The Express.
London, England, 1863-12-05 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOKE CIRCITIT.—HERT7OIII), Due. 4.
(Before Mr. Jading Williams.)
The hadmes of the Hertfordshire ageism was proceeded
with yesterday, before Mr. Julian Mai m. Ifs tabeadar
captains the names of 28
George Hankon, 36, Wiliam Seeks, 17. and William
Garrett. Z. were charged with being in pursuit of game in
the eight time. armed with guns, upon land belonging to
Mr. Christopher Giles Puller, M.P.
By a second count of the indictment, the defendant. were
charged with en assault upon Daniel Cook, a gamekeeper.
Mr. Woollen was counsel for the promotion ; Mr. Codd
appeared for the defence.
The prosecutor in this care is a magietrate, and one
of the members for the ounaV, sad it appeared that
in the night of the 22nd of November, Daniel Cook, a
gamekeeper in his service, was out watching upon his
land at Younpbury, near Were, where Mr. Puller
nog" and he returned home about two °clock in the
morning. Be very goon afterwards heard the report of a
gun, and'he called to hie son. in-law, a men named Garner,
and another keeper, earned King. ad went out is the di-
rection of • wood called Gardner's Spring, and when he had
got about • hundred yards from the wood, he heard the
report of another gun, and immediately afterwards he sew
the three prisoners come through the hedge from the wood.
He laid bold of Hankie, and be called out to his com-
panions, and Garrett came up and raised • gun and aimed a
blow at his head with the butt end of it, and in order to
save himself Cook put up both his hands, but this
did not prevent him from receiving • severe blow on
the head. The third man, Scales, wen behind the other
two, and he bad • stick with which he struck the keeper
on the leg. Before he wee assaulted he heard some of the
party say, " Here's Cooker, let's give it the " and fearing
be should receive some serious injury, the keeper ran awe. ,v
followed by the three poachers. At a short dietaner lie
mine on with King and Garner, and the prisoners upon
seeing them ran, away followed by the keepers, sad Cook
came up with Hackle, and was about to lay hold of
him, when he levelled his gnu at him and told him to steed
back or he would shoot him, and he allowed him to
go away. The prisoner Garrett was taken into
custody on the spot. and be was fraud to have in
his possession • powder flask, • shot pouch, six anarea, and a
dead rabbit, and it appeared that both he and Hankie
were armed with guns, and upon these gnu being examined
it was proved that one of them hd recently been dis-
charged. The gamekeeper (Cook) stated that be had knows
Hankie for twenty years, and wag quite sure be was one of
the men, and he also stated that be bad known both the
other men for some time previous, end he spoke positively
to their identity, The penmen Hankie and Scales were
taken into custody oa the IMO day. but when they were
told that they were charged with night poaching end Bl-
ueing the keeper, they replied that they knew nothing about
it. The police made a search at Hankie's cottage and
found • gun, and when this prisoner saw it be said
that it had not been fired for six year., hut upon
the weapon Ming examined it woo evident that it had been
recently discharged, and there was also dirt uponthe muz-
zle and the barrel. Hankie' it appeared, also threatened
to charge the constable with robbery for tabus his gun away.
The jury found the prisoners Harkin and Garrett Guilty,
and deguated Scales, as they said they considered hie idea-
tity had not been sufficiently established.
Robert Peel, 18, Mow Cooper, 29, sad Jaws Turner, 21,
pleaded guilty to an indictment charging them with
feloniously and maliciously setting Ire to four houses and
other property belonging to Henry Boutledge.
Mr. W. A. Clark was instructed for the prosecution.
The offence to which them prisoners pleaded guilty was
one of a very extraordinary character. The prosecutor
rem ea in the town of Baldock, and carries on there the
business of • grocer and draper, and he wag the proprietor
of a considerable block of houses in the town, some of which
were used as storehouses, and contained • peat quantity of
goods and property of all deseriptions, and the remainder
consisted of cottages occupied by labonnApeople. The
premises were all seen to be safe ea the a' tof Saturday,
the 26th of September, and about two o' kon the fol-
lowag morning the neighbourhood was alarmed by a loud
explosion in the storehouse, which arose from • quantity of
gunpowder that had been deposited there; and • terrible
coofilredion ensued, the effect of which was I
not only to destroy a very conaiderable cinantity of pro.
party but to endanger the lira of the inmates of the cot-
tagea. The prisoners were seen at the fire, and it would
seem that their conduct created so much suspicion that
Leech, the Baldock constable, felt it his duty on the follow-
ing
day to take the prisoner Peel into custody, sod he then
made the following extraordinary statement : " Wham we
left the Plume of Feathers public-house, Moues Cooper said
he should like to see a good fire, and then said, 'Let's o
and have one,' sad we then went to the bottom of Norton-
street, turned to the right into Football's-close, and so bask
by the Quaker's Meeting-honee, into Nortowetreet
spin, nearly opposite Pond-lane (the spot where the
Ire occurred), and Cooper lighted two piens of rag and gave
one to Turner and one to me, and Cooper then lifted me
and Turner up to get over he wall, into Mr. Routledge's
garden. My rat; went out. but Turner neat and shoved his
into the eaves of the thatch of one of Mr. Routledge's build-
ings adjoining his garden. When it was on fire I and
Turner got over into Mr. Steed's frier' and so out spin.
Cooper then met us and asked bow it was, and we told him
it was all right, and we then west into the fields end over
the railway and ao bark into Norton-street, and I then went
awl helped to get the engine out and left the other behind."
The other two prisoners were subsequently apprehended,
and Cooper, while in Hertford gird, wrote • letter to an of
his relatives, in which he stated that they were guilty, and
they were very sorry for what they had dove, but that they
were all alike &Batboy must make the beet of it. It appeared
that within a very short period property to • very large
amount bad been destroyed in the neighbourhood of
B.,ldock. under similar circumstances, and withogiszsz
assignable motive. Both Cooper and Peel had, it appeased,
been previously convicted of felony.
Sentence wee deferred.

