BIRMINGHAM DAILY POST BOATMAN ARTICLES 1857 to 1880 1 December 10 1857 Birmingham Police Court ALLEGED HIGHWAY ROBBERY John Lakin, a boatman, living at Curdworth, was placed at the bar, charged with assaulting John Beacham, and robbing him on the highway. Between twelve and one o'clock on the night of the 3rd instant, Beacham met the prisoner, who was an acquaintance of his, in Stafford Street, and was asked by him to stand a drop of beer. Intimating his willingness to do so, they went on towards Aston Street, and on arriving at the corner of the street, Lakin put his hand in Beacham's pocket. Beacham remonstrated with him for doing this, and the fellow threatened to strike him if he asserted again that his hand was in his pocket. The prosecutor declared that he had put his hand into his pocket, whereupon the prisoner knocked him down with such force that he became insensible. On recovering, he found 9s missing from his pocket, and Lakin gone. Sergeant Scull apprehended the prisoner from his description, on Monday last, and in reply to the charge made against him, he said he knew nothing about it. In defence he admitted knocking the prosecutor down, but denied touching his money. The Bench committed him for trial. 2 January 7 1858 Wednesbury CUTTING AND WOUNDING Joseph Green and John Wilson, two boatmen, were charged at the Petty Sessions with stabbing another boatman, named Isaac Bird. Bird stated that he met the two men in the street at Tipton on the night of the 20th, and they offered him rum out of a bottle. As they were fresh, he advised them to go home. Afterwards, a little before twelve, having occasion to go to his boat, he came up to the prisoners at the door of the Beehive Inn, on the canal side. The people of the inn refused to admit them, on which the prisoner Green turned upon him, and stabbing him in the neck with a knife, ran off. Complainant was stunned a little, but recovering, followed Green and gave him into custody. Another boatman deposed to coming up after the affray, and to seeing Green wipe the knife on his trousers, and say, pointing to the complainant, “I gave that b-- so much (showing how much) of this knife”. Parish Constable Heath spoke to the prisoner Green having been given into his custody by Bird on the Sunday morning after the stabbing. The knife produced (a large clasp one) was found by witness in the possession of the other prisoner. Mr Underhill, surgeon, Tipton, said the wound received by the complainant was about two inches long, and had evidently been inflicted with a blunt instrument. Had it not been stopped by coming in contact with the upper part of the windpipe, which is a resisting substance, the wound would have been a very deep one. The prisoners were committed to the Assizes, 3 January 7 1858 Worcester Sessions PETTY THEFT AT DUDLEY Robert Commander, boatman, was charged with stealing a chain from William Henry Dawes of Dudley on the 27th December. A workman at Withymore Foundry deposed to seeing the prisoner take the chain from a windlass used in moving castings, and called to him, whereupon he nimbly “picked up his stick and out”, but was pursued by the workman, and captured. The defence was a denial in toto, and there being no corroborative evidence, the prisoner was acquitted. THE ATTEMPTED BURGLARY AT MOSELEY WAKE GREEN James Pettifer, boatman and Thomas Smith, boatman, stood charged with an attempt at burglary, at the house of the Misses Anderton, at Moseley Wake Green, on the 17th of December. Mr Chance prosecuted; the prisoners were undefended. Police Constable Hawkes of the Worcestershire force, deposed: That about half past one o'clock on the night named, he was on duty in the neighbourhood of the Misses Anderton's house, and noticed that the garden gate had been wrenched open. He (witness) listened, and heard a voice say, “Come in”. The man then retired a few yards, but the officer turned his light upon him, and discovered that he was the prisoner Smith. Witness then endeavoured to capture him, but he resisted, and other footsteps approached from behind. Witness was immediately after struck on the head. He returned this blow, but immediately received another, which staggered him. Two men then came up the garden, and escaped by climbing a shed and scaling a wall. Shortly afterwards, meeting Police Constable Lane, he told him what had occurred, and the prisoners were arrested about four o'clock the same morning. The premises were then examined, and Hawkes found a crowbar on the roof of the shed over which the prisoner Smith and the other man climbed. Witness believed the other man was Pettifer. The garden gate had been broken, and the hasp forced off by some such instrument; and