The Express.
London, England, 1863-03-13 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENOIE

HOME ClRClllT.—,Camuirozo, MAaca 12.
Comm Sor.—(Bdore the Lord Obis( Justice Cockburn.)
Samuel Straight, $9, a very respeetable-looking moo, de-
scribed as a farmer, turret:44nd to take hie taisl upon an
indictment which charged him in mos count with unlawfully
sod feloniously dischargiog a pistol loaded with odor
and leaden shot at Matthew Murray, a police cceeiabia, with
latest to prevent his lawful app elionsion ; and by two
other counts he was charged with committiog the roe set
with intact to maim and disable the prow:ink% or to do
him SOON grievous bodily harm. nem was also a mooed
indictment, charging the prisoner with a urns amersit,
arising out of the mme transaction.
Mr. Walford conducted the prosecution; Mr. Murphy
wee coussel for the defence. . .

This ass ;rested 7good deal of filtered on account of
the position of the prisoner, who is • respectable farmer.
living at Woodham•Ferne, in the neighbourhood of Chelms-
ford. The act imputed to him was committed under the
Miseries of jealowm, for which it would seem them was not
the slightest foundation, and upon the committal of the
prisoner he was bailed by Mr. floratton, one of the megis•
testes of the county, and he now surrendered in discharge
of the reocgnizancee that had been entered into.
It appeared from the evidence of the prosecutor, who is
onset the Imes comtebulary, and another coestable named
Owen, that ce the 11th of November, about half-pest gto
o'clock in the evening, they were seat for to the boerof
• pesos lamed Wright, at Woodhaai Ferris, where they
found the prisoser's wife, and she complained that the psi
sorer had threatened to kill her, and wished them to take
him into custody. Upon this they went to the prisoner's
house, and toned him in • very excited eta* partly frets
drink and from passion, and upon their sakes Ms
to allow his wifepartly to come home, be said that as she had
begun be would finish, and that he would kill her the bet
opportunity. The constables went heck to Wright's, and in
• very short time the prisoner came there, bringing
with him • deuble-barrelled gun and be celled to
his wife to dome out, and said he would shoot
ber. He was very violent at this time, sod broke Dome of
the windows end then left, bat returned again in • few
minutia, and repeated his demand for his wife to come oat,
and a'so mid he would shoot her in spite of all the
police, Finding that she was still
what was supposed to be a pistol through the window. The
prosecutor remonstrated with him upon his conduce, and
requested him to lay down his fee-arms, for itappered
that at this time he had the gun and the pied still in his
pomession, and come into the house quietly, bat this sly
seemed to increase his rime, and be made use of some very
violent language to the policemen, and declared that he
would make the wife of the mementor • widow, and his
children chargeable to the parish, and also mid that he
would so home and load again, and he would have three
barrels ready, ems for the w— and the other two for the
The primmer then went away, and the constables,
FOP e
at purpose of preventing mischief, took the wife to a
shed belonging to a peldiehouse, called the Bell, ekes by.
In the course of a few minutes the prisoner, *be bad, no
doubt, during the interval been to his ova house and
nimbi his &terms, returned to Wright's, and
again Insisted upon his wife being sent out, and
• upon his hearing that she had gone to the Bell,
be pioopeded 'thither, and, with great violeuoe, insisted
that the should be sent from the house, and again declared
that he %meld kill her. After some time the constables
fearing that something oaken might moue, went to the
for the purpose of securing him, aid Murray mined
rirt by the arms, while Owen wrembed the gun—both
tenets of which turned oat to be loaded with gunpowder
sad shot—from his map. A struggle then took place
between Murray, the prosecutor, and the prisoner, and the
latter was thrown, sod it was then observed that he had a
pistol in his right band, which was pointed towards the
prommtor ; ad Owen very promptly struck his traz ce
use side, sad the pistol exploded, bat fortunately without
*Koehn any dames*.
There was no evidence to show whether the pistol ere-
'seed anything besides gunpowder, sad the
pawed to have stated that than was nothing else sod
that his oil *hind was to frighten them. It wee also
pretty clear thek whatever the intimation of the pthoser
might have bpi% the esciesiere eif the pletol aUrMtalile
solely to the blow men by the timetable Owen, and not to
say net of the pines, ; sad it wee likewise (belted Is the