COURT REPORTER:I am the court reporter.
COURT REPORTER:Since 1674, every trial that's been played out here between these walls at London's Old Bailey court, every single one of them, has been faithfully recorded by a reporter like me.
COURT REPORTER:I sat just here. I wrote down what was said by whom. And now you, some while later, can listen in. You can put your ears to the wall and hear once again these voices from the past.
COURT REPORTER:Now here's a case that paints a picture of what this city has become.
COURT REPORTER:'London has more than half a million inhabitants.
COURT REPORTER:'Crime is rife.
COURT REPORTER:'And ruling the criminal underworld, a man who has a finger in every pie.'
COURT REPORTER:The year is 1725.
COURT REPORTER:There is, as yet, no police force and the authorities have come to rely on thief takers, who, inspired by large rewards, have made it their business to apprehend thieves and see to the return of stolen goods.
COURT REPORTER:It's no surprise that it's in the interest of these same thief takers to ensure a steady supply of such thefts and such stolen goods
COURT REPORTER:and you could say that they're playing a merry little dance… with the law.
COURT REPORTER:On trial today is the master of this double life,
COURT REPORTER:Jonathan Wild who calls himself, the Thief Taker General.
COURT REPORTER:So well, has he played the game that at this moment he finds himself in control of much of London's criminal underworld.
COURT REPORTER:And look, Jonathan Wild has paid to have a council by his side. Not many defendants can afford such a thing. Perhaps he thinks he'll need a little help to worm his way out of this one.
COURT ANNOUNCER:Jonathan Wild is indicted on two counts. The first for privately stealing in the shop of Catherine Stetham fifty yards of lace, on the 22nd of January last.
COURT ANNOUNCER:The second count is that on the 10th of March last, Jonathan Wild did feloniously receive of the said Catherine Stetham, ten guineas, on pretence of helping her see the return of the said stolen lace and that he did not discover or apprehend the persons who committed the said theft.
COURT REPORTER:Now lace you see, being so delicate, so painstaking to produce,
COURT REPORTER:is highly valuable.
JUDGE:Mr. Wild. Do you understand the charges against you?
WILD:I do.
JUDGE:How do you plead?
WILD:Not guilty. On both counts. And may I say sir, I have passed around a list of all the felons I have brought to you for justice these past years.
JUDGE:Gentlemen, this list handed to you by Mr. Wild's council is inadmissible for evidence and you must pay it no regard.
JUDGE:Mr. Prosecutor please proceed.
PROSECUTOR:Gentlemen. You must indeed pay this list no regard.
PROSECUTOR:Safe to say, that one would need to examine what hand the prisoner had in the crimes for which he has so readily given these felons up.
PROSECUTOR:Because here stands before you a man who has as much fanned the flames of thievery as he has profited by their putting out. I call the first witness, Mr. Henry Kelly
KELLY:I swear by almighty god that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
PROSECUTOR:Mr. Kelly.
PROSECUTOR:Please describe your first encounter with Mr. Wild.
KELLY:In January last, I went to see a Mrs. Johnson who at the time lived at Mr. Wild's house. By and by in comes Ms. Murphy.
KELLY:Together, with Mr. Wild, we drank another two, three quartans of gin. Then me and Ms. Murphy got up to go away together.
KELLY:The prisoner asked me which way I was going. I told him to my lodgings at the Seven Dials.
KELLY:"Well then," says he "I tell you what. There's an old blind cow that sells fine Flanders lace just by the Holborn bridge and if you call in there you might well as just speak with a box of lace I'll go with you and show you the door."
MRS STETHAM:Look, look at the workmanship on that. Can you feel that?
KELLY:'Murphy and I went to, and turned over a great deal of lace but could see none that would please us, for it was our business to be very nice and difficult.'
KELLY:This is very beautiful but.
MRS STETHAM:Well I've got some stuff upstairs, I could go and get it.
KELLY:Ah, that'd be great yeah.
MRS STETHAM:Right I'll be back in a moment.
KELLY:'At last the old woman stepped upstairs to fetch another piece and as people of our profession are seldom guilty of losing an opportunity I made use of this
KELLY:'and we came away and found the prisoner waiting where we left him.
KELLY:'He asked us if we'd have ready money.
