Pillar of society a thief (1862)

Post date: Mar 27, 2013 5:28:10 PM

Report from Maidstone Telegraph of 25th October 1862 on West Kent Quarter Sessions

The Wateringbury Robbery.

—Robert Jude, whose left arm was bandaged up, surrendered to his bail, charged with having stolen 3s. 6d., and various articles of grocery, together of the value of 2s. 8d., the property of Edward Eversfield, at Wateringbury, on the 6th August. He pleaded guilty, and was then placed in the dock.

Mr. Russell said he had been instructed to appear on behalf of the prisoner, and to bring the facts of the case before the court. The man who now stood convicted on his own confession of felony, was the son of a person who for something like 50 years carried on the business of a grocer at Wateringbury, and was highly respected. To that business the prisoner succeeded, and it was under his management till about six years ago, when he disposed of it to the prosecutor in this case, Mr. Eversfield. The prisoner had held, and he believed still did hold, the responsible office of postmaster, collector of Queen's taxes, and of the poor rate, paid overseer of the parish, and paid surveyor of the highways. It seemed that a portion of Mr. Eversfield's premises was used for the purposes of the post-office, and the prisoner, in his capacity of postmaster, consequently had access to it whenever he required. It bad been his practice to take things from the shop, put them down on a slate, and account for them to Mr. Eversfield. On the occasion, however, to which this prosecution referred, he was seen to put his hand into the till, and take 3s. 6d. worth of coppers, besides several small articles of the most trivial value —such as a pound of loaf sugar, some chicory, some blue, nutmeg, &c. For a man who had all his life held a responsible position in society, who filled several important offices, through whose hands probably thousands of pounds of public money had passed, whose integrity had never been impugned—for such a man to commit a petty theft of this kind, was one of the most extraordinary things of which he had ever heard. It was impossible to say what could have tempted him to do it —it seemed almost as though he had been labouring under an hallucination that the shop was still his own—and whichever way they looked at it it was more the act of a lunatic than a sane man. He should call before the court gentlemen who had known the prisoner for a long period, and who would testify to the high character for integrity which he had hitherto always borne. The consequence which would result from this prosecution were infinitely more severe than any punishment which the court could impose upon a man who had no character to lose, and so deeply had this been felt by the prisoner that he had twice attempted to commit suicide. The loss of position in society, loss of those offices which be had hitherto held, the loss of his character, were in themselves a great , punishment for the prisoner's unfortunate act, and he therefore hoped the Court would consider a small amount of punishment sufficient to mark their sense of the offence to which the prisoner bad pleaded guilty.

Mr. Peppercorn, ironmonger, of Maidstone, said he had known the prisoner 19 years, and had many business transactions with him. Had employed him to collect debts for estates of which witness was the trustee, and be had always accounted for every 6d that he received. He should have thought prisoner to the last man who would be placed in the position he now occupied. Mr. Wimbls, of Maidstone, gave similar testimony.

Mr. Goodwin, of Wateringbury, had examined the accounts kept by prisoner as holding the various parochial offices, and had never found them wrong to the slightest extent.

Mr. F. J. Smith, who represented the prosecution, said had no wish to aggravate the case against the prisoner, but be would direct the attention of the court to the depositions, from which it would seem that the prisoner had been suspected, and it was in consequence of a man being set to watch which led to his detection.

The Chairman said he had not lost sight of that fact and having consulted with the magistrates present, passed sentence in the following terms:—-This is one of the most painful cases that have come before the court. It is most astonishing that a man in the position you have occupied, respected and esteemed in the parish in which you lived, with the means of obtaining everything in an honest manner, should have been tempted to steal these things in the manner that you did. It is best known to yourself whether you had done anything of the kind before, but it appears that you were detected by a man who had been set to watch, and it is impossible for tbe Court to shut their eyes to the fact that suspicion had been previously excited against you. I believe that the punishment which this Court can inflict will not be at all equal to that which will naturally result from this act, but at the same time it would be wrong for us, because of such considerations, to pass over an offence of this kind without awarding the punishment which the law directs. There is no excuse for your conduct. You knew better, yon have been well brought up, and you know what character for honesty means. There are many poor persons brought before us who have been so brought up that that they scarcely know the meaning of honesty, but that is not the case with you. At the same time the Court remembers that following upon your punishment which we shall inflict, you will lose all the respect which you have hitherto enjoyed, you lose that position in society which, till now, you have occupied, you lose all your responsible offices which you have held; and when you leave the gates of this prison you will no longer be able to hold up your head as an honest man, but for the rest of your life, however great your repentance, you will be pointed at as one who has been convicted on his own confession of felony. I will not add further to the suffering you must endure, but at once pass the sentence, which is that you be kept in prison for three calendar months, with hard labour.