Cambridge Independent Press 15 Jan 1848: William Loyd guilty of stealing carcase of mutton

SATURDAY.

STEALING A CARCASE OF MUTTON. — William Loyd (31), and William Hines (23), charged with stealing, on the night of the 4th of November, at Grantchester, one carcase of mutton, the property of Thomas Ellwood. —Messrs. SANDERS and NAYLOR for the prosecution: Mr. TOZER for the prisoner Loyd; Mr. NEWTON for the prisoner Hines. — The prosecutor is a butcher, residing on the Market-hill, Cambridge, where he has a shop. He has another shop and a slaughter-house at Granchester, where he also sells meat. The carcase of mutton was taken out of the shop at Granchester, by means, it is supposed, of the door being in some way or other unlocked. The prisoner Loyd lives at Trumpington, and Hines, at Barton. They were both at the Tally-ho, Trumpington, between six and seven in the evening of the 4th of November. They were afterwards at the Rose and Crown, Grantchester, which they left between nine and ten. In the parish of Trumpington there is a place called “The Cottage Garden,” which is divided into 25 or 26 allotments, of about 20 poles each. Loyd’s father holds one of these allotments. Loyd himself is the possessor of a dog-cart, which is drawn by two dogs, also his property, one of them remarkable for having one eye and three colours, black, white, and brindled. At about ten minutes before seven in the morning of the 5th of November, Charles Willson, one of Colonel Pemberton’s gamekeepers, being out on his round, saw as he passed The Cottage Garden, both the prisoners in the allotment. He knew them well. Hines was digging a hole, and Loyd was looking on. The tricoloured dog and the cart were also there. Willson saw the prisoners put the meat into a bag, the bag into a sack, and the sack into the hole; and, after marking the spot, he went and informed the constable. —The meat was identified by the boy who killed the sheep. It was his first attempt at the delicate feat of dressing a carcase of mutton, in doing which he made a slip, and cut off part of the tail. — The learned counsel for the defence respectively addressed the Jury.— Mr. William Baker, of Barton, farmer, spoke in favour of Hines’s character. —The CHAIRMAN summed up. —Verdict, Guilty: Each seven years’ transportation.