pauper , at the Clerkenwell police-office , with having committed a mtirder . On Christmas day some of the men in the workhouse were seated round tie fire telling tales to each other for their amusement . The narratives consisted of various stories of ghosts a nd murders ; and the moment one of the paupers began to relate a tale on the latter theme , Booth ( the young man in question ) seemed very restless and uncomfortable and , after loudly groaning several times , left the room ! On his return , one of the naen was telling a comic story ' and , although it caused a great deal of laughter , Booth seemed duller than usual , and , when , asked what was the matter , said lie had committed " a most horrible and
atrocious crime , " which very much troubled him ; that ho could get no rest night or day ; and that , wherever he went , and whatever h « was about , the thought of the deed he had committed was always uppermost in his niittd . Being advised by the others to make a full confession of his crime , he said , after some hesitation , that about two years ago he was ivalkin-g on the banks of the Regent's Canal on a dark , foggy afternoon , and , being short of money , and having promised to go out with some friends , he resolved to rob the first person he met . He shortly afterwards saw an elderly man , whose money he demanded , and threatened him with death in the event of ; a refusal . A struggle ensued between them , they fell to the ground together , but he , being
young , was quickly on his reet , and took out a butcher ' s knife ( which he produced from his pocket , and drew their attention to marks of blood still upon it ) and plunged it deep into his victim ' s body . Having despatched his victim , he rifted his pockets , " taking from them a gold watch and chain , together with a quantity of bank-notes and loose gold coin . He then threw the body into the canal . Although he felt his conscience reprove him very soon after committing the deed , he joined his friends , with whom he got drank , and was then robbed of all the money which he had taken from the murdered man . The thought of this made bim ill , and he was
therefore compelled to give tip his business and go to the workhouse . —Information of what Booth had related to his fellow paupers having been given to the police , they searched their books , and found that about the time the murder was stated to have been committed , and near the spot indicated , the body of an old man was taken out of the canal ; but it-was proved he never possessed much money , and there were no marks of violence on tho body . When before the magistrate , Booth stated that he was quite innocent of the crime , and that he had merely told the story for the entertainment of his companions . Mr . Tyrwhitt believed this , and discharged him .
Burglary . —A man named Thomas Johnson was charged before Mr . Henry , at the Bow-street policecourt , with breaking into a house in Alfred-place , Bedford-square . Mr . Sidgreaves , a law student of tic Temple , who occupied the ground floor , was awakened at five o ' clock in the morning by a noise in the front parlour . He immediately got up , and arming himself with a life-preserver , -which he always carried into his bedroom on retiring to rest , he rushed into the adjoining apartment , where he saw Johnson . Mr . Sidgreaves at once seized him ; but he did not make any resistance , and the landlord was called up , a policeman waa sent for , and tho thief was given into custody . Johnson then stated that two men outside had asked him to get into the house
, and promised to follow if the coast was clear . The landlord , hearing this , ran out into the street and perceived a man lurking near the premises , whom lie laid hold of , but , on learning that he was the son of a person named Smith in Tottenhain-court-road , known to the landlord , the latter suffered him to depart . It afterwards came out in evidence before the magistrate , that not only were the parlour shutters unclosed , but the window of that room was not bolted . Mr . Henry said that , though it was a wise precaution in these times for a man to take defensive weapons to bed with bim , yet it would surely be much wiser in the first instance to fasten tho window and close tho shutters , especially in a room easily accessible to thieves from without . He committed the accused for trial .
A Fihhx Offenck . —The culpable harshness of prosocutors in not condoning a first offence—a subject to which a correspondent / of thia journal recently nindo allusionwas illustrated in a case which was brought forward at Guildhall on Monday , when John Tyler , a potboy at a public-house in Warwick-lane , was charged-with stealing a . purse containing 1 / . 10 s ., the property of Mr . Smith , Ina employer . Mr . Smith had k > st tho purse through a hole in hi 3 pocket , and it was afterwards found in the possession , of the boy , who said ho would have returned it had lie known it to be Mr . Smith ' s . That he waa
really ignorant of tho ownership appears to bo doubtful ; but Mr . Smith aaid ho sincerely believed this was tho boy a first offence , and he would therefore refrain from pressing the charge . So far , so good ; but whon Alderman Garden asked tho publican if he would tako tho boy back into hia employ , he replied that ho had lost all confidence in the accused , and could not receive him again . Sir Ji . W . Cardcn said tlris was not a common case of stealing . The circumstance of tho prisoner finding the puree , was a audden temptation which ho had yielded to , whonin all other Jteflpoctshe might have acted honoatly .
sider that the crime with which he was charged had been satisfactorily proved against him . From circumstances which transpired , both before and after the trial , many other people came to the conclusion that Loughnan waa not guilty of the murder , even if ha had at all been connected with , the other prisoner , of which there were considerable doubts ; and several of the most respectable inhabitants of the island , supported by the press , were energetic ia their endeavours to sift the matter to tho utmost . It was not long before they discovered the fact that Kelly , shortly after his apprehension , had sent for a Roman Catholic priest , and confessed to him that Loughnan was entirely innocent , and that lie alone waa guilty of thus crime for which they were both imprisoned This confession he earnestly requested the priest to mako kn
own , in order that the other man ' s life might be saved . It waa accordingly forwarded to the proper authorities , and Kelly was afterwards visited by parsons lugli in office , to whom ho repeated what be had already told the priest . His statement about Lough-nan ' s innocence appears to bo borne out by the medical testimony produced en the trial , whicli went to show that the wounda qr » both the Frenchmen wore inflated with tho same instrument , and apparently by the same hand . Omng to Kelly ' B confession , strenuous exertions are being made by many of tho inhabitants of Guernsey to indue © Sir George Grey to defer the execution until the truth oc folaity of ™ hat Kelly has asserted can bo ascertained . A petition signed by a large nurab o * of the poople , in tho island vri \\ , tlierefore , be forwarded to the Home Secretary with , this view . toat < b ^ T , ? *™^ Story . —A youth of nineteen , fi » n » . the , Islington workhouse , i > ut ^ ho formerly
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¦ THE liEADIB , [ No . 356 , Sa-TUrpat ,
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OUK CITILIZATIOX —*—
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1857, page 54, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2176/page/6/
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