Carlisle Patriot, 13 Aug 1825 - Cumberland Summer Assizes (3)

[petra.mi...@doctors.org.uk]

Saturday 13 Aug 1825   (p. 2, col. 3 - p. 3, col. 5)

 

CUMBERLAND SUMMER ASSIZES.

 

CROWN BAR: MR. JUSTICE BAYLEY.

  

[continued]

 

JOHN SHARPE, aged 20, charged with having, on the night of the 12th of July, feloniously and burglariously broken and entered the dwelling-house of Joseph Monkhouse HEAD and George HEAD, of the City of Carlisle, grocers, and stolen and carried away therefrom a quantity of copper coin of the value of 20s.

 

The prisoner pleaded Guilty.

 

Judge.—Why do you plead guilty; it is a capital offence, and they may not be able to make out some of the points?

 

The prisoner then retracted his plea, and pleaded not guilty.

 

Mr. CLARKSON, for the prosecution, stated the case to the jury. He said, the prosecutors in this case, Joseph Monkhouse HEAD and George HEAD, were most respectable merchants and bankers in this city. The prisoner had formerly been occasionally in their employment as a cartman, and he merely mentioned this to shew that he was well acquainted with the premises. In the dwelling-house, there is a back parlour connected by a door with the banking office, which is connected with the shop: the shop was connected by a pair of stairs with the warehouse which the prisoner entered. On the mornings of the 6th and 7th of July, they missed a quantity of copper, and they resolved to keep watch, and did watch from the 7th till the night of the 12th. On the last night, Joseph COULTHARD put four parcels of copper under the desk, on which he wrote his name. COULTHARD watched that night from a window which commanded a view of the back part of the premises; but he could not from this place observe the warehouse window. In the course of the night, COULTHARD saw a person on the roof of a house—a kind of stable— and this person proceeded over the housetops towards the window of the warehouse. COULTHARD then called Isaac SMALLWOOD and others; and they all went into the shop and seized the prisoner, who attempted to escape up a pair of back stairs.

 

Joseph COULTHARD sworn.—I am a warehouseman to Messrs. HEAD and Son: they both reside in the house. I missed copper on the 6th of July, and informed my employers of the circumstance. I watched at the staircase window on the night of the 12th of July. Between twelve and one o'clock, I observed a man sitting on the house top. He went along the house, and then on to another, and then on to another, and proceeded towards the warehouse window; but at length I lost sight of him. The warehouse had a wooden window, which fastens down with an iron bolt. I alarmed Mr. George HEAD and Isaac SMALLWOOD, and we all went down into the back parlour, through the bank, and into the shop. I saw the prisoner ascend the stair-case, leading to the warehouse, which had the wooden window. I caught hold of the prisoner, and as soon as I had seized him, Isaac SMALLWOOD came to my assistance. We secured him, and sent for J. L. MULLENDER, the constable, who took the prisoner into custody, searched him, and found four parcels of copper containing 5s. each. The parcels are in the constable's possession; they had my name written on them. The night before, I deposited the papers containing the copper under the desk in a box without a lid; there was no other copper there.

 

By the Judge.—When I apprehended the prisoner, he said, "It's me." Mr. HEAD asked him how many times he had been there before, when he answered, "four times." I shut the warehouse window that night; they are fastened by an iron bolt. I am quite sure I did it; but I don't know how the prisoner opened it. I have examined it since, and I think he could not open the bolt with his finger, though he might open it with an instrument, but I think not otherwise. I did not see any instrument. There are no doors between the warehouse and the shop. I am sure I bolted the windows, and that nobody was there afterwards. The shop was shut up at the same time as the warehouse.

 

Isaac SMALLWOOD sworn.—I am warehouseman with Messrs. HEAD; their house is in St. Cuthbert's parish. We go from the dwelling-house to the shop through a back parlour, and through the bank. COULTHARD called me, and I helped to take the prisoner. I was not in the warehouse when COULTHARD closed it; I shut up the shop. I did not examine afterwards how the warehouse window had been opened. There was not space enough for a man's hand to put back the bolt; but a finger might be got through, or it might have been opened by an instrument.

 

J. L. MULLENDER, constable, sworn.—I was sent for to take the prisoner into custody on Wednesday morning the 13th of July, about one o'clock. I went, and found the prisoner in Mr. HEAD's parlour. I desired him to stand up. I began to search him, and he took one parcel out of his pocket, and I took the other three. I went to the Clerk of the Peace's office with the copper. The parcels were sealed up, and I have had them in my possession ever since. I found no instrument on the prisoner. I saw the window next morning; the space in the window would not admit my three fingers, but they are larger than the prisoner's.

 

Mr. Wm. NANSON, town-clerk, put in the prisoner's examination, which he took in writing before the Mayor. No promise or threat whatever was made. The prisoner either signed or made his mark. He said he was guilty of robbing the shop of Messrs. HEAD. (The examination was then read.)

 

Joseph COULTHARD was recalled by the Judge to identify the parcels of copper.—This is my writing upon the wrapper. We did not know how any person had got in on the preceding nights; but we were told some one had been seen coming over the slates, and we were more particular about bolting the window, which was fastened at the bottom, but by pulling up the bolt the window would open. I think it might be opened by putting in a piece of string and catching the handle of the bolt. From the time that I saw the prisoner on the house-top till the time I took him might be about five minutes.

 

The prisoner declined questioning any of the witnesses; and when some individuals in the back part of the Court proposed speaking in behalf of his former character, he refused to have them called.

 

His Lordship summed up the evidence with great care. Breaking into the house in the night time with an intention to steal, constituted the capital part of the offence. There was no doubt of the prisoner's having entered the house; and there was none of his having stolen. If the Jury were satisfied that the prisoner removed the bolt, they would find him guilty of the felony; if not, guilty of stealing.

 

The Jury, without hesitation, found the prisoner guilty of the capital offence, and judgment of Death was recorded.

 

In passing sentence on the prisoner, there was a most imposing solemnity in the Judge's manner, which made a powerful impression upon a crowded court. His Lordship told the prisoner he was yet but young, and hoped this warning would not be lost upon him. The duty of a faithful servant was to protect his master's property, not to suffer any one to injure it. "You see," said his Lordship, "what idleness has brought you to. You, no doubt, have friends and relations to whom you might have been a blessing; but what must be their feelings now? The sums of money which you dishonestly obtained from your employers must have been wasted in extravagance and prodigality, as your necessities could never require such sums, in so short a time, as you obtained from the commission of the offence till the commission of another. You acquired a knowledge of the premises by being in the employment of the persons whom you have robbed. You have lost your character by your conduct; but let me beseech you for the future to lead a new life; and the most favourable circumstances in your case shall be taken into consideration."

 

 

[to be continued]