Scope and Content
They are charged that on 16th February 1921 they did feloniously break & enter the dwelling house of Christopher Frederick Webb, 57 Ashburnham Road Luton & did steal 5 clocks, a lady's watch, a gents silver watch, a pair of binoculars, a jewel case & a case of mathematical tools together of the value of £50.00 the property of the said Christopher Frederick Webb, contrary to the forn of the statute in sucj case made & provides.
The deponent Ethel Marion Webb on her oath saith :-I am the wife of Christopher Frederick Webb & I reside at 57 Ashburnham Road Luton. The house is semi- detached & has a piece of waste land at the side. The entrance from the street leads to the front door, also to the side & back doors.There is also a larder window close to the side door. A pane of glass close to the catch in this window has been broken for some time. On Wednesday 16th February 1921 I left home about 3:35pm. I securely locked the doors & the windows were fastened, At that time, amongst other things in my bedroom were a jewel case, a mahogany clock & a pair of opera glasses & my gold watch. The Marble clock produced was then in a spare bedroom. The door of the spare bedroom was not locked, The brass clock with wooden base , the silver watch & the case of mathematical instruments produced were then in the Dining Room.The black clock produced was then on a shelf in the hall & the brass clock , produced , on a shelf in the kitchen. I returned home, in company with my husband about 10pm the same night when I discovered that the house had been entered & several clocks stolen. The matter was reported to the Police. On Monday 25th February 1921 I wascalled to the Police Station where I was shown the clocks, opera glass, jewel case, mechanical instruments & watches, produced, which I identified as the property of myhusband. The value of the stolen articles is £50.00 No one had any right to take them away from my house.
Signed Ethel Marion Webb
The deponent Arthur Bacon on his oath saith :- I am a Detective Sergeant in the Luton Borough Police Force. On 17th February 1921, I received a report of this robbery. I went to the house & found that an atempt had been made to force the side door with a blunt instrument. on 24th February 1921 I had the prisoner Roe in custody on another charge, I cautioned him & said I am making inquires about a house in Ashburham Road Luton, which has been entered & someclocks stolen. In consequence of what he said, I placed the prisoner Roe , Ernest Bailey & Horace Smart together, cautioned them & said I am making inquires about a house that has been entered in Ashburnham Road . In consequence of what they said to me I went to Roe's house where I recovered the lady's gold watch, the mahogany clock, the silent clock & the case of mathematical tools produced. I found the silver watch, produced, in Roes possession, The bimoculars & the silentclock produced, I received from the home of the prisoner Smart. The other silent clock produced, I found under a slate on the roof at Ernest Bailey's house. I also recovered the jewel case produced, from Ernest Bailey's home. The marble clock, produced, was found in a field. I again placed the prisoners together, showed them the articles, produced, cautioned them m& said I have recoveredthe 2 clocks & the gold watch, produced, from your home, Roe, & the silver watch I found in your possession, the binoculars & silent clock, produced from your home, Smart & the clock & jewel case, produced, from your home Bailey.Roe replied "well I wish to say that about half past eight on the 16th February we were strolling up Ashburnham Road, all 3 of us, when we noticed that there was no light in the house. On the spur of the moment we decided to enter. I, Roe & Smart fried to force the door with a piece of metal & failed toopem it. Bailey was waiting outside forus in Ashburnham Road. After a time I saw that the window was already broken, so I put my hand through & opened the catch. Smart entered the house & I follwed, We opened the coal hole doorfrom the inside & entered the house.We then went from room to room looking for anything of value & we stole 5 clocks, 2 watches, a pair of binoculars, a jewel case & a case of mathematical tools. We came out & took the stuff to the top of the gardenWe then went across the fields & finding that the large clock was too heavy we hid it in the hedge. The remainider of the stuff we took back & on arriving in Ashburnham Road we found Baileymissing. We then wet to his house where we saw him & left the stuff with him, for further discussion. The rnext day we went to Bailey's house & saw him & decided to share the stuff. I had 2 clocks & 2 watches" Bailey replied "when they bought them to me I placed them in the pigeon loft & next morning I had a clock which I placed in the roofunder a slate" Smart replied "I ad my clock at dinner time the same day& the binoculars a day or two later" Roe replied " tha agreement was that all surplus stuff I should sell & the proceeds to share between us, Bailey then said "I knew where they were going but I did not wait for them" Smart then said " that's right " I then cautioned the prisoners & charged then with being concerned together sometime between 3:35pm & 10pm on Wednesday 16th February 1921 in breaking & entering the house at 57 Ashburnham Road Luton & stealing 5 clocks, a lady's watcg, a gents silver watch, a pair of binoculars, a jewel case& a case of mathematical tools, total value £50.00 the propertyof Christopher Frederick Webb. They made no reply.
signed Arthur Brown