Title:  The Era, ix 424 13b
Date:  8 November 1846
Place:  Worship Street Police Court

POLICE.

WORSHIP-STREET.

CARRIER PIGEONS STOLEN. — On Wednesday¹ , three young fellows, named Geo. Richard Hurley, George Watson, and Thomas Pluckrose, were charged with having broken into premises belonging to Mr. Pizey, a salesman, at Bethnal-green, and stolen a number of valuable pigeons. The circumstances of the case were rather extraordinary. About four o’clock on Sunday morning, Sergeant Sanders, of the N division, stopped the three prisoners in the neighbourhood of the Hackney-road. Hurley was carrying a bag containing pigeons, which he said that he had brought from his home, and that he and his companions were going to Hyde-park for the purpose of “flying them,” a common practice with the pigeon breeders about Bethnal-green. He added, that they had been stopped no less than three times by the police, which he considered very hard, and that they had shortly before been actually taken to the police station at Hackney, and that the inspector on duty there sent the reserve man with them to make inquiries, and their statement being found quite correct, they were dismissed by the inspector. Sergeant Sanders observed that they were not in the N but in the H division, and going in a different direction, but the prisoner readily accounted for that by saying that he had been to call upon a companion in Club-row, and he gave such an apparently accurate account of his previous rencontre with the inspector and reserve man, and description of the station-house, that the witness allowed them to go. Subsequently, however, information was received that the present complainant’s pigeon house, within ten minutes’ distance of the spot where the prisoners were met, had been broken into, a police constable having seen the premises safe at three o’clock, and found the door open at a quarter before four. Sergeant Sanders gave a description of the three whom he had stopped with the pigeons, and the information was circulated amongst the dealers in the district, and on Monday morning the prisoner Hurley was detained by a Mr. Rogers, of No. 17, City-terrace, to whom he had offered for sale for a few shillings half a dozen pigeons now produced, but which were at once seen to be of very valuable breed. Hurley was remanded, and on Wednesday Sergeant Sanders, while attending at this court, recognised the other two prisoners amongst three or four who were brought in, charged with stealing some potatoes. He, therefore, picked them out, and placed them at the bar with Hurley on the present charge. The complainant identified the pigeons by particular feathers, and they were stated to be worth about two guineas a pair. Hurley accounted for his possession of the pigeons by saying that some man had sent him to sell them, and he and the other prisoners all denied any knowledge of the sergeant, or of having been stopped by him as he stated. Sergeant Sanders said he was quite certain of the identity of all the prisoners, and he had no doubt even that the bag then carried by Hurley with the pigeons was the one now produced. Mr. Broughton remanded the prisoners.

¹ 4 November 1846