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Leader (1850-1860), 28th July 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 713, Burglary and Attempted Murder at Pimlico...

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      4 The Police Inquiry. Jftlb Commission O...

      4 THE POLICE INQUIRY . JftlB Commission of Inquiry into the conduct of the police has received a large mass of additional evidence , which confirms the previous accounts of the ^ anton brutality of the constables ( often to people who Jid committed no offence whatever ) , and the savage excitement of Mr . Inspector , or Superintendent , Hughes , tAd seemed , said a witness , pale with passion . One person was struck with such violence that the blow was heard ten yards off . In Park-street , the police made a sodden charge at the people , and there was a cry of " Butt for your lives ! " In the park , the people were sometimes met by different bodies of police in opposite directions , and were driven backwards and forwards . " I should say , " remarked a witness , " the police had been drinking something stronger than water . " A degree of difficulty in taking the constables' numbers arose from the scroll-work on the men ' s collars ; and one policeman told A young man that if he attempted to take his number , he would arrest him for intimidating the police in the discharge of their duty . Mr . Charles Bradlaugh , however , succeeded in intimidating some of the con-Stables . He seized hold of a policeman ' s truncheon , and threatened to knock him down ; and he . afterwards did the same thing with two others . The people wore so pleased with this act of courage , that they carried him about , cheering . But the brutality of the officers was , continued even in the police cells . Some of th « prisoners complained that they had not had any food for twenty-four hours ; and they were told that the rule is that none is given , without payment , for forty-eight hours . If this be the case , it is a most disgraceful rule .

      Jhe case against the police having been concluded , evidence in their favour was received , and on Tuesday Sir Richard Maync was examined . He produced some of the half-hourly returns sent to him from Mr . Hughes on the 1 st of July , and from these it would seem that the disturbance was of the slightest kind , almost entirely confined to the people muking a noise . At half-post four , Sir Richard ordered the police to " act vigorously . " Of Mr . Hughes the witness spoke very highly , and mentioned that he had been five-and-twenty years in the force ; but admitted that lie had once been fined 40 s . for entering a house and arresting a person without a warrant , and had been complained against for preventing the people entering a certain door in Chelsea Hospital during the lying in state of the Duke of Wellington .

      Sir Richard Mayne , on Wednesday , denied the assertion that , on account of the war , there have lately been many fresh men ; yet it appeared that 822 were taken on'in 1854 . With respect to the opinion which has been lately expressed , to the effect that there are a great many Irishmen in the force , Sir Richard stated the proportion to have been as follows at the close of last year : — 4 , 416 English , 1-15 Scotch , and 370 Irish . — A * fter Sir Richard had concluded his evidence , several witnesses were called , who deposed to the forbearance of the police and the rough character of the mob ; but it was admitted that the truncheons were used .

      Our Civilisation. Assize Casks. Bubglary...

      OUR CIVILISATION . ASSIZE CASKS . BUBGLARY . —William Jessop , Benjamin Jcssop , and James Ransomc , were indicted at Chelmsford for a burglary in the house of Thomas Kumball , a farmer . Mr . Bamball , who is eighty-four years of age , was awakened between two and three o ' clock on the morning of the 28 th of April by his bedroom window bring broken in , and by the entrance of four men . He got out of bed , took a cutlass , and went towards the men ; but the weapon was wrested from him , ft ml he was knocked down and cut over the face , though not very seriously . His daughter came to his assistance , hut was also

      knocked down , and cut about the bead and hand . Miss Bamball ' s niece likewise entered the room , and was asked by her aunt for a light . Upon saying she could not find a lucifer , William . lesson , according to her account , said , " Hero ' s a lucifer , " tuul gave her one—an act on the improbability of which the counsel for the defence did not fail to comment . ISIr . Kumball , being apprehensive for hi » life , consented to show the burglars Where his money was to bo found ; and they took a b * g of sovereigns , and a pocket-book containing a 10 / .

      "O te , All the prisoners wore identified ; but Mish Rumball had roiiio doubt with respect to lintiDoini ! the first time hIio saw him after the robbery . On the second occasion , she stated that » he felt sure ho was one of the thicvcH . Mr . Ju . stieo Wightman , however . W there was not sufficient evidence to convict him , Mid he was therefore acquitted . The two Jessopa were found Guilty , and sentenced to fifteen yearn' transportation . Mr . Itumlmll mentioned that thin was the third tune his houso had been broken into and robbed within " » e last eighteen months .

      ^ Two other cattea of burglary wore th «« n investigated " fore the same Jury , and the priNonera were convicted . oweral burglaries have been lately com mi Hod in K . ssex y « gang supposed to conniMt partly of country and PWwy of London thieves ; but the confederation baa ° ««» broken up by the exertions of the Essex police . <* v H 81 UAUauTKR * —Goorgo Sykos was found guilty at **• York Assizes of the manslaughter of Joseph ( Jrooke .

