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Adolph Beck was convicted of individually defrauding ten women out their jewelry, mostly rings, using the same confidence scheme.  The swindler had posed as the Earl of Wilton and claimed to have a home in St. John's Wood.  Beck was identified by all ten women.  In addition he was identified as John Smith, a man who had been convicted of perpetrating a identical confidence scheme in 1877.  At trial Beck's defence wanted to cross-examine the crown's handwriting expert to established that documents submitted into evidence as having been in Beck's handwriting were actually in the same hand as those attributed to Smith in 1877.  In addition it wanted to present testimony that Beck had been in South America in 1877 and for several years thereafter.  However, the judge prohibited this defence.  Legal rules prohibited the crown from mentioning a prior conviction, so the judge apparently felt the defence should be prohibited as well.

Evidence later surfaced that Smith had been examined by a prison doctor in 1879, who stated in his report that Smith had undergone circumcision.  Beck was examined and found to be uncircumcised.  The only effect of this new evidence was that Beck, who had been assigned Smith's old prison number, was given a new prison number.  Beck was released from prison in 1901.

In 1904, Beck was again arrested for defrauding women using the same confidence scheme.  He was again convicted, but his sentencing was deferred until further investigation could be made.  During this period, while stories of defrauded women were in the newspapers, a pawnshop owner called police about a man pawning rings in his shop.  The man said his name was William Thomas and that he was innocent of any wrongdoing.  However, he was identified by several swindled women who also identified rings in his possession as their property.  Following Thomas's conviction, he admitted that he was John Smith and that he was responsible for the frauds for which Beck had twice been convicted.  Beck was soon pardoned and Parliament awarded him £5,000 for his wrongful imprisonment.  (CTI)  [6/08]

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