the marks on the door also exactly corresponded with the crowbar. There were likewise other marks on the drawing room window, and also on the front door, which had been pierced with a centre bit. The door was, however, lined with iron, and the attempt there had failed. There were marks of footsteps of two persons in the garden, and several of them exactly corresponded with the shoes of the two prisoners. The impressions were perfect, the soil being sandy. Police Constable Lane deposed to meeting the prisoners on the Birmingham and Worcester Road, after he had received information of the attempt at burglary from the preceding witness. It was about an hour afterwards that he saw them; and in reply to a question by Lane, they said they were returning from Worcester to Birmingham. The road in which the prisoners were apprehended was not the Worcester road, and in excuse the prisoners said that being strangers they might have mistaken the road. The place where the prisoners were taken is about half a mile from the Misses Anderton's, and the prisoners could easily get there by crossing some fields. They did not go the direct road, or the witness would have met them earlier. Superintendent Humphries deposed to receiving the prisoners into custody, and comparing their shoes with the footmarks in the garden. They exactly corresponded. In a field into which the two prisoners dropped from the wall, there were distinctly perceptible the footmarks of five persons, and all pointed in the same direction. In this field the impressions of the prisoners' shoes were clearly traceable. These witnesses were closely questioned by the Right Hon Chairman, in order to clear up any doubt as to the identity of the footmarks. Pettifer made no defence; but Smith said that he and Pettifer had been to Worcester to “work a boat”, and were walking back to Birmingham, when they were stopped by the policeman. They had not been near the prosecutrix's house, and being strangers, it was a matter of no surprise that they had turned a little out of the direct road. - The learned chairman summed up in a most comprehensive manner, and pointed out to the jury the necessity that they should be quite satisfied as to the evidence of the identity of the footmarks. - A verdict of “Guilty” was returned; and in the summing up, the Chairman said that there was no doubt that the prisoners formed part of a gang who had left Birmingham for the purpose of committing a gross outrage. That was prevented by the vigilance and good conduct of the police, who deserved the greatest amount of credit for the manner in which they had performed their duty. The Court thought it a good policy always to reward such meritorious services, and he would therefore direct that a reward of £5 should be presented to Police Constable Hawkes, and £2 to Police Constable Lane; while the conduct of Superintendent Humphries could not be passed over without an expression of approbation. The prisoners were then sentenced to two years hard labour each. 4 January 15 1858 Brierley Hill SINGULAR CHARGE OF STEALING A HORSE On Thursday, at Brierley Hill, before John Leigh Esq., a boatman, named John Featherston, was charged with stealing a horse, and with embezzling the sum of £1 11s, the property of Mr Firmstone, ironmaster, by whom he had been employed. Mr Homfray appeared to support the charge, and Mr Burbury for the defendant. From the evidence of the prosecutor's managing clerk, Mr James McEwan, it would appear that, on the 30th of November last, the prisoner was entrusted with a chestnut coloured pony, and with £2 6s 10d, to proceed on a voyage with a boat load of pig iron to Messrs Barrows and Hall's ironworks of Tipton. Thence he had instructions to proceed with his boat, etc, to Frognall, and bring back a load of ironstone. He ought to have returned in ten days from the date of starting, but he never returned. It was ascertained that at Bloomfield, Tipton, the prisoner disposed of the prosecutor's pony, and he was subsequently taken into custody. It was calculated that by going to Bloomfield, where he duly delivered the iron, he earned the sum of 15s, and this being deducted from £2 6s, which was advanced to him to pay the expenses of the journey, left £1 11s, which never having accounted for, he was charged with embezzling. Mr Burbury denied the charge of felony altogether, and said he would satisfy the Bench that the man had been taken very improperly into custody. His instructions were, that the man came into possession of the pony by giving two donkeys and £5; that the £5 was advanced by Mr Firmstone, and that in proof of this his client had paid £1 to Mr Firmstone in four instalments, in reduction of the debt.