The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-24 00:00:00

MANSLAUGHTER IN THE OLD BAILEY.

INQUEST.—(THIS DAY.)
This morning Mr. Payne, coroner for the City
of London. renamed and ooncluded en inquiry touching the
death of William Freeman, aged 31 years. who was killed
by being run over by one of Pickford's vans in the Old
Bailey.
it appeared from the evidesoe taken on this sod •
former occasion that the clammed was to the employ of Mr.
E. Beare, wholesale warehouseman in Doctore.oommone,
and that on the 9th instant he was proceeding with
• boy wheeling a truck down the Old Bailey. One
of Pickford's vans, heavily laden after the usual manner,
and driven by a man named Thomas Clarke, followed in the
same directive, and although there was not room sufficient
for it to name between the truck sod a dogcart that was in
the way—the width of the van, the truck, and the
dogcart together was 17 feet 7 inches. while
that of the road was 17 feet 5 incbee—tbe
van-driver limbed his way along, calling out to deceased to
" bold hard." The consequence was that the truck was
capsized, and thedemesed and the boy flung violently to the
ground. The wheel of the van passed over the deceased.
He died from his injuries on the 16th inst.
Clarke, in his &ham, urged that he was going at • slow
pace, and that the whole affair was an accident.
The Coroner having summed up,
The jury returned a verdict of Manalatig hter" against
Thomas Clarke.
_ _

The C;roM7raccepted bail for the appearance of Clarke at
the nut sessioos of the Central Criminal Court.

DREADFUL MURDER AT DERBY.

We have to record another dreadful murder in
the county town of Derby, which for atrocity exceeds the
one perpetrated two years ago by Richard norley. The
details o the present coccarreoes, which took place yester-
day, will be gathered from the following statement made to
our reporter by Sergeant Thorpe, of the borough police
force. Thorpe rid—l was on dory on the London-road at
a quarter to one o'clock this (Friday) morning, when
James Potter, • bailiff. aged 55, and who resides in
Tratfic-street, London-road, met me. I said to him,
" Potter, are you not going home rand be replied, "Not mi-
lers you go with me." I said, "I will go with you if you like,"
and we went back to him house together. Potter said,
"1 cannot get into the house, as my wife bas locked me
out," which I afterwards found was a correct statement. I
said, "The shutters are epee. get through the window."
He said, "No, I will not, Doles@ you go in with ma." I
maid, " Very well ; go in, that's a good fellow." He got
through, and I said, "Is there any one inside?" mad be
replied, "No, there is not, but you come in to me." Pot.
ter then struck a light, sod I got through the window to
him. When he lifted the window up I noticed that he
trembled vary much. I ran to the Druids' Arms, close
by, got some matches, and returned to Potter's house.
Potter said, "Go op stairs with me," and I replied,
" You go on first, you know the road." Potter their took me
to • front bed.rcom door on the second story, and he said,
" There is no one here." I said, "le there anyone above?"
and Potter replied, " Come into the attic with me." I
exempanied him into the attic, but found no one there.
We then returned to the bedroom on the sewed floor at the
back of the house, • lodger being fist asleep in the trout bed-
room. I aud to Potter, "Go into this bedroom." He would
not, and I went in. Ge the bed lay Potter's wife, quite deed,
with one leg out of bid, her ad towards the window,
and one arm stretched out, whilst Wood was trickling
from the bedclothes. Potter was about to leave the rem
when I seized hold of him, and said, " What does thin
blood mean! Whet is this' Come here." He rated,
"06, dear! Oh. dear! she deed?" I said, " is.
W hat does it all mese r He mad* no reply, and I went
down stairs and called two women who were pawing down
the street. They got through the widow, sad went and
looked at the body, saw that the woman was dead, but they
would not remain in the house as they were frighteoed. A
little girl was passing, sod I sent to the Druids' Arms, sad
loon afterwards Mr. Fast sod Mr. Heroism eurgeoos,anived.
On examining the body, a short wound was fogad under
the right breast, which, on being probed, was found to be
of great depth. I remained with the body notil 7 o'clock
this morning. Soon after 1 o'clock Inspector FIOXII arrived
at Potter's house, took him into custody, end charged him
with murdering his wife. He replied, "She has run me
into debt very much lately." Inspector Fame re lied that
that was so reason why he should have murdered her, and
he replied, "The man you met on the stairs did it, not
me." Fearstold him he had met no man on the stain.
Potter has been in a low, desponding way for some time,
and was Jealous of his wife. The poor woman, at
nine o'clock on Thursday evening, went to Inspector Green,
who lives in the same street, and said that her husband
would have to be taken to the asylum, as be was
abusing her very much, and calling her • prostitute.
There was • male-lodger in the [root bed-room,
also three grandchildren in another bed-room, sod
another grandchild in a third bed-room. None of
the children beard any noise, but the lodger said Potter
and his wife were quarrelling when be went to bed. The
woman was alive at 12 o'zlock ou Thursday evening, as
her married daughter left her a little before that time,
and there is no doubt the tragedy was committed • tew
minutes before Serpent Thorpe met the murderer, Oo
Nearchiog the had-room where the body was found Sergeant
Walker found by the side of a pair of chewers a spear,
which bad been unsheathed from a walking-stick, and with
which the deed was perpetrated. Mra Potter was 50 years
of age, sod had bad a large family, bat they were all grown
op, and none resided at home. The body awaits an ioquest.
Potter was brought up before the magistrates yesterday
morning, and remanded.

MR. JOSIKPIi BARREL—Mr. Basler is still in
this °Dimity. On Wednesday night, he delivered • lee.
titre in Leeds on "The teachings of experience," and
having concluded his &dolma', he said—" I dare say some
of you have seen some curious paragraphs ommerniog
me in certain of the papers ; and as theft paragraphs
have appeared in a great multitude of papers at the
same time, I conclude that some enemy has dose it. The
purport of the last story is, that I went on • minks to
America to present • peace petition or document to the
goveromeet ; that for fear of consequences, I went coder
an assumed name, calling myself Joseph Parker, instead of
Joseph Barker; that I have abandoned my antislavery
principles, and Ido not know what. The whole is a tisane
of pure fabrication sod wicked slanderous lief. I have not
been out of England for the last five veers, except once to
Gueruey. I have never been the agent of the Southern
rebel; and I have never gone against my anti• slavery prin-
ciples. I should like, if the editors and proprietors of car.
man papers, who profess to be Christian, would bleed toge-
ther • little common honesty and Christian charity, and
not do injustice to • man, even like poor Joseph Barker."—
Manchester Examiner.

Tits Con or • STRIKE.—The men at the Oaka
Colliery, near &rooky, were oat for too months. To both
mentors sod men tbe loss hoe beets serious— the former
haviog their trade seemly stopped. while the men in
wages slaw hare lost at the least 70 0001. The strike has
also had the egret of intro:Whig machities for getting coal,
sod from the 'seam that they bare already bad. in the
°owes of a few yeses they will work a great revolutios In
the South Yorkshire coalfield, as they well teed greatly to
Lem the demigod for wasting sollises.—Yorkshirs Gaunt.