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From the Sydney Gazette -
Stephen Toole,
Thomas Collins and Michael Kenny were indicted for stealing in the
dwelling house of
James Reid, Esq., at Nelson's Plains and putting a
person therein in bodily fear, on the 5th May 1830.
William GilbertWilliam Gilbert
- I am a shepherd; in May last, I was in the service of
Mr. Samuel Wright
at Nelson's Plains and lived in a hut belonging to Mr. Reid, who had the
care of Mr. Wright's sheep; on the 5th May about 10 o'clock in the
morning, three armed men came into the hut, two of whom were Toole and
Collins, but I cannot swear to the third; Toole was armed with a double barrelled gun, and Collins with two pistols, one on each hand, and the
other man, I believe, had a musket; Toole presented the piece at me, and
commanded me to lie down with my face to the ground or he'd blow my brains
out; I asked him for what, and he said to Collins, "come forward Jem, and
let the b...g.r see we are well armed;" I then yielded to them, and Toole knelt on my neck, while Collins tied my hands behind me; Toole then took
from my person a 1 note, 3 half crowns, 1 shilling, 1 sixpence and 11,
all my money, which my master had given me; Collins said I had more money,
and told Toole to blow my brains out, if I did not give it up; Toole then
searched the hut, and told Collins that he could find no more, but Collins
still insisted that there was more, and frequently told Toole, to blow my
brains out for a b...dy villain; they also took away some articles of
wearing apparel, and blankets, belonging to me and to the other men, who
lived in the hut with me. Cross examined by Mr. Williams for the prisoner
Collins; I swear to Collins by his voice, for I did not see his face; I
was a little alarmed, but I stood to them till I was overpowered. I never
saw Collins before; I never saw Mr. Reid exercise any ownership over the
hut; I was servant to Captain Wright, and so were the other men who were
in the hut with me; we were all assigned servants to him.
Mr. Williams
here submitted that the present information, stating the hut in which the
robbery was committed to be the dwelling house of Mr. Reid, must fall to
the ground, as there was no evidence that he inhabited it either by
himself or by his servants, or that he exercised any ownership over it.
The learned
Judge directed the case to proceed, and said he would save the point.
Nicholas Nearney
said, I know the prisoners; on the 5th May last, I saw Toole and Collins
on Mr. Hudson's farm, about 3 o'clock in the day, when I was looking for
some cows, which had gone astray; they were disputing about the division
of some money; after a while Collins went away leaving Toole with me but
shortly after returned and said to Toole "Make haste, for
Christy Harper's
wife is going to spring the plant and is going into Sydney next day with
the swag." Toole bid me stop till he came back and went away with Collins;
about an hour after, he came back with a bundle, which I saw him open, and
which contained wearing apparel; he said they were not half the things he
had got; he said he had got them at
Mr. Adair's; I did not see Kenny at
all.
Cross examined
- I am aware that Toole was implicated in Mr. Adair's robbery, and that a
reward was offered for his apprehension; at the time I spoke to him I knew
he was keeping out of the way on that account; I had given information
about Toole before, but he was not found; I had known Collins before; I do
not know where the hut in which Gilbert lived is situated..
William
Bartlett - I was formerly a corporal in the mounted police; on the 5th May
in consequence of information, I went to look for Toole at the place where
I was informed he was secreted; I found him drinking in company with the
other two prisoners; they were in a barn, where I found a double barrelled
gun which I had been previously informed was in possession of Toole; next
day I proceeded, on other information, to a dry creek in the neighbourhood, where I found several articles of wearing apparel.
This was the
case for the prosecution
The learned
Judge charged the Jury, telling them that the evidence in this case did
not support that part of the information which laid the robbery to have
been committed in the dwelling house of Mr. Reid. The prisoners Toole and
Collins however or either of them might be convicted of the larceny stated
in the information; but, with respect to Kenny, he did not think the
evidence sufficient to warrant a conclusion that he was one of the party
who robbed the hut of Gilbert.
The Jury found
Toole and Collins guilty and acquitted the other prisoner. -
Sydney
Gazette 6 January 1831
For the above
robbery and for stealing in the dwelling house of Stephen Barker at
Patterson's Plains on 25th October 1829, Stephen Toole received a sentence
of Death.
He was executed
on 14th February 1831 -
Stephen Toole, who, our readers will remember, was
convicted with four others at the late sitting of the Criminal Court, of a
robbery at Hunter's River, underwent the extreme penalty of the law at the
rear of the gaol yesterday morning. He received the religious consolation
of the Rev. J.J. Therry, but did not appear so well prepared to meet his
awful end as his companions who suffered a short time back. Previous to
the drop falling he obtained permission to speak, and declared his
innocence of the crime for which he was about to die; acknowledging
himself guilty however of many others, and begging the by-standers to pray
for his soul. The fatal bolt was then withdrawn, and the unhappy man
launched into an awful eternity with scarcely a struggle. -
Sydney Gazette 15 February 1831
**To spring the plant was to discover a
bushranger's plant or recover articles from the plant
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