The Alleged Robbery of Coal: At the Petty Sessions, on Tuesday, before J. Vicary, Esq. (Chairman), Admiral Cornish-Bowden, Dr. Atkinson, and G. B. Ellicombe Esq.: James Follett, Jonathan Prowse, Richard Myhill, George Millman, bargeman, and John Frost, barge owner were charged on remand with stealing, on the 13th or 14th of December, twelve tons of coal, value the Property of J. B. Pinsent, coal merchant, of Highweek; and Walter Morey, baker and coal dealer of Combeinteignhead, was charged with feloniously receiving the coal, knowing it to have been stolen. Mr. Creed prosecuted and Mr. May defended all the prisoners: The case for the prosecution was that, whilst 60 tons of coal were being conveyed up the river Teign from Teignmouth to Newton, 12 tons were abstracted from the two barges as they lay off Coombe Cellars tide bound. These two barges were in the charge of the four first-named prisoners, and it was further alleged that the 12 tons were put into a smaller barge, belonging to Frost, and by him sold to Morey who fetched the coal away in two carts. Morey stated that paid Frost 17s. 6d. per ton for the coal, which Frost said he picked up in the river, and that some of it had been lying on the banks for six months. Frost’s man, Trust, who unloaded the coal, said it was “wettish.” On the arrival of the two barges at the wharf at Newton it was noticed that the loads of coal appeared smaller than they were when they left Teignmouth, and inquiries eliciting what had occurred at Coombe Cellars (halfway up the river), led to the apprehension first of the bargemen and subsequently of Morey. In contradiction to the statement of Trust, Mr. Holmes, managing clerk to Prosecutor, asserted that the coal that he saw in Mr. Morey’s cellar was perfectly dry and clean and had not the appearance of having been the water or lain the banks the river He further asserted that coal of that description (Northumberland Wallsend) could not be rendered at Coombe Cellars a 17s 6d per ton, as its present price at Teignmouth would be 21s per ton. This statement was confirmed by the prosecutor, whilst Mr. William Rendell, farmer, of Coombeinteignhead, said he had never seen any coal on the bank of the river for the three quarters-of-a-mile which adjoined his farm. Prosecutor added that the sort of coal found in Morey’s cellar was only consigned to himself and one or two other coal merchants at Newton and Teignmouth, and he had suspected the loss of coal for some years. In stocktaking he had always discovered a deficiency, and he attributed this to the fact that the coal had been “prigged” in the river. Mr. May, in defence, contended that there was no evidence whatever to connect the four first-named bargemen with the robbery, and that the conduct of Morey was that of a man who had no guilty knowledge in purchasing the coal. In respect to Frost, he reserved his defence, believing that he could account for his possession of the coal in a way which, though it might not satisfy the Bench, would satisfy a jury. Two bargemen, named Scott and Miller, were called to show that the two bargemen Millman and Myhill, were absent from their barges for some time while they lay in the river; that, if the coal was taken away, it must have been during their absence, but that they (the witnesses) did not notice any diminution in the loads. Another witness for the defence, named Finning of the Ferryboat Inn, Coombe Cellars, stated that, while fishing, he had occasionally seen tons of coal lying in deep water in the river Teign, at low tide. He had also seen boats dredging for coal there, but he admitted that it must have occupied a very long time to have taken up 12 tons of coal from the bed the river. He accounted for the coal being there by the barges in which it was conveyed from Teignmouth overturning at Shaldon Bridge rough weather. After the Magistrates had retired some time for consultation, the Chairman said they had decided to commit the prisoners Frost and Morey for trial. They also considered that great suspicion rested upon the four bargemen for not reporting the diminution of their loads of coal on their arriving at Newton from Teignmouth, but, as there was not sufficient legal evidence to justify their committal, they would be discharged. Mr. May applied for bail for Frost and Morey, and the application was opposed by Mr. Creed on the grounds that the robbery was a serious one, and that the Quarter Sessions would commence next week. The Bench refused to grant bail to either prisoner. The case occupied upwards of five hours.
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Referenced
GRO0518 Devonport: John Ball Pinsent: 1819 – 1901