KELLY:'I took my share of three guineas and a crown
KELLY:'and Ms. Murphy had the rest.'
PROSECUTOR:Thank you, Mr. Kelly. I would now like to call Margaret Murphy to the stand.
PROSECUTOR:Mr. Kelly recounts that your visit at Mrs. Stetham's lace shop was entirely at the suggestion of Mr. Wild. Did he tell you what he intended to do with the goods he acquired?
MRS MURPHY:No sir, only he said he couldn't give us more than three guineas for it. He knew her to be a stingy, hard mouthed old cow and that he wouldn't get above ten guineas out of her.
DEFENCE:-Objection your honour. I beg your leave to declare, in regard to the first indictment, which states that the defendant did privately steal this lace from in the shop.
DEFENCE:I declare that by these statements that the defendant did not enter the shop.
DEFENCE:He may indeed be guiltyof a simple felony being accessory before the fact or in receiving the goods after but he could not be guilty of the capital offence.
PROSECUTOR:-Gentlemen may I remind you that in felonies, burglaries and robberies every accessory before the fact is a principal.
PROSECUTOR:In other words, he that stands by or watches from a distance is as guilty and as liable as the very man who enters the house and lays his hands upon the goods.
JUDGE:If Mr. Wild did not enter the shopthere is as yet no precedent for any such interpretation of this indictment.
JUDGE:It remains doubtful whether it can be imposed. Therefore we shall proceed to the second indictment.
PROSECUTOR:Gentlemen, may I remind you of this second indictment.
PROSECUTOR:The prisoner, Jonathan Wild, is accused of having the acquaintance of the felons who did steal Mrs. Stethams lace, of failing to apprehend them, or see to it that they were brought to justice and at the same time, of taking money from the same Mrs. Stetham on the pretence of returning her stolen lace to her again.
COURT REPORTER:The courts have been after Wild for some time, so great is his grip on London's crime.
COURT REPORTER:They've even introduced an act, especially designed to catch out those involved in the shady business of both encouraging thieves and profiting from the rewards of the return of stolen goods, business of which he is a master.
COURT REPORTER:It's even known as Jonathan Wild's act.
COURT REPORTER:And here finally, they have the chance to apply it to the man himself.
PROSECUTOR:-I should like to call, Mrs. Stetham. Mrs. Stetham. Please can you describe how you came to know the lace was taken from you.
MRS STETHAM:Between three and four in the afternoon, them two came into my shop under the pretence of buying some lace.
MRS STETHAM:We could not agree about a price and so they went away together. And in about half an hour I missed a tin box of lace that I valued at fifty pounds.
PROSECUTOR:Once you missed the lace, what did you do?
MRS STETHAM:'The same afternoon and the next, I went to Jonathan Wild's house.
MRS STETHAM:'Him having helped return to me some stolen goods before but I did not meet with him.
MRS STETHAM:'So then, I advertised that the lace was lost. With a reward of fifteen guineas, no questions asked.'
MRS STETHAM:No one was forthcoming, so I went to Mr. Wild's house again and in a while, I met with him.
MRS STETHAM:'Then he told me, he had heard something of my lace and expected to know more of the matter in a little time.'
PROSECUTOR:Gentlemen, in the meantime, it transpired that Mr. Wild was apprehended on another charge and was residing in newgate prison. Is that where you saw him next, Mrs. Stetham?
MRS STETHAM:On the 10th of March, he sent me word. That if I could come to him in Newgate and bring ten guineas in my pocket he could help me to my lace.'
MRS STETHAM:'Once there, he desired me to give the porter ten guineas or else he said, the persons that had the lace would not deliver it. I gave the porter the money, he went away and brought me a box that was sealed up but not the same that was lost.
MRS STETHAM:'I opened it and found all my lace but one piece.'
MRS STETHAM:Now Mr. Wild, what must I give you for your troubles?
WILD:Not a farthing, not a farthing for me. I desire nothing from you but your prayers and for them I shall be thankful.
MRS STETHAM:Thank you, Mr. Wild.
JUDGE:-Mr. Wild what might you have to say in your defence?
WILD:I can only say this, that let it be remembered that I have served to assist this court on many occasion.
WILD:I also ask sir, that Ms. Murphy might be called in again.
JUDGE:Tis your right to call her, granted.
