Saturday 10 Apr 1819 (p. 4, col. 1-6) GAOL DELIVERY. [continued] RIOT, AND POTATOE STEALING. ROBERT WEAR, aged 21, JANE NICHOLSON, aged 23, and MARGARET WILKINSON, aged 20, charged upon the oaths of David Robson and others, with having, on Monday the 26th day of October, 1818, feloniously stolen, taken, and carried away, a quantity of potatoes from a vessel lying in the harbour of Whitehaven, the property of the said David Robson. Mr. COURTENAY addressed the Jury for the prosecution. He said the three prisoners at the bar were charged with stealing potatoes out of a ship. The gentlemen of the jury must be well aware that last year, the crop of potatoes in this neighbourhood was more abundant than could be consumed in the district, and therefore it was extremely desirable on several accounts that they should be exported for the supply of other parts of the country. He needed not tell the intelligent jury whom he had the honour of addressing, that unless surplus produce can be sent from one part of the country to another, the owners, and eventually the poor themselves, must be sufferers. The owners of these potatoes were about to send them to another market where they were wanted, but it pleased the prisoners, in conjunction with a great many others, to obstruct their exportation; they assembled in a riotous manner, got on board the vessel, and carried off a great part of its contents. It was extremely desirable that the prisoners should be taught not only the illegality, but the impolicy of their conduct: and he, Mr. C., had thought it his duty to make these few observations in order to show them, as well as others who might hear him, that proceedings of this kind are as foolish as they are criminal. James ANDERSON proved the shipment of a quantity of potatoes, on the 24th October last, in the sloop Jane, the property of David ROBSON. On the 26th he saw a great number of persons taking the potatoes out of her. Mr. E. H. HEYWOOD, is the superintendant of the police at Whitehaven. On Monday the 26th of October, going down towards the pier, between 7 and 8 in the morning, he met a number of persons having potatoes in baskets, aprons, &c. On his arrival upon the Old Tongue Pier, he saw a great number of persons alongside the Jane, and on board her-some were in the hold. Those in the hold were filling baskets which were handed down to them, and which, when full, they again lifted upon deck-those upon deck handed them to the pier-and those upon the pier ran away with them. About a hundred persons were actively engaged in this affair, but there were a much greater number upon the quay. He observed the two female prisoners at the bar in the hold-Jane NICHOLSON is married, the other is a single woman: they were both employed in filling baskets, aprons, &c. Witness did not see WEAR. Joseph JACKSON is a police officer at Whitehaven. On the 26th of October, between six and seven in the morning, he was called out of bed by David ROBSON, and he immediately went down to the pier, because there was a great riot among the potatoes (a general laugh): he went down to the Jane to try to quench the mob. Court.-Quench the mob-quench the potatoes! Witness told them to give over and take no more. He saw Robert WEAR in the hold-he was dressed in white clothes-knew him by sight before. Saw him fill baskets, bags, &c. WEAR, in his defence, said, that the mate of the ship had declared that it was a man with a white coat, and JACKSON said it was a man with a white jacket.-The women said nothing. His Lordship said he need not sum up the evidence. The offence had been clearly proved. What had fallen from the learned counsel was very true. Nothing can be more unwise and mischievous than these riots. Many present were old enough to remember the great riots in London: they had a small beginning, but they became most alarming in their progress. It was melancholy to observe that women were generally found forward on these occasions; they were mostly led away by bad example. How these deluded people could imagine that their privations can be permanently relieved by such conduct it was difficult to guess: its natural consequences soon follow; first the crime and then the punishment; this was the never failing result. There was no evidence, his Lordship observed, to sustain the capital part of the charge; the jury, therefore, if they found the prisoners guilty, would find them guilty of stealing potatoes merely. The jury found all three guilty of stealing potatoes. JOSEPH NULTY, aged 30, was put to the bar charged with committing a similar offence on the same day on board the vessel, Samuel & Thomas, in another part of Whitehaven harbour. Mr. HEYWOOD proved that he saw the prisoner with a great number of others on board this vessel: he saw him lean over the hatchway and lift up an apron filled with potatoes, but did not see him carry them away. The Jury found the prisoner Guilty without hesitation.-Mr. HEYWOOD informed the Court that the prisoner has a wife and five small children, and that the last were twins. He has always borne a good character, and, Mr. H. believes, on this occasion, was led away by others. His Lordship passed sentence in a manner calculated to make a great impression upon the prisoners. He was willing to hope that when they engaged in the depredation of which they had been found guilty, they did not calculate the consequences: and perhaps they felt astonished when they stood at that bar under an indictment for a capital offence. If riots were allowed to take place unchecked, however small their beginning, there would soon be an end to the security of property, particularly of this kind; and the next step would be, the destruction of the lives of the owners if they chuse not to sacrifice their property to the will of those demanding it. It was quite astonishing how much these people encouraged and urged each other on in their delusion: they think it a trifling matter at the time to carry off a few potatoes for the use of themselves, forgetting that the owners had the same right to them, which they, the rioters, had to the clothes upon their backs. Such excesses are productive of unmixed evil-heavy loss to those who are plundered-heavy punishment to the plunderers. He would willingly hope that the prisoners by this time had seen their error, and that the mercy now about to be extended to them would not operate in the way of encouragement, but as a warning against similar offences. NULTY, WILKINSON, and NICHOLSON, (the former in consequence of good character, and the women seeming to display contrition) were sentenced to three months' imprisonment in the House of Correction, at Whitehaven. The case of Robert WEAR, coupled with his demeanor at the bar, his Lordship observed, called for a heavier visitation, and he was therefore sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the same place. [to be continued]