HC Deb 29 March 1811 vol 19 cc643-4

"Was there, before the act passed, any reluctance in prosecutors to prosecute for this offence, or in jurors to convict, if the evidence was complete?

The Recorder.

"I am not aware of the least reluctance in prosecutors to come forward and prosecute, as the law formerly stood, nor did I ever know a jury loth to convict, when the evidence was complete.

The Common Serjeant.

"The above-mentioned statute applied to any value exceeding one shilling, and in prosecutions where the value of the stolen articles was very trifling, I have observed a reluctance injuries to find the prisoners guilty of privately stealing; but in cases, not of that description, I have not found more unwillingness to apply the law to that species of offenders, than to a thief of any other class.

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