Alleged Jewellery Swindle

At the Doncaster Borough Court, Joseph Smith, a tailor’s assistant from Kilburn, was charged with stealing a gold locket valued at £4 10s., the property of Michael Smith of Conisbrough.

The prosecutor stated that he had advertised the locket for sale in the Exchange and Mart and had corresponded with the prisoner, to whom he eventually sent the article. Afterwards the prisoner wrote saying that he had had the locket valued and that it was not worth more than £4. The prosecutor replied that he must either send £4 10s. or return the locket, but he did neither, and information was subsequently given to the police.

When apprehended, the prisoner admitted that he had sold the locket. Sergeant Webb testified that upon searching the prisoner he found a number of notes relating to the Exchange and Mart and also a diary.

During questioning the prisoner was asked whether he kept a novel in MS. The witness replied that he did not. The diary contained several curious entries in shorthand, including one which read, “I am nearly out of my mind,” and another stating that certain money on his hands belonged to someone else and that he had no money to pay for the locket. A further entry read, “I am literally ruined.”

The magistrates rejected the diary as evidence and committed the prisoner for trial at the Quarter Sessions. The prisoner applied for bail, but the superintendent informed the court that the prisoner had refused to provide full information about himself. The prisoner replied that he had already given sufficient information during the proceedings, after which he was removed to the cells.