MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 6 April 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

BROTHER EXONERATED BY BROTHER.

An extraordinary jase of mistaken ident- ' ity was threshed out in the first instance at j Mary'.ebone Police Court, and the conclud-1 ing scene was' enacted at North London Sessions. Before the Marylebone magis- [ trate was a young man of smart appearance, i named Ernest Glee son, 2-1, described as a carver, who was brought form Leeds Gaol,) under a Home Office order, to answer a; charge of stealing a fur muff and necklet,. an ulster, and a jacket and rest, valued at I £7, from a room at the G. W. Hotel, Pad- J dington, belonging to Charles Theodore Allison Hingston, residing at Sydenham-1 hill, Bristol. Accused's brother, Leon, hotel porter, living at Coverdale Road, j [Shepherd's Bush, was committed for trial at! [North London Sessions on the same charge, ! ;but, luckily for him, facts came to light which completely established his innocence and the fact that he had been mistaken for his brother Ernest. According to the evidence given when the case was first before ■ the court, the articles mentioned were stolen from a room on the third floor of the hotel on the night of January 7, during the absence of the prosecutor and his wife, and in their place was left a coat, in the pocket of which was a. pawnticket relating to an overcoat pawned in the name of John Gibson, of Coverdale Road. The police were informed, and. as a result of inquiries, Leon Gleeson was arrested at Cloverdale Road, on the charge of committing the robbery. He protested that he knew nothing about it, but admitted that on the morning of the day on which it was said to have occurred he pledged the coat referred to in the pa wnticket for his brother Ernest, whom he had not seen since. At the police station, however, he was placed among several other men. and he was positively identified by one of the hotel porters, a young man named Sam Newbury, as the man who, on the night of the robbery, came down stairs into the front hall of the hotel and drove away in a. cab. Newbury, in his evidence, pointeel out that Leon had rather a striking face, and he particularly noticed him, he said, because as he was "leaving he expressed regret that he had NO CHANC E TO GIVK JUSI A TIP, and promised that if he (Newbury) looked out for him the following morning lie would give him two shillings. Leon (ileeson still maintained his innocence, and called several witnesses to prove an alibi, but the magistrate thought it was a case that should go before a jury, and committed him for trial, allowing bail in one surety of £10. Mr. Maples, on behalf of the G.W. Railway, now admitted that Leon Gleeson had been mistaken for his brother Ernest, and stated Ithat the latter had since made a full confession of the robbery. Detective Inspector Wilson of the Leeds Constabulary, spoke to arresting Ernest on January 24 on another charge, and said he was wearing at that time the coat missed from the G.W. Hotel. Detective Inspector Fuller said lie saw prisoner that morning, and, having mentioned what had happened with regard to his brother Leon, witness told him that his brother denied stealing the articles, and said he thought he (Ernest) must have done it.

" Yes." said prisoner; "1 don't want to get my brother into it. I wish to clear him. I stole the things. 1 gave the muff and necklet to a female I met that night in Oxford-street, and I gave the coat and vest to a cabholder I met in the Edgware Road."

Mr. Maples stated that he should like, on behalf of the G.W.R., to thank Inspector Fuller for the very considerable trouble he had experienced to clear the innocent man and bring home guilt to the proper person. The brother Leon was then called and asked to stand by the side of prisoner in order that the hotel porter, Sam Newbury, might say which he now thought was the man Tie saw leave the hotel on the night of the robbery. He replied that he should say Ernest was the man, speaking to the best of his belief; but he explained that lie only saw the man once for a. short time, and he was then muffled up in an overcoat. Mr.''■ Paul Taylor told him that this experience ought to make him extremely careful in future in identifying a man in a court of justice. " There is a sort or resemblance between these two men," said the magistrate, but I don't think I should be mistaken. One lias a refined face, and the other one has not." Then, addressing the brother Leon, Mr. Paul Taylor said he was extremely sorry that he had been charged. Credit was due to Inspector Fuller for bringing the right man to justice. Mr. Maples said he should bring the matter before the company with the object of securing the brother Leon compensation. Ernest was then committed for trial. BROTHERS AT THE SESSIONS. ) The case, was immediately disposed of at I North London Sessions. Happily at the last sessions the bill against Leon had been put off. as the authorities were not satisfied with the evidence. When the case was now called Mr. Gougli said that Ernest, who was undergoing a term of three months' imprisonment in the second division, for an offence at Leeds, had made a full confession of the hotel robbery, and had completely exonerated his brother Leon. Under the circumstances, counsel asked that the grand jury chould be instructed to ignore the bill against Leon. Detective Sergeant. Mercer said that in July, 1905. Ernest was bound over on charges of shopbreaking and shoplifting on condition that he went to Buenos Avres. Detective-Inspector Fuller said he believed Ernest stayed abroad until recently, when he returned to see his parents, most respectable people, living at Shepherd's Bush, and spend Christmas at home. Mr. Hunt.y Jenkins, who represented Ernest, said he had served in the South African Constabulary during the Boer War. His downfall was attributable to drink. He hod broken out again whilst in London, and had so involved himself and his brother. He promised to lake the pledge and return to Buenos Ayres. Mr. Wallace ordered Ernest Gleeson two months' imprisonment, to run concurrently with the sentence he is now undergoing, and to expire at the same time, on the understanding that he was to return to his employment at Buenos Avres. Leon was discharged.