George Wright, 24, a well-dressed, respectable.=
young roae, who was described as a labourer, was
with a similar °fleece.

Mr. W. A. Clerk prosecnted.
He was found Guilty.
Sentence in all them as wee deferred.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—WozczsTER, DEC. 4.
(Bodo» Yr. Justin Creteptoe.)
_

7'hortuse Burton was charged with attempting to murder
Elizabeth Barnes ma the 28th October last, at Kempsey, in
this comity.
The case (partly reported yesterday) was remarkable for
the establishment of a clear alibi. The prosecutrin in her
evidence swore that, on the 28th October, at about 10
o'clock a.m., a man whom she identified as the prisoner,
entered her c 'nage and beat her co the head with a stick,
fracturing her skull. She is now lying in Worcester In-
firmary ; but the prisoner (who was apprehended at
(ammeter on the sth November) being taken to her
bedside she name he was the man who had at-
tacked her. A witness, named Crump, also swore
that he saw the prisoner about that hour on the
28th October, near the proescotrix's cottage. The primmer.
however, produced two respectable 'Soren who proved
that be was at Cheltenham, 20 miles distant, at the time
when the outrage was committed. Mr. Heath, nursery.
man, of Cheltenham, proved that on that day the prisoner
went to work at 7 o'clock, and in consequence of his having
absented himself for two days he dismissed him. Mrs.
Brown, Mr. Heath's daughter, saw the prisoner at ten
o'clock smoking a pipe at the corner of a street in Chel-
tenham).
The jury thereupon Acquitted the prisoner.

MIDLAND ClRCUlT.—Wkawrcx, Du. 4.
Czowx Coma.— (Before Yr. Baron Martin.)
Charier Berm 21. and ►ie brother, Henry Beery, 18, two
agricultural labourers, were indicted for the wilful murder
of Mr. C. Plummer, at Peony Compton, on the Idth of
October.

Mr. Bennett and the Hon. F. C. Leigh were for the pro-
' serutioa • Mr. FiteStephen defended the prisoner.
The facts of the case showed that Charles and He
nry
Beene were walkiag through the geld of Mr. Pl •
nephew is a ♦ery tipsy state, when they were annoyed by a
terrier dog, wed need abusive Laguna. Mr. Backetta
(the nephew) told them he was occupier ,of the field,
and parish constable, and that if they repeated the
bad language he should take them into enstady. This led
to an aseault upon Ricketts, who was knocked down.
He wised hie uncle's stick. and knocked down Charles Beers,
also striking him while he was down—aa unfortuoate act
which is some measure led to the catastrophe. Up to this
time Henry Beers had takes no par► intheaffray, acting mther
as a peacemaker between his brother and Ricketts. but seeing
the former undermost and getting the wont of it he killed
in the sesault. Both the Beene were stimulated by drink
and acted with brutal violence, getting Ricketts down sad
kicking him till he extricated himself from their clutches by
a tremendous effort. and, as he said, " made a dash and ran
for his life." The first person who went into the field, Ave
minutes afterwards, found Mr. Plummer on the ground, the
bridge of hie pose broken, his skull smashed is. and his face
presenting a horrible picture from blood and dirt. The
brothers were thee about six rude off, one of them palling
the other away in the direction of North Eud, when they
both lived, sad the elsleseses made by Henry Beers apes