      There had teen a rustic feast at an inn at Owleston ; several of the party left the house in a state of intoxication ; a quarrel ensued , and Crooks was killed by blows from a cart-prop dealt either by Sykes , or with his concurrence ^ Three other men had already been tried and convicted of participation in the affair ; and Sykes was now sentenced to six years' penal servitude . —A case of manslaughter was also tried on the Oxford Circuit .

      Alfred Hopkins had been to Worcester races with his sweetheart ; a feeling of jealousy and anger was produced by Hopkins desiring to dance with another young woman ; the girl to whom he was engaged ran down to the banks of the river , followed by the accused , and both fell in . The girl was drowned ; but some doubt was suggested as to whether she had not thrown herself in . The jury , however / found the prisoner guilty , and he was sentenced to fifteen months' imprisonment and hard labour . —On the same day , and at the same court ,

      a case of attempted murder arising out of jealousy was tried . Thomas Hiden had been cast off by his sweetheart ; meeting her walking with another lover , he pulled out a revolver , and fired at her and at the man j but both times the weapon merely flashed in the pan , and he was taken into custody . A plea of insanity was set up ; but the prisoner was found guilty , and sentence of death was recorded . — Several other cases of manslaughter , chiefly caused by drunkenness , have been tried in various parts of the-country .

      Goi-o Pins a Necessary of Life . —A Cambridge tradesman brought an action against a youth who had recently been a pensioner of Caius College , to recover a bill for 6 / . 7 s ., two of the items of which were two gold breast-pins . Mr . Baron Park directed the jury that the defendant , being an infant , could only be made liable for necessaries , but that articles the want of which would make him lose caste in society might be esteemed as such . Th « judge did not think the gold pins could be so regarded ; but the jury did , and therefore to that extent returned a verdict for the tradesman . Anthony Huxt . ujle was tried at Exeter for

      illtreating Edward Lancy , a lunatic . The facts ( which were related in the Leader about two months ago ) disclosed the most shocking and cruel neglect ; yet tlie Judge said he did not think the evidence showed wilful disregard of the lunatic , and Unstable was in consequence acquitted . This may be law ; but it is neither justice , humanitv , nor sense .

      Burglary And Attempted Murder At Pimlico...

      Burglary and Attempted Murder at Pimlico . — Mr . Kitson , living in Warwick-street , Pimlico , havinggone out of town for a few days , left his house in charge of his servant girl and her grandfather . In the course of the night of Sunday week , the premises were entered by burglars ; a large amount of property was carried off , and the girl was shockingly injured on the head and body . There is very little chance of her recovery . Isaac Pinnock has been tried and found guilty of the murder of Mr . Benjamin Cheney . The circumstances were detailed in the Leader of July 14 th . Pinnock has since , acccording to the Northampton Herald , made a full confession of his guilt . The murder , it seems , was premeditated for some days , and was prompted bv revenge .

      Ml'KDElt OF A POLICESIAN AT SHEFFIELD . A desperate attack , for the purpose of robbery , was recently made on an Irishman of the name of Shannon , a clothes dealer in Westbar Green , Sheffield , a part of the town infested by disreputable Irish . Two of the thieves subsequently made off ; and three policemen who came up took the third into custody . It was night ; and the constable , * , fearing a rescue , sent for further assistance , and for a cab . Upon the arrival of the vehicle and the additional policemen , the thief , handcuffed and ironed , was brought out ; but a large mob had assembled , a fight ensued ( rendered more alarming by the absence of any gaslight ) , large stones were thrown , and two of the policemen were dreadfully injured , one dying the next night . The prisoner was ultimately rescued , but was recaptured on the following day .

      Wine MriiDKit . —On Sunday last , a woman , -who with her husband had taken lodgings in the house the night before , was found with her throat cut in a tavern in Kochdale . The husband left the house early on the morning in question , and has not since been heard of . MriiDKit j » y Boys . —John Fitzpotrick and Alfred Brven , each about ten years of age , have been committed for trial at Liverpool for the murder of James Fleeson , a lad of seven . A dispute having arisen , Fitzjmtrick struck the child on the head with a brick , and , while he was insensible , threw liim , with the assistance of Breen , into the Leedn and Liverpool canal , where lie soon sank . The . transaction was witnessed by several boys ; but every obstacle was placed in the way of the police finding out the offenders .

