 By 1719, Blake was working with Irish highwayman James Carrick, and, by 1722, he was a member of a gang of street robbers led by Robert Wilkinson.Several of his colleagues were arrested that summer, and three were hanged in September.Blake escaped this time, perhaps due to influence deployed on his behalf by Wild, but he received a sabre cut to the head as he resisted his arrest by Wild in December 1722.