The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

First London Jury - Before Mr. Recorder.

288.   THOMAS HOARE and   WILLIAM READ were indicted for stealing, on the 9th of December , 75 lbs. of lead, value 12s., the goods of   William Brooks , and fixed to a certain out-house in the yard of his dwelling-house .

  WILLIAM BROOKS . I am a brass-founder , and live in  New-street-square, in St. Bride's parish . On the 6th of December, I received information that some lead was stolen from the gutters of an out-house which is in my yard - I had not noticed the gutters for six weeks - the prisoners were apprehended on the 9th; I then found a quantity of lead taken from the gutters. There is a cow-house adjoining the out-house; persons could get to my premises from there - I found about 75 lbs. of lead of the same description in the cow-house, but more has been taken - I saw it applied to the gutters, but cannot say whether it matched.

  BENJAMIN CREW . I am nearly ten years old, and live in  Robinhood-court, Shoe-lane - I am in the service of Mr. Smith, a cow-keeper, whose premises join Mr. Brooks' out-house. About a quarter to eight o'clock, on the night before the prisoners were apprehended, I saw them both come in at our gate with the horse and cart; they work for Mr. Dupree, whose horse and cart stood on our premises - they went to the shed, and unharnessed the horse; I heard Hoare say to Read, "If anybody comes, whistle;" he was then up the cow-house ladder, by the shed - Read stood by the ladder, watching him; my mistress came out, and then he whistled to Hoare, who was up in the loft - my mistress went in-doors, and fastened the door; Hoare then called Read up into the loft, and when he had been up there about five minutes, he came down, and then Hoare threw down some lead; he then came down, took the lead, and covered it with some straw, a little higher up the shed than where I was (they could not see me; I was laying in the cow's manger, and could see what they did) - they fetched a pail of water for the horse, then put out the light, and went away - before they went away they stopped up in the shed a little while: I got out of the manger, and went and told my master, who went for the officers; this was after they put out the light - they were gone when the officers came. I saw Hoare again about six o'clock in the morning, in the shed, and he went up into the loft, and I saw lead thrown down, but cannot say that he threw it down - he got a great stone and beat the lead, and then covered it up in the same place: he was taken on the premises, about nine o'clock that morning - Read was taken that day at his master's.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did they leave the premises that night? A. Yes; they could have carried the lead away then, if they chose; I cannot say that they carried any away - there was a penny candle lighted at the end of the shed; there were ten cows there; I looked under two cows' bellies, through their legs, and saw them - the manger is a trough on the ground; I knelt down - part of the shed and loft belongs to Dupree; he keeps his hay there; but they were on Mr. Brooks' premises: the shed is rather longer than this Court - I saw them throw the lead down, and after they were gone, I went and showed it to master. I said nothing to my mistress when she came out. I could see them plainly, but they did not see me - nobody but their master and his men have access to the shed.

COURT. Q. Who had the care of the cart and horse? A. Hoare; Read was not often employed about the horse. Dupree's other men are employed at plumbing; he is a plumber.

  GEORGE SMITH . Crew is my servant; the prisoners were in Mr. Dupree's employ. On the evening of the 8th of December, as the wet came through the ceiling of a room in my house, I went on the roof, and I went on Brooks' premises to get to my roof; this was on the Wednesday before the Saturday on which the prisoners were

examined - I saw the lead was cut from Brooks' gutters. Crew gave me information on Friday night, between six and seven o'clock; it was after dark - I had not seen the prisoners come in - I went with two constables that evening, and found a roll of lead in the horse-stall, covered with straw; it was in Mr. Dupree's part of the shed - it was fresh cut; the edges were bright - the officers stood outside the door with me that night, and we saw the prisoners come out of the cow-house door; they were suffered to go away, as I had not found the lead then: I was in the shed next morning when Hoare came; the officer took him; I was not near enough to hear what he said - he had the care of the horse.

Cross-examined. Q. On what day was Hoare taken? A. On the Saturday. The lead was not too heavy for one man to carry away - there is no division in the shed - both the prisoners had velveteen jackets on; there did not appear to be any thing about them; Hoare came to his business as usual the next morning; we had not spoken to him at night - I do not think that he saw the constable.

  THOMAS WEAVELL . I am an officer, and live in Dean-street, Fetter-lane. On Friday evening, the 8th of December, I happened to be in Smith's dairy, which is near this cow-shed - Crew ran into the dairy, and informed me that something was going on wrong; I waited in  Robinhood-court, and saw the prisoner come out of the premises; Read came out four or five minutes before Hoare - I afterwards went into the shed, and Crew, in my presence, discovered the lead in Mr. Dupree's horse-stall - my brother-officer put his mark on it, and put it in the same place: next morning I was waiting outside, and Crew came and said that another roll was thrown down - I went into the shed and took Hoare; he asked what I took him for - my brother-officer told him he knew what it was for; I found another roll added to the lead which was there the night before - I went on Mr. Brooks' premises, and about sixty feet of lead had been taken from there - I found a knife on Hoare with marks of lead on it; only 75 lbs. were found - the largest quantity was thrown down on the Saturday morning - I took Read in Mr. Dupree's shop; he said he was innocent.

Cross-examined. Q. Both the prisoners were in Mr. Dupree's service? A. Yes; I do not know that it was their duty to have knives, but I found one on each of them.

  THOMAS GREEN . I am a constable. I was called to Smith's premises, and saw both the prisoners come out before we searched the cow-house - Crew found the lead in our presence; we marked it, and left it covered up as we had found it. Next morning, at six o'clock, I met Hoare about fifteen yards from the cow-house door - I called Weavell, we waited some time, and as Read did not come; we went in and took Hoare - he asked what it was for; I said, "You know what is under the manger, don't you?" he made no particular answer; I searched him at the Compter, and Weavell found the largest knife on Read - there was much more lead added to the quantity in the morning, and that was quite wet; it was a rainy night.

HOARE's Defence. The place is open for any one to go into - there are three doors, one of which is opened, and more is carried on there than you are aware of; there is dog-fighting and gambling of all description.

HOARE - GUILTY . Aged 33.

READ - GUILTY . Aged 26.

Transported for Seven Years .