QSR1831/4/5/11

Depositions of Joseph Deacon of Hemel Hempstead and Thomas Harrison of Olney. In the case of William Read, accused of stealing a male ass.

20 September 1831

From: 1831 To: 1831

Joseph Deacon: On the 10th August he resided at Market Street. In the afternoon, the prisoner came to him and asked if he had a donkey for sale. He answered no and the prisoner left. He had 3 donkeys which were tied up in the lane in Houghton Regis. The following day one of the donkeys was missing. The donkey had a scar on his side near the shoulder and a sore on his rump. He suspected that the prisoner had stolen the donkey and he made enquiries. He found out that the prisoner did have possession of his donkey and on the morning after the Newport races he went to Newport to confront the prisoner, only to find that the prisoner had sold the donkey and had left. He returned home he was informed that his donkey was at Olney. Yesterday morning, accompanied by the police constable of Heath and Reach, he started for Olney. At the door of a public house in Sherrington, between Newport and Olney, he found his donkey in the possession of John Freeman who said that he had hired it off Thomas Robinson of Olney. He then saw Thomas Robinson who told him that he had bought the donkey from Thomas Harrison. Thomas Harrison: On the day of the Newport Races he was going to Newport for a load of coals. At Mr. Neales Gate at Newport he saw the prisoner coming out of the gate with a donkey loaded with 3 bags of sand. The prisoner asked him to buy his donkey and he did so for 11 shillings and a quart of ale. He afterwards sold the donkey to Thomas Robinson for 15 shillings. The donkey had a scar near the shoulder and a sore on his rump. Yesterday afternoon he saw the donkey at Sherrington having been sent for by Joseph Deacon who claimed the donkey was his own. William Read: About a fortnight ago he sold the donkey he had bought off some gypsies.

item

Read, William,
Deacon, Joseph,
Harrison, Thomas,
Freeman, John,
Robinson, Thomas

Hemel Hempstead, Olney, Market Street, stealing, donkeys