Counting on dishonour among thieves during early British rule

Quite recently, I wrote about the exercise of the sovereign prerogative of mercy in Malta during early British rule, limiting myself to cases in which the governor thought proper to pardon criminals already tried and convicted by the courts. (‘Justice as a present from the Sovereign’, Times of Malta, January 3 and 10). 

Today, I will explore ‘amnesties’ or pardons of a different nature:  those granted to encourage accomplices in crime to provide information meant to lead to the prosecution of unsolved crimes. I came across several curious cases between 1817 and 1840. 

The first British Governor, Sir Thomas Maitland, ‘King Tom’, enjoyed a reputation for being quite ‘amnesty-happy’, though not through the softness of his heart or because of any insatiable thirst for justice. A renowned sadist by nature, those around him were convinced he gloated in letting loose on the population as many delinquents as possible.

Sir Thomas Maitland, first Governor of Malta, in whose name all the early promises of immunity from prosecution were issued.

A common trait of these pre-emptive pardons to obtain information was that the principal felon who had actually committed the unsolved crime would...