The Sheffield Daily Telegraph dated Monday 13 September 1886 held an exiting account of a capture of a thief by a hotel landlord. He was Mr Richard Elliott who, at the time, was the proprietor of the Black Swan, Snighill, Sheffield. The hotel was a thriving business and consequently the staff were quite busy on the night of Friday 10 September around 8 pm. Elliott was busy serving in the smoke room, when he saw a thirty five year old man he knew called James Richardson enter the bar. The landlord’s antenna was immediately aroused, as he was convinced that the same person had carried out a burglary at the hotel three years previously.

So, when Elliott saw the man go out of the bar and head towards the men’s toilets, he told the barman and a waiter to quickly follow him. The two men saw the customer enter the men’s toilet, which was situated at the bottom of the stairs leading to the bedrooms. They waited and watched, hiding behind a large cupboard. Their wait was rewarded when they saw Richardson come out of the toilet and proceed quietly upstairs to the bedrooms. Elliott meanwhile was still serving in the bar when a few moments later, he heard a loud clattering noise coming from outside in the yard. Handing the customer his pint, the landlord rushed outside to find Richardson sprawled out on the cobbles.

He had obviously jumped from one of the bedrooms, as one of the windows was still open. To his great annoyance, the hotel proprietor saw it was the window to his own bedroom. The burglar was now groaning in pain, as his captor most unsympathetically pulled him to his feet. Richardson cried out, but showing little sympathy, Elliott told him ‘you are alright, the only mistake you made is that you have come here once too often.’ The police were called and the prisoner was confined in a back room until an officer arrived. When Elliott went to his own bedroom, he could not help but notice that the top drawer of a chest of drawers had been jemmied open and some of the contents missing.

Thankfully it was not long before Detective Baker arrived and he and the landlord took the thief into custody. Arriving at the Charge Room at the Town Hall, the prisoner was searched. Elliott was almost dumbfounded by the number of items which were found on Richardson. He told Detective Baker that the man must have been a most accomplished burglar as he had only been upstairs ten minutes at the most. Placing the items in the small pile, they found a cigar case, a pair of glasses, a purse containing three foreign coins and some cuff links, items which were later calculated to the value of £80. Elliott told the prisoner ‘I have been waiting for you for two years. You are the same man who robbed the house once before.’

Detective Baker took Richardson away, still protesting his innocence all the way the Town Hall. Once charged, Richardson was soon placed in on of the cells below. Consequently, the prisoner was brought before the Sheffield magistrates on Saturday 11 September 1886. However they were to find this prisoner a most unusual thief. Appearing in the courtroom, one local newspaper described him as being ‘a tall, well dressed man in a light suit, who gave his name as James Richardson and said he was a confectioner of City Road, London.’ The Chief Constable Mr John Jackson produced a chisel which had been found on the prisoner, and stated that the marks on the drawers corresponded with the same implement.

He told the bench that the prisoner had been probably been busy robbing the bedroom when he heard a noise from the two staff following him up the stairs. In order to make his escape, he had consequently jumped out of the bedroom window. Mr Jackson then asked for a remand for the prisoner for a week in order to enquire into his record, which was granted. It was a good job that he did. During that time it was quickly established that James Richardson had several convictions for public house robberies. On Saturday 18 September 1886 the prisoner was brought back into court where various witnesses, whose bedrooms at the Black Swan had been entered, then gave their evidence.

One was a veterinary surgeon called Mr Joseph Absom who had been staying in bedroom number two. He stated how on the day in question, he had been out all day from 8 am to 9 pm. When he returned back, he discovered his writing desk had been broken open. Although nothing was missing from the desk, several items of clothing had been removed to the value of £15. Another witness Andrew Clayton stated that he had been in bedroom number six when the prisoner entered. Seeing the man in bed, the thief apologised stating that he had gone into the wrong bedroom. Other witnesses also swore to seeing the prisoner in the bar on the night in question.

However what was most curious about this crime was that some other people staying at the hotel claimed that some expensive items of jewellery had been stolen from them, which were never recovered by the police. Nevertheless the evidence against James Richardson was so complete that he was committed to take his trial. Subsequently, on Friday 15 October 1886 the prisoner was brought before the Sheffield Quarter Sessions. At first he claimed intoxication as a reason for the crime. He stated that he had been drinking for two days and had fallen out of a window whilst walking along an upstairs passage. Seeing that this was not going to gain him any sympathy, Richardson then changed his story.

The prisoner now claimed that whilst lying on the cobbles of the yard, he was in a very stunned state. He remembered being picked up by two men, but did not know where he was until he felt someone’s hands in his pockets. Richardson concluded that he had never seen most of the jewellery which he had been accused of stealing. Instead he said that the real thief had escaped with most of the expensive booty, leaving just a few paltry items in his pocket for the police to find. The prisoners defence, Mr Ellison admitted that his clients admission was most improbable, but that didn’t make it untrue. He reminded the court that there was no evidence of him having any of the most valuable pieces on his person. However the Chief Constable suggested that the prisoner might have either hidden them somewhere inside the hotel, in order to arrange for an accomplice to later taken them away.

His defence also pointed out that the landlord claims he had only been in the upstairs area for ten minutes before he heard the sounds in the yard was equally as improbable. The Recorder, in summing up the case admitted that the prisoners defence was difficult to believe, particularly given his abysmal criminal record. Mr Jackson had by this time established that James Richardson had committed similar thefts at Liverpool, Derby and Derby and other places. For these crimes the prisoner was wanted by the police forces of Liverpool, Wigan and Derby. The jury, without hesitation found the prisoner guilty. Accordingly, the Recorder sentenced him to imprisonment for twelve months with hard labour.