QSR1861/4/5/8

Depositions of James Whinett and his wife Eliza Whinnett, farmer of Wingfield. Thomas Gibbs, police constable of Hockcliffe. In the case of Joseph Fleckney accused of stealing 6 live fowls.

30 September 1861

From: 1861 To: 1861

Eliza Whinnett: they kept fowls upon the premises. The last time she counted them there were about 20 hens which roosted in the hen house in the yard, which was always locked. On 28 September about 3.30am she was woke from her sleep by the hens making a noise. She went to the window looking into the yard where the hen house was. It was a moonlit night and she saw a man standing outside the hen house. There was also a man inside who was handing out the fowls to the man outside. The hen house door was wide open. She knew Joseph Fleckney well and she recognised him as the man standing outside. On receiving the hens, Fleckney was putting them in his coat pockets. She opened the window and called to the men but there was no reply. The men did not move. She woke her husband. Next morning she missed half a dozen hens. The prisoner had on a velveteen jacket and a cap and a dark pair of trousers. It had been blowing very hard at the time and did not think the men heard her when she called out from the window. She did not view the man inside the hen house and only saw his arm with a fowl in it. James Whinnett: farmer and husband of Eliza. He had known Joseph Fleckney for 8 to 10 years. On 28 September, about 3.30am, he was woken by his wife who said there were men in the henhouse. He went to the window. The moon was bright. He saw a man standing at the door of the henhouse about 12 yards from the window. He believed the man to be Joseph Fleckney. He called out to them. He saw another man come out of the hen house and both men ran off. He did not recognize the other man. He went out and set off in the direction of the prisoner’s house about a mile away. He met the prisoner about 100 yards from his house. He asked the prisoner, who was dressed in the same way as he had seen him on his premises, where he was going. The prisoner said he was going to call a boy up to go machining. The same morning he counted his fowls and missed half a dozen. They had the value of 12 shillings. PC Thomas Gibbs: he took the prisoner into custody. The prisoner said he was sure he had not had them and had not known any were lost until he was at Toddington. He searched the prisoner’s house and didn’t find any hens. On the 30 September he searched the prisoner and found his left hand coat pocket was stained with blood. The prisoner said the blood was from a rabbit and when he had met the prosecutor he was going to shoot a rabbit. He said nothing about machinery. Statement of the accused: “It was not me I don’t know nothing about it”.

item

Fleckney, Joseph,
Whinnett, James,
Whinnett, Eliza,
Gibbs, Thomas

Wingfield, Hockcliffe, stealing, fowls, farmer