      Assaulting a •* Knobstick . ' —At >\ orship-strcet , a journeyman hearth-rug maker named Charles Judge , wan charged with assaulting John Hurlock , formerly his fi'llowiliibourer . Thu prisoner , with others , had left their place * in consequence of their employer making a reduction in the wages of Ins men , and they had since endeavoured to form an association to resist such reductions . Hurlock refused to join this society , but remained in his old situation , in consequonco of which ho incurred the bad fettling of the doserters . Meeting the prisoner and

      . , aliases , was found Guilty at the Middlesex Sessions of obtaining , by false pretences , money and goods from Mr . Sutton , a Iinendraper , ao , d from another person . The . particulars of this case have already appeared in the Leader . The prisoner , who claims to be related to several high families , has victimised at least twenty tradesmen in a similar way . A Spanish Refugee . —Pedro Vacheo , described as a Carlist , who had been expelled first from Spain , and afterwards from France on account of belonging to a secret society supposed to have been connected -with , the late attempted assassination , was on " Wednesday charged at Lambeth with stealing a bottle of catsup . The prisoner could not speak a word of English ; but it would seem that he committed the offence from starvation . He

      Mart Louisa . Sawyer StVincentwith two two of his friends , he gave them an invitation to dinner , ¦ with a view to patching up past differences ; this they accepted . After a time , Judge got very riotous and disorderly , struck Hurlock several violent blows on the head with one of the fire-irons , and fractured his skull . He now lies in the London Hospital in a precarious condition . The prisoner was remanded for a week . MARY LOUISA Slmvun Cm VT » omn < -m- ?* Tl + nrn

      was discharged , and , after leaving the court , gladly acceded to a suggestion that he should enlist in the Foreign Legion .

      > Naval And Military News. The Military ...

      > NAVAL AND MILITARY NEWS . The Military College at Saxdhubst . —The report of the Select Committee on the Sandhurst Military-College has been published , and is very favourable with respect to the general management of that institution . The committee agree with most of the existing arrangements : but they incline to think that the present system of steps is capable of improvement , that the study of military history would be beneficial , and that the examinations might be conducted with greater advantage by parties unconnected with the college . They suggest that the commissioners should carefully consider the course of study , and make such alterations as may be deemed requisite . The public will learn with , satisfaction that the degrading practice of "fagging" is not tolerated at Sandhurst .

      The Guards and the Dublin Police . —The attempt to enlist men from the Dublin police for the Guards has been a complete failure . The men were paraded in the court-yard of the Castle on Friday week , and were addressed by Colonel Browne , who , in the course of a very animated speech , said it -would make him ten years younger if the standard of England were planted on the walls of Sebastopol by a Dublin policeman . The men , however , remained unmoved by this " blarney ; " and onlv four ultimately volunteered . They consider it an insult to be asked now that men are scarce , when they have been passed over on many previous occasions .

      Shot-Heating Furnaces . —On Saturday an experis mental trial , under the inspection of Lieutenant-Colonel Eardley Wilnaot and Lieutenant-Colonel F . A . Yorke , was made , in the Arsenal at Woolwich , of two portable shot-heating furnaces of nearly equal dimensions . One of them is" an improvement on Captain Adderson's invention , as it contains an extra rack , or second tier , and double fire ; so that fifteen 32 and eighteen 24-pounders were on at the same time . The fire was laid at three o ' clock precisely , and well kept up for twenty minutes , after which the furnace was filled . Thirty minutes were allowed to heat the shot . The first was then withdrawn , and thrown on a heap of deal shavings , which instantly ignited ; and ten minutes later a second was extracted red-hot , and laid on a log

      of wood , -which burnt to a cinder . A constant supply can then be kept up with no more than one minute ' s intermission . The second is the production of Lieutenant Beaumont , of the Royal Engineers . Thia furnace combines simplicity of arrangement with facility of working . The racks , or tiers , are inclined , instead of horizontal , and in opposite directions . At the end of the upper tier furthest from the door are two openings , to allow the shot when sufficiently heuted to drop to the lower tier and roll to the exit-traps . Each shot has thus to pass twice over the fire below , and that which has been longest in the furnace must always bo the first taken out . By simply turning the trap-handlo one shot falls on the bearer put ready to receive it , and a place is left on the upper tier for another told shot .

      A Chkck on Enlistment . — " A Looker-on writes to the * 7 Y »( cjr . •— "In rural districts , such as West Somerset ( whence I write ) , the great proportion of strong , active , labouring young men are members of clubs , and in most of the rules by which these aro governed is ono which prohibits members entering the Queen ' s servico under penalty of forfeiting all claim to the money they have paid to the funds . Could not an act be passed rendering such prohibition illegal , or void ? There aro numbers of young men who would nt onco join the army if it wer « not for this restriction causing tlicin tlio loss oi several pounds . "

      The Fkkncii Loan. Aste-Yljr R^Grsrs

      THE FKKNCII LOAN . asTE-yLJr r ^ grsrs

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 28, 1855, page 713, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_28071855/page/5/