Preece Family History & One Name Study

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John Preece - The Life of a Career Criminal (continued)

Having been given the relatively lenient sentence of only twelve months in his previous case, John was released at Easter in 1888, and in no time at all he was once again in front of the court at the Sessions in May. The newspaper article on the case referred to his "dislike for freedom", and indeed during this case he corrected evidence being given by the prosecutor, in effect strengthening the case against him. As you will see from the text to the right, it does seem that he had heard that others may have been thought guilty whilst he was on remand, and he was keen to exonerate others and take the blame, such was his 'liking' for prison. He admitted that he had committed various crimes, but was only given two charges for housebreaking on this occasion, and was found guilty, under one of his aliases - John Dawson. Once again he received two twelve month sentences, to be served concurrently, and a further 3 years police supervision. Shortly after sentencing, John's mother Emma died. She was now aged 70, and died in the Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary (her husband John is still alive). Of course, long ago John was said to have run away from home after stealing from his parents, so you do have to wonder if indeed he knew about the death, or indeed where his parents were. In August 1889, John was out of prison again, and this time something strange happened - he was arrested and put on trial in Manchester! He was charged with attempting to steal a watch, having reverted to using his "Peter Morris" alias. I haven't been able to locate a newspaper report for this appearance at Manchester Sessions, but I will state the possibility that he did in fact try to seek help, as suggested by the court in 1887, when he was released. Maybe part of the help was to relocate north, I cannot yet be sure, but in any event, whatever the reason for his presence in Manchester that May he was caught, and was sentenced to 15 months hard labour. This seems to be his sole offence away from the Birmingham area, for reasons that we may well never know.		Birmingham Daily Mail May 11 1888 AN EXTRAORDINARY CRIMINAL Several charges of housebreaking were preferred against John Dawson alias Peter Morris (49), whose punishments for various offences collectively amounted to nearly 30 years imprisonment. Prisoner, ever since his first introduction to the inside of a prison, has shown a persistent dislike for freedom, and when liberated is like a fish out of water, and a few weeks seldom intervene the completion of one sentence and the passing of another. He finished twelve months just after last Easter, and came to Birmingham, where he at once renewed his thieving tricks, and was arrested on Thursday last by Detective Clifton. He got into the house of Benjamin Brain, glass cutter, Prescott Street, on the 2^nd, and carried off a suit of clothes and three shirts. He stole a quantity of wearing apparel from the abode of Mr Johnson, engine driver, 13 Montague Street, on the 19^th ult., and he also committed thefts from houses in Nechells and Bracebridge Street. When captured he was charged with stealing the suit and two shirts from the first named prosecutor. “It is a mistake”, he observed, “there were three shirts”. (Laughter in Court). Again, in the Court, he exhibited a desire to make the case against himself as strong as possible. The officer Clifton was in the box, and inadvertently overlooked some of the things which were found in the prisoners possession. It did not escape the notice of the accused, who coolly enquired “what did you find in my coat pocket at the station?”. The reminder had the desired effect. Clifton at once produced a bunch of skeleton keys, which he had taken from the accused. Of course the keys would be sure to have been produced sooner or later, but the care the prisoner took to have the circumstances brought under the notice of the Court without delay struck everyone as a little remarkable. He admitted to the detective what he had done with the whole of his illgotten gains, and enabled him to recover the bulk of them from the various pawnbrokers and dealers with whom they had been lodged. Prisoner made no answer to the charge, but he explained to the bench that he had been pretty busy within the past month. While under remain he had been led to understand that suspicion had lighted on a number of working men, but he desired to exonerate them from all blame by acknowledging his guilt. Alone he did them, and could not bear to think that someone else was being judged for them. Prisoner was committed to the Sessions.

Birmingham Daily Mail January 9 1891 AN ARTFUL HOUSEBREAKER John Dawson, alias Morris, alias Priest (51), fitter, was indicted for breaking and entering the dwelling house of William Kinneary, on the 16^th December last, and stealing two pairs of trousers and two waistcoats. Mr Cholmondley prosecuted. The prosecutor lives at 43 Guildford Street, and on the date named his house was broken into. On the same day the clothing was pawned at the shop of Mr Henry Outran, Great Russell Street, by the prisoner. Two days later the accused was arrested by Detective Sergeant Daniels. The defence set up was that the prisoner did not commit the robbery. He sent a letter to Detective Daniels, saying he saw two men carrying stolen property, and trying to pawn them at different shops. The property was the costs and waistcoats. Prisoner also stated that Daniels had arrested him out of spite, because he would not act in the capacity of a detectives tool. Daniels denied this, and said he had given the prisoner money because he said he was poverty-stricken. The Assistant Barrister said the offence had been aggravated by the defence. Superintendent Black said that the prisoner had, for housebreaking, served three terms of penal servitude and other minor sentences. Since he had been in Birmingham he had been giving information to the police of robberies which he himself had committed. The accused was sent back to penal servitude for five years.		1891 finds John back in Birmingham. If the reason for him being in Manchester was an attempt at a new start - it failed, for here he is back at the Sessions for the 10th time in his life. On this occasion he has again been stealing clothes and pawning them, a pattern that is seen time after time, and does indeed fit with his life where he is in desperate need of money and goes back to the way of life he knows. It is assumed that John's wife Emma is still in Birmingham at this time. I have been unable to locate her in the census from 1871 onwards. As we will see later, in both 1901 and 1911, John is described as a widower. As the article shows, after some slightly less lenient sentences for recent offences, he was again sent to penal servitude, and this time for five years. In September 1892, his father John died, following his mother's death four years earlier. Like Emma, John died in the Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary - he was 74.