Thomas Newton

Thomas Newton brought several cases against men at the Old Bailey for the crime of sodomy in 1726.

William Griffin, Thomas Wright and Gabriel Lawrence, (who was caught in a raid on the House of Margaret Clap) were both hanged for sodomising him.

“William Brown was indicted for a misdemeanour, in assaulting Thomas Newton, with an Intent to commit Sodomy with him” whilst walking home from an Ale House in Moorfields. Despite witnesses saying Brown “had been married 12 or 13 Years, had the Character of on honest Man, a kind Husband, and one that loved the Company of Women better than that of his own Sex” The Jury found him guilty and he was sentenced “to stand in the Pillory in Moorfields, pay 10 Marks, and suffer a Year's Imprisonment..

Moorfields was home to the “Sodomites’ Walk”, a central London cruising area.