VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
805 
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. April 8th. 
HORSE DEALING.—“ COMMISSIONS.” 
William Vere Daicson Hunt , a tall, gentlemanly-looking man, who 
was stated to have been a captain in the army, surrendered to take his 
trial upon an indictment charging him with obtaining £25 by false 
pretences. 
Mr. Metcalfe and Mr. Poland conducted the prosecution; Sergeant 
Ballantine was specially retained, with Mr. Ribton, for the defendant. 
This case, it appeared, was removed by certiorari from the Middlesex 
Sessions. 
The prosecutor was a gentleman named Hackblock, residing at Reigate, 
and the charge arose out of the following circumstances : 
It appeared that the defendant and some other persons had established 
a sort of horse registry in the metropolis, and professed to act as brokers 
between the sellers and purchasers of horses, the principle of their 
business being to receive a commission of 5 per cent, from both parties. 
In January last the defendant sent to Mr. Cox, a solicitor in Coleman 
Street, a list of horses that were upon his register, and it appeared that 
at this time the prosecutor, who was a friend of Mr. Cox, was in want 
of a pair of carriage horses, and he asked the defendant to let him know 
if he heard of two that were likely to suit. In the course of a few days 
the defendant wrote a letter to the effect that he had found a pair of 
horses that would just suit, and that the owner wanted £150 for them, 
but that, after a great deal of trouble, he had induced him to take £135 
for them, but not a shilling less. This was communicated to Mr. Hack- 
block, who went to see the horses, and liked them, and agreed to pur¬ 
chase them if they were passed by a veterinary surgeon as sound. The 
horses after this were sent to Mr. Field, the veterinary surgeon, to be 
examined, and he gave a certificate that was satisfactory to Mr. Hack- 
block, who agreed to give the sum mentioned for the horses, and he 
handed to the prisoner £140 in Bank of England notes, £135 of that 
sum being the price agreed upon, £6 15s. for commission, and 5s. for the 
groom. The horses were then delivered to Mr. Hackblock? and shortly 
afterwards one of them was discovered to be restive, and unfit for the 
purpose for which he had purchased it, and he was therefore anxious to 
return them. This, however, he found he could not accomplish, and, 
upon his making inquiry, he ascertained that the defendant had pur¬ 
chased the horses in question from the person to whom they belonged 
for £110, and that he had pocketed the £25 in excess of that sum that 
was paid to him by the prosecutor. It also appeared that the highest 
price ever asked for the horses was £120, and that the sum of £150 was 
never mentioned. 
The Recorder , at the close of the case for the prosecution, expressed 
his opinion that the present indictment could not be supported. In 
order to make out a charge of obtaining money by false pretences it was 
necessary to prove that there was a false statement to the knowledge of 
the party, in reference to some existing fact, but here all that was proved 
was that the prisoner stated that he should pay over the money he 
received from the prosecutor to some other person at a future time, 
which, in his opinion, did not amount to false pretences. 
The jury thereupon, under his Lordship’s direction, returned a verdict 
of Not Guilty. 
XXXIV. 
23 