WILD:Tis the case that I am here on an indictment for helping Catherine Stetham to goods that had been stole from her, by persons unknown.
WILD:I pray to ask Ms. Murphy "Who stole the lace?" in expectation that she may unwarily swear that herself and Kelly were the persons.
JUDGE:Mr. Wild, Ms. Murphy has already sword evidence upon oath therefore no one could require her to answer questions to accuse herself.
WILD:Then I pray that the court will ask her if I stole the lace.
JUDGE:Ms. Murphy you may answer that.
MRS MURPHY:No he did not steal the lace but he was concerned with those that did steal it and he received it after it was stolen.
DEFENCE:I beg leave to observe, your honour,
DEFENCE:that the act upon which Mr. Wild is now indicted was intended to affect those persons who are themselves, not felons but who held correspondences with felons.
DEFENCE:Mrs. Murphy has sworn that Mr. Wild was in receipt of stolen goods, making him thus, a felon
DEFENCE:and meaning that this act should not apply.
PROSECUTOR:-It is a very surprising plea for a man to say, "I am a felon. I am more guilty than you are aware of and therefore I ought to suffer less."
PROSECUTOR:My lord,
PROSECUTOR:the case of the prisoner comes within almost every circumstance of the act. It is evident that he had secret acquaintance with felons -
PROSECUTOR:that he made it his business to help people to stolen goods and by that means gain money from them, which was then divided betwixt him and the felons.
JUDGE:Gentlemen, you must now consider the evidence before you.
JUROR:We agree that the defendant be acquitted on the first indictment for the theft of the lace.
JUROR:On the second indictment that he did feloniously receive money for the return of stolen goods
JUROR:without apprehending or attempting to apprehend the felons responsible for the theft we find the defendant,
JUROR:guilty.
JUDGE:Mr. Wild, I hereby sentence you to death by hanging.
COURT REPORTER:Another historic trial. History made, and history most faithfully recorded.
COURT REPORTER:London's most powerful criminal has finally fallen foul of the very law his own duplicity inspired.
COURT REPORTER:Outside these walls, there is much anticipation of this verdict.
COURT REPORTER:Wild will hang and there will be a large crowd to cheer him on his way.
COURT REPORTER:In the end Jonathan Wild became a victim of his own success.
The Thief Taker General, Jonathan Wild, is on trial for stealing and receiving stolen goods in 1725.
Witness testimony reveals that he organised crimes, and then benefited from the return of the goods stolen. Even imprisoned in Newgate Prison, he manages to control crime.
Wild is found guilty and sentenced to hang.
The case is played out in the court room with dramatic flashbacks to illustrate the crime. The court reporter sets the scene and offers insight and context.
This film is from the series Tales from the Old Bailey.
Teacher Notes
This case is a complex one and, as such, can be used to challenge and extend pupil understanding.
It may help to view the film in short excerpts, leading whole-class discussions to ensure that the charges are understood and the progress of the trial followed carefully. Alternatively it could be viewed in one session, with pupils then asked to generate questions about what they have seen. Some questions may be answered by other pupils during class discussion and then the video could be reviewed to answer any outstanding questions.
Pupils could also complete a story board illustrating the main points of the case. Discussion around the case could be based on a number of points, such as the reasons for Wild's initial success in avoiding detection, the reason for the creation of this kind of role in the first place, and contrast that with the role of the police today.
It could form part of a wider comparison of the balance over time between the state directly employing people to fight crime, such as the police, and the use of private individuals to do so.
Pupils could also consider the relative severity of the sentence compared with the sentence the offence might receive today.
Pupils could be asked to write their own version of the trial which could be acted out and compared with the clip.
Curriculum Notes
These clips are relevant for teaching history at Key Stage 2 and Second level, particularly when studying the Georgians.
More Tales from the Old Bailey
The Blackguard Boys. video
A historic trial dramatised from the Old Bailey archives exploring the case of the Blackguard Boys from 1731.
The Grave Robber. video
After a grave in the churchyard is found empty, the vicar and his surgeon son are both put on trial for body-snatching.
The Murderess. video
A severed head is found floating in the Thames. The victim's wife is tried for his murder, but during the trial, his abuse of her is revealed.
The Suffragettes. video
Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading suffragette, is on trial for inciting others to commit criminal acts during the campaign for women's right to vote.
