661. ROBERT JONES proceedingsdefend was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 27th day of July , one silver watch, value 20 s. the property of Anthony Pearce Morris proceedingsvictim .

(The witnesses examined apart.)

ANTHONY PEARCE MORRIS < no role > sworn.

I only prove the property.

ELIZABETH MORRIS < no role > sworn.

I am the wife of the prosecutor; the prisoner came into my shop the 17th of July, about six in the evening, and asked for a pair of buckles at three shillings and sixpence; I went to the other side of the counter to get the buckles, and he came from the side where he stood where the watches, were with his hand in his breeches pocket; he took the buckles out of my hand, and put three shillings and six-pence into my other hand, and went out directly; I immediately suspected him; I went on the other side of the counter and missed a silver watch; I directly ran after him and got sight of him; I saw him run down Craven-street about three doors from our shop; I called out stop thief; he was stopped and brought back; I did not see him stopped; the watch was not found upon him; it was brought to me by John Smith < no role > ; he has got the watch; it was marked R. J. he said he had not taken it; I am sure the prisoner was the same man that was in the shop.

Mr. Sheridan, Prisoner's Counsel. Was not this day that the prisoner came to your house a remarkable day for a rowing match? - Yes.

Is not Craven-street from your house a direct way to Whitehall stairs? - Yes.

Had not you two customers in your shop? - Yes.

Did you know them? - No.

Might not they have committed a little depreciation as well as the boy ? - They might; it was possible.

Do you buy for your husband? - No.

You are not a manufacturer of watches? - No.

You cannot swear positively to that watch? - Yes, because it had R. J. upon it.

Court. When had you seen the watch before? - About half an hour.

ELEANOR SMITH < no role > sworn.

I have the watch; I picked it up and gave it my husband; I picked it up in my master's area, No. 29, Craven-street, in the Strand, I found it in four different parts, it was on the 17th of July, about a quarter after six; I was sitting in my master's kitchen, and heard the cry of stop thief; I looked up and saw the watch drop down the area out of a person's hand, but I could not see who threw it down; my husband was sitting with me at the table, and I took the watch and gave it to him; he went out immediately to see who it was that threw it down; the boy was just then stopped; they took him up the street; the prisoner was the boy I saw taken; my husband brought the watch back again, and in the evening Mr. Morris called upon me in my husband's absence, and he took it home with him.

Did you observe the watch that was brought back again? - Yes, it was the same my husband brought in first, and Mr. Morris took it away, and carried it to the Justice's; I have had it ever since; I took notice of it before I gave it to Mr. Morris that evening; I am sure it is the same watch I first picked up.

(Produced and deposed to.)

Jury. Have you the name and number of the watch in your book? - No, Sir, I took it in change; I do not deal in watches; I have but two.

Mr. Sheridan. Who do you live with? - I live with Mr. Brown a wine merchant; I know the watch again; it was scratched E. F. or E. J. I cannot tell which.

Are you sure it was not R. J. - Yes.

Did you take particular notice of the scratch? - Yes.

Are you correct in your recollection what the scratch was? - It was E. I. or E. F. I cannot tell which, but I am sure this is the watch; I observed bruises in the watch towards the hand.

Court. Should you have known the watch if it had not been for the letters that was scratched upon it? - I should.

Then without these letters you would have known the watch again? - Yes.

Are you at all sure what the letters scratched on the inside were? - I am not sure any more than I think it is E. F. or E. I.

Court to Mrs. Morris. What was the mark of the watch that was lost? - I. R. to the best of my remembrance.

I. R. or R. I. - I. R.; I never looked into the watch before; I did not know it by the mark.

By what did you know it? - We had but one silver watch in the shop, that was an old watch that had been worn; I did not know the maker's name.

To Mr. Morris. How long have you had the watch that was lost? - About two months; I had not entered the marks in any book; I have looked at the mark on the inside of the case, R. I. and that is all that I know it by; it was the name of the person I changed it with; it was scratched on the inside of the case.

Look at the watch now, and see if it is the same watch? - Yes, it is the same; I went to No. 29, in Craven-street the evening of that day, and received the watch from Mrs. Smith, and carried it the next day to the Justice's; I kept it separate at that time; I am sure that is the watch; I gave it her back again; it was the same Mrs. Smith gave me that evening.

Mr. Sheridan. When did you see this watch previous to its being lost? - I saw it in the case before I went out; I went out about three.

Your shop is pretty well frequented? - There were several customers came in, in the course of three hours; I changed it with Richard Johnson < no role > a school-master.

(The watch shewn to the Jury.)

WILLIAM SUTTON < no role > sworn.

I was coming along, and heard the cry of stop thief; I looked up Craven-street, and saw the prisoner running at a considerable distance, and several people were running, but I saw nobody speak or touch him; the others were running in pursuit of him at a considerable distance; I stopt the prisoner.

Who first came up? - Nobody in particular; nobody touched him till I delivered him to Mr. Morris's shop; the alarm was given from that shop; when I stopped him, he said, he had done nothing; he did not object to go back; I saw him throw down nothing.

JOHN WAITE < no role > sworn.

On the 17th of July in the afternoon I was looking out of my master's window in Craven-street, and I saw the prisoner coming down the street; he was in the street before I saw him; he was walking pretty fast; I heard the cry of stop thief, and when he was opposite me he began to run a little faster; and I saw him put his hand in his pocket and take something out and throw it through the iron bars of the area of Mr. Brown; I saw him stopped by Mr. Sutton; I am sure the man that was stopped as the same man that threw something down the area; he was never out of my sight.

Court to Eleanor Smith < no role > . The watch that you received back from the prosecutor I think you say you have had in your custody ever since? - Yes, I am sure that is the same watch whatever is the mark of it.

Are you sure that that watch you gave to Morris, was the same you picked up in the area? - Yes, I am quite sure of that.

PRISONER's DEFENCE.

I was going down the Strand to see the sailing match; I went into the prosecutor's shop and bought a pair of buckles; and paid for them; two other women were in the shop; I saw them take nothing; I am sure I took nothing myself; I have some friends, but I do not think they are here.

GUILTY .

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr RECORDER.

[Transportation. See summary.]