The Queen v Redmond

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal
• Judgment Date: 14 April 1853
• Date: 14 April 1853

Court of Criminal Appeal.

THE QUEEN

and

REDMOND.

Rex v. Ball R. & R. Cr. Cas., 132.

Rex v. Treble Ibid, 164.

The Queen v. Dredge 1 Cox, C. C., 235.

494 COMMON LAW REPORTS. E. T. 1853. Grim. Appeal. THE QUEEN v. REDMOND. Jan. 20, (Court of Criminal Appeal.) April 14. a case reserved for the opinion of this Court by the Assistant-Barrister for the county of Wicklow. The case stated that at the Quarter Sessions held at Baltinglass, in the county of Wicklow, on the 4th of January 1853, the following indictment had been found by the jury; " The jurors for our Lady the Queen, upon their oath, present " that Marks Redmond and Daniel Smith, both late of Lockstown "in the county of Wicklow, labourers, and Mary Redmond the "elder, Elizabeth Redmond and Mary Redmond the younger, all " late of the same place, dealers, on the 30th day of November, "in the 16th year of the Queen, with force and arms, at LocksÂÂ" town, in the county aforesaid, 401bs. of mutton, of the value of " twenty shillings, of the goods and chattels of some person or "persons to the jurors aforesaid unknown, then and there being " found, feloniously did steal, take and carry away, against the " peace," &e. It was proved on the trial, that at two o'clock in the morning of the 30th November (the weather being clear and frosty), some of the police went to the house of the prisoner Marks Redmond. That they found him in bed, and the prisoner Elizabeth lying on straw, with her ckthes on. That the police asked for the prisoner Daniel Smith, when Marks Redmond replied, "he was not at home, for he Evidence was given that sheep-stealing was common in the neighbourhood. Held, that this evidence was sufficient to warrant the Judge in sending the case to the jury, that the mutton so found had been stolen by the prisoners. Held, also, that though there was no evidence of identification of the mutton, yet the indictment describing it as belonging to persons unknown was sufficient.- [PIGOT, C. B., disentiente.] COMMON LAW REPORTS. 495 had sent him to the mill the evening before, from which he had not B. T. 1853. yet returned." That the police then asked Marks Redmond if he Crtm. App eal. TE had any mutton in his house, to which he replied that " his house THE Q EN v. was seldom without mutton, to his grief." That the police found . REDMOND. some mutton in a box in the room, and other pieces in a pot, and that on going into the cow-house (which was at the end of and adjoined the dwelling-house of Marks Redmond), they found the other two prisoners Daniel Smith and Mary Redmond concealed in a corner, lying behind one of the cows, Mary being partly stripÂÂped, lying on straw ; no bed-clothes were to be seen. That on exÂÂamining the wall of the cow-house (which was also the end wall of the dwelling-house), the police perceived a projecting stone, which they pulled out of the wall, and saw within a large space hollowed out of the wall, which was gutted for the purpose of concealment, and that in this cavity they found about 301bs. of mutton cut up in several pieces, not quite cold, which they considered from its apÂÂ, pearance must have been recently killed. Upon this evidence having been given, the Crown intimated that the case for the prosecution had closed ; the Counsel for the prisoners then objected that there was no proof of the loss of mutton (meaning, of course, that the fact of stealing any had not been proved). The Crown then proposed to call, and the Barrister allowed them to call, a witness named Stephen Nugent, who lived near the prisoners, and who swore that, some time before, one of his mother's sheep had been stolen ; and one of the police was also called, who swore that a case of sheep-stealing had been reported at the police station three nights before, and that the sheep belonged to one James Miley. It was objected by the Counsel for the prisoners that this evidence of the police constable was inadmissible, as being merely hearsay. No witnesses were called by the prisoners,. and their Counsel then called on the Barrister to direct the jury to acquit them, on two grounds, first, that the evidence of stealing was that of two 496 COMMON LAW REPORTS. E. T. 1853. sheep belonging to persons whose names were known ; secondly, Clint. Appeal. that there was no evidence of the loss or stealing of mutton THE QUEEN at all. v. REDMOND. The Assistant-Barrister was of opinion that there was evidence to go to the jury that the mutton so found had been stolen by the prisoners, and that as there was no evidence as to whom that identical mutton belonged, the indictment, which described the property as belonging to persons unknown, was sustained, and declined to give the direction to the jury sought for by the prisoners' Counsel. He considered the following facts sufficient to show the mutton had been stolen by the prisoners : the denial by Marks Redmond that Daniel Smith was at home, who was nevertheless found hiding, together with Mary Redmond, in the adjoining cow-house, in the manner described above ; the reply of Marks Redmond to the police constable, that " his house was seldom without mutton, to his grief;" that some mutton was found concealed in a box; and, above all, the fact of the concealed repository in the hollowed wall, in which so large a quantity of mutton recently killed was found. And taking all these circumstances together (independently of the evidence as to the actual loss of sheep, and assuming some of it to have been inadmissible), he was of opinion that there was evidence to go to the jury that mutton, the property of a person or persons unknown, bad been stolen by the prisoners : and accordingly he left the case to the jury, telling them at the same time, with reference to the second point made by the prisoners'...