QSR1882/2/5/5-6

Depositions of Thomas Payne, porter of Luton, John Hollies, Inspector of Police at Kings Cross, Walter Allen, grocers assistant of Luton, William Riley Greenway, silk ribbon weaver of 53 Gilbert Street, Coventry, Samuel Crisp Oliver, draper of Luton, John Ward, railway staff inspector of Luton, James Heath, clerk of Luton and John King, police officer of Luton. In the case of James Robinson and Joseph Hale accused of stealing 3 bottles of hock and 16 rolls of ribbon, property of the Great Northern Railway Company.

4 March 1882

From: 1882 To: 1882

Thomas Payne: a porter at the Great Northern railway station. On 22 February a case was delivered to the station from London which apparently contained wine. Having come back from dinner about 1 o’clock he saw James Robinson take the case and give it to the prisoner Joseph Hale under the platform. A few minutes later he heard hammering and then saw Hale give Robinson a bottle. Then Hale came out and took the case back. He came to Payne and said he had taken 3 and given 1 to Robinson. Hale said he had left 2 underneath; one for him and one for Payne. At 5 o’clock Hale asked him to fetch the bottles and he went to look for them and could not find them. He saw Robinson take 2 bottles from under the platform and put them in his pocket. Hale told Payne he was to go and fetch one that night. He sent communication to Mr Hollies the Inspector of Detectives at Kings Cross. He went with Mr Holier to Hale’s house and Hale gave him one of the bottles and a glass which was half empty. Hollies was outside when this occurred. [cross examination] he had been at Luton station for 6 weeks and had previously been a porter at kings Cross. He had been with Great Northern Railways for 14 months. Previously he had been a porter for a firm of machine sewers, and before that had worked with his father as a green grocer. He had also been a coachman at Oxford. When he had heard the hammering it had been underneath the platform of the goods station. He had seen the case brought out by Hale from under the platform. He sent to Mr Hollies who had sent him down to Luton. Hale had held a piece of iron to open the case and Payne had placed it afterward in the foreman’s office. John Hollies: Inspector of Police for the Great Northern Railway Company. He had sent Thomas Payne down to Luton inconsequence of numerous robberies. The prisoner Hale had been there several years and Robinson for some time. He gave Payne instruction for when he came to Luton. On 22 February he received communication from Payne and came to Luton. They went to 39 North Street and Payne was sent into Hale’s house. Hollies remained close to the door. He saw Payne with a bottle in his hand. Hollies then went into the front room and declared himself a police officer. Hale said he knew nothing of a robbery of wine. One of the win bottles was on the table and a second bottle was in Payne’s hand. Hale said he had bought the bottle some time ago and Hale was taken to the police station. The bottle matched those in the case. He then went to Robinson’s house at 101 North Street and took him into custody. Robinson said he did not have a bottle and was told to hand over the bottle or Hollies would search the house. Robinson took a label less bottle from a cupboard. Robinson said he had scratched off the label. Hale’s house was searched the following morning. In the chimney they found 2 black bottles (one of sherry and one of port). Under the stairs were found brass taps. Upstairs; a piece of cloth, cotton and straw plait were found and in the front room they found 16 rolls of hat ribbon. New boots were found in the boot room. The gardens were searched and 3 more bottles found. Cigars, pencils were found in another room. He also recovered a steel drill from the foreman’s office. He went to Mr Smith at Market Hill, who handed him the wine case. He found mark on the case which had been made by the drill. On opening the case he discovered 9 bottles covered in straw. Walter Allen: assistant to William Smith a grocer. He received the case of wine. It was consigned from Hills & Underwood of Eastcheap. It was to contain a dozen bottles of hock. At the time the police called the case was unopened. William Riley Greenside: a silk ribbon weaver of Coventry. Messrs Oliver & Sons were customers. On 4 February he dispatched to Luton 10 pieces of navy ribbon and 3 other pieces of the same colour but in a different width, and 3 further pieces. Having put more cotton than usual in the ribbon, it caused it to come to the 36 yard mark quicker than it should do. This was exception al but it was sent off with his fault. He received notice that the ribbon had not arrived and complained to the Great northern railway Company. The ribbons produced show the fault he had mentioned. Samuel Crisp Oliver: a draper of Park Street, Luton. On 5 February he received advice from Mr Greenway that he had sent some ribbon, but the ribbon never arrived. He complained to the railway company. John Ward: a staff inspector at the Great Northern Railway station in Luton. Prisoner Hale was on duty at the station on the evening of 4 February through to the morning of the 5 February. He would have been in charge of the parcel office and received any parcels delivered by train. Parcels were sent with way bills. No mention of the parcel from Coventry appears in the books kept at the station. John King: a police sergeant. He searched the premises of Hale on 23 February and found 3 pieces of ribbon, which Hale said he knew nothing of and 4 brass taps, which he claimed to have bought from a furniture sale at Harpenden. James Heath: a clerk in the employ of Brown & Green range manufacturers of Luton. The taps were produced especially for Messrs Brown & Green by a Birmingham firm Messrs Martineau & Smith. Messrs Brown & Green have a shop in London. They were in the habit of sending ranges from Luton to the London shop, and with each range a tap is sent. They had from time to time received complaints of the loss of taps in London. They had never sold such taps to Hale or authorised him or anyone to remove them from the range. Taps would not be sold without a range. Statement of the accused: not guilty

15 pages

item

Hale, Joseph,
Robinson, James,
Payne, Thomas,
Allen, Walter,
Oliver, Samuel Crisp,
Ward, John,
Hollies, John,
Greenway, William Riley

LUTON, Coventry, Great Northern Railway Company, stations, Kings Cross, stealing, ribbons, wine, ribbon weaver, railway porter, grocer's assistant, draper