April 1827, when police charged Solomon with theft and receiving. The goods involved were 6 watches, 3 yards of woollen cloth, 17 shawls, 12 pieces of Valentia cloth, lace, bobbinet, caps and other articles. Solomon was committed for trial and lodged in Newgate Prison. Solomon gained substantial notoriety with this arrest. Pamphlet publishers created three highly exaggerated accounts of his criminal activity, which sold very well. On a writ of habeas corpus, jailers took Solomon to the Court of King's Bench. The application failed and the guards led him to a hackney coach for the return to Newgate. Unknown to his captors, the coach was driven by Solomon's father-in-law. The turnkeys approved a detour through Petticoat Lane. At a prearranged place, some of Solomon's friends overpowered the guards and released him. Abscondment and his wife's arrest Solomon fled England, going first to Denmark and then to the United States, arriving in New York in August 1827. Solomon's escape from custody was prominent news throughout England. Police quickly focused on his family. Officers arrested Solomon's wife, Ann, and charged her with receiving stolen goods. She was found guilty and sentenced to penal transportation to Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The judge allowed Solomon's four youngest children (all under the age of ten) to accompany Ann on the transport ship. Their two oldest sons, John, 20, and Moses, 19, sailed to Sydney and then to Tasmania independently to be with their mother. Solomon's father was also charged with theft, but the court allowed his sentence to be respited because of his age (Henry claimed "I am upwards of seventy years old". The Old Bailey records him as being 69). Journey to be with his wife Ann travelled in the ship Mermaid, arriving at Hobart Town Penal Colony in June 1828. Back in New York, Solomon learned from newspapers that his wife had been transported. He decided he would sail to Tasmania to be with her. Solomon first went to Rio de Janeiro, then sailed in the Coronet to Hobart. He travelled under the name of Slowman, probably a mispronunciation of Solomon rather than an assumed name. Hobart, Tasmania's capital, was the enforced home of many of Solomon's old criminal colleagues and customers. These individuals quickly recognised Solomon when he arrived on 6 October 1828. Solomon's London escape had made him a notorious fugitive, but he had not broken any laws