Yes, the Old Bailey case is the only reference that I have showing Richard's connection to the crape mills. I have nothing further on Thomas Taplin apart from a reference to his partnership with John Baylis and Joseph Grout being dissolved in 1812. (John Baylis also seems likely to be the 'Bayliss' mentioned in Smith's evidence). Grout (who was also from Hackney) and Baylis opened a crape mill in Norwich in about 1807, and one at Ponders End in Enfield in about 1809. I'm not yet sure where Thomas got involved or exactly who he was.
There does seem to have been cross-overs between some people who worked in various crape manufacturing firms in the late 18th and 19th centuries, so I am wondering if Thomas is the same person as the Thomas who married Mary Ann Beverley in Stepney in 1797 and had sons Edwin, George and Edward in Hackney, and if so, if he had connections to Smith's mills. He seems to disappear from Hackney after 1805.