QSR1867/3/5/10,11,12

Depositions of George Baines, labourer of Sandy. Thomas Vincent, police constable of Sandy. John Darnell, labourer of Sandy. Amos Coleman, labourer of St Neots. In the case of Frederick Sutton, William Sutton and Joseph Butcher accused of stealing 9 chickens.

1 June 1867

From: 1867 To: 1867

George Baines: he was in the service of Mrs Mary Elizabeth Brandeth of Sandy. She kept poultry and it was his duty to feed them. At about 7pm on Wednesday 29 May he shut up the hen house and fastened it with a pin. The 9 chickens now produced were safe in the hen house at the time. He knew them by their general appearance. He had feed them from the time they had hatched. On the Thursday he went to St Neots with PC Vincent and John Darnell. He saw the chickens in a basket in the Fox & Hounds yard. PC Thomas Vincent: He was a police constable stationed at Sandy. On the morning of 30 May he receivds information that some chickens had been stolen from the henhouse of Mrs Brandeth. He went there and examined the premises. He found footmarks leading from the hen house towards Girtford where the prisoner Butcher lived. He suspected Butcher and the 2 Suttons. The same day he went to St Neots fair and found a hamper with 9 chickens in it close to a cart the prisoners had left that morning in the yard of the Fox & hounds public house. He went with Superintendent Copping and apprehended the prisoners. Sutton said he did not have a hamper in his cart. He took them all to Biggleswade and took Frederick Sutton’s boots to compare them with the footmarks in the garden of Mrs Brandeth. He found they corresponded. John Darnell: he was foreman and gardener to Mrs Mary Elizabeth Brandeth. On the morning of 30 May he heard the henhouse had been broken into and 9 chickens had been stolen. He examined the premises and found footmarks about the henhouse. He informed PC Vincent of the robbery and went with him to St Neots fair. There they found 9 chicken in a hamper in the yard of the Fox and Hounds. The chickens were worth about a shilling each. He belived the chickens found belonged to his mistress. He was present when PC Vincent compared the boots with the footmarks found in the garden. They corresponded. William Sutton had been in the habit of coming to Mrs Brandeth's house and he knew the premises. Amos Coleman: on 30 May he recollected seeing Butcher and William Sutton coming into the yard of the Fox and Hounds in a horse and cart. Frederick Sutton was walking behind the cart. He observed the basket produced marked with 'T' and heard the noise of poultry in the cart. He went away for a little time and left Butcher and William Sutton together. When he returned the hamper had been taken out of the cart and put down against the stable door. PC Vincent came and fetched it away. Statements of the accused: Frederick Sutton - no hamper went down to St Neots in the cart that morning. He did not see the hamper until Vincent showed it to him. William Sutton - he did not see the hamper until he got to St Neots that morning. Joseph Butcher - he went to Frederick Sutton on the Thursday morning and Sutton said he was going to St Neots. He rode with him and William Sutton and saw nothing in the cart but a rug.

item

Baines, William,
Coleman, Amos,
Vincent, Thomas,
Darnell, John,
Sutton, Frederick,
Sutton, William

SANDY, St Neots, stealing, gardener, foreman, ostler, St.Neots Fox & Hounds