Report of John Heath on 2 collective petitions (2 people, the prisoner and jury foreman;...

Report of John Heath on 2 collective petitions (2 people, the prisoner and jury foreman; and 17 people, from Billingsgate, Cripplegate, Strand, Hoxton, St Lukes, Spitalfields, Moorfields, in London and Middlesex, many with occupations given) on behalf of John Pratten, silk dyer at Leek, convicted at the 'Staffordshire Summer Assizes in 1792, for stealing silk, value £5, property of Thomas Ball, of Leek in Staffordshire ( the petition say the property was of 'divers persons'). Evidences supplied by Thomas Wolliscroft, master of the Swan Inn; Thomas Ball and Joseph Wilkinson, farmer. Grounds for clemency: previous good character and has a wife and 4 small children now in distress and will become dependent upon the parish, that having lived an active and laborious life (he has 'a gross and robust constitution') the close confinement of prison is a threat to the prisoner's life. Initial sentence: 5 years imprisonment. Recommendation: no mercy, future good behaviour in prison attested by the county magistrates may at some future date be grounds for a further application. Folios 238-241.