The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-07 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COURT.—YESTUDAY.
(Bayous Mx. hence TALPOCLD MAD Mt. JVITICS WILL,AIO,)
Johanna Connell, 20, was charged upon an indictment
which, in the two first counts, imputed to her the capital
offence of feloniously administering to George William
Latham a quantity of oil of vitriol, with intent to murder
him; and in others, with committing the same act with
intent to do grievous bodily harm, which offence, under the
present state of the law, is not capital.
At the November sessions of this court the prisoner was
tried for murder, arising out of the same circumstances,
but in consequence of the medical testimony failing to trace
any immediate connexion between the administration of
the vitriol and the death of the child, the jury, under the
direction of Mr. Baran Alderson, who tried the cue, re-
turned a verdict of not guilty, but the primate was or-
dered to be detained to meet the present charge. The
i counsel for the prisoner had, it appeared, placed a plea et
autrefois acquit upon the record in reference to the two filet
counts of the indictment.
This plea led to a long technical argument before the
case was gone into, and it was contended by Mr. Sleigh
that under Lord Campbell's Act the prisoner might, upon
the former trial, have been found guilty of an attempt to
usamit the felony and murder with which she was charged,
sad that as she had thus been placed in jeopardy upon the
way charge which was now contained in the two counts et
Ole indictment, her plea of autrefois acquit ought to ay
bar with reference to these two count'.
Mr. Clarkson,on behalf of the crown, contended that the
Matate referred to was never intended to convict a
prisoner, under a charge of murder or felony of sat 7 der
earfption,
earlption, of another substantive felony reached by
a distinct act of parliament. The intention of the set of
parliament that had been referred to was clearly to prevent
failure of justice in cases where the evidence might not be
eallicient to support the charge of felony, by giving the
the power to had the party accused guilty of the Mb.
ur of attempting to commit it.
M. Justice Williams, at the close of the argument, said
this the judgment of the court upon the point that had
been raised must be for the crown. Ile was of opinion
that the prisoner could not have been convicted of the
offence with which she was now charged in the two first
counts of the indictment, and that she had consequently
sot been placed in any jeopardy.
Mr. Justice Talfourd said he entirely concurred with
Mr. Justice Williams, and he was clearly of opinion that
Lied Campbell's Act never intended to give the power to
aognit a prisoner of one felony and find him guilty of ano-
dise substantive felony, which was only created by a para.
Bahr statute.
The cue was accordingly proceeded with ; but, as the
evidence was given fully in the report of the former trial,
and the proceedings before the coroner and the magistrate,
It will be unnecessary to give more than a brief outline of
the facts upon which the charge was preferred. The pet.
soner was in the service of Mr% Lapham, a baker, in the
New-cut, Lambeth, and it appeared,that on the evening of
the 20th October the child in question, which was live
weeks' old, was asleep in the bed ot its mother, and the pri-
soner was seen to go into the room, and very soon after-
wards the child was heard to scream violently. The mother
ran up-stairs directly to see what was the matter, and dis-
covered that the mouth and throat of the poor child had
been burned in a most dreadful manner. At drat the
injury was thought to have been °cosigned by
a candle, but upon Mr. Sewell, a medical gentleman,
being called in, it was speedily discovered that the
burning was the effect of oil of vitriol. The primer sus
at once charged with being the perpetrator of the crime,
when she ran into the yard of the house and fall into a fit,
and upon the water-closet being examined a day or two
afterwards, a bottle which had belonged to tho prisoner, and
which she had represented contained "holy water," she
being of the Roman catholic religious persuasion, was
found in the water closet, which, on being examined turned
out to coatain a portion of oil of vitriol.
Mr. Sleigh addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner,
remarking upon the absence of any motive on her part for
the commission of so diabolical a crime. He also remarked
upon the absence of any evidence as to how the vitriol came
into the bottle, and the possibility of the unfortunate occur-
rence being the result of accident.
Mr. Justice Williams summed up, and at six o'clock the
jury retired to consider their verdict. At half-put eight
returned into court, and gave a verdict of Not

NEW COURT—YESTERDAY.
Buou rug Escoams.

In the case of Paxton and Wynn, who were convicted
on Monday of obtaining money by false pretences,
Mr. Robinson, on the behalf of Fazton, said that, since
his client's conviction, he had written a letter entirely
denying that he was guilty of any fraud, and complaining
that he had not any notice given him, or had he any know-
ledge, of the evidence he was called upon to answer at hie
trial. Ilia client averred that he had paid 1601. for the
lease, which he had sold for 1551., thereby losing 51.; and
that prosecutor bad suffered no wrong, as he was still in
possession of the house.
The Recorder said his impression was, that the prose-
cutor had been obliged to lean the house.

Mr. Robinson said that was the general impression on the
trial, owing to the misrepresentations made on the trial Ly
the prosecutor; and what he now asked was, that his lord-
ship would hear fresh evidence, and postpone the sentence
for that purpose. They wished to examine Knight, to
show that the notice was given as cue of the conditions of
the will.
The Recorder wished to know why Knight had not been
galled upon the trial.
)dr. Clarkson, for Wynn, said that the solicitor who had
the case had only instructed them the day preceding the
trial.
The Recorder, after some further conversation, said that
those facts must be submitted to the Secretary of State,
and in the meantime consented ta take bail for the prisoners
to come up for judgment when called upon.
John Itiaite, 19, waterman, was convicted of a street rob-
bery with violence upon William Kipling.
The Recorder sentenced him to ten years' transportation,
and told him that his class of offence was one which the
court would visit with severe punishment, and he wished it
to be understood transportation as now carried out was cne
of considerable suffering. A man first was made to undergo
a long and severe term of imprisonment, and afterwards
was in a foreign country subjected to the greatest hardships
and privations.
Richard IVithang, 36, labourer, pleaded guilty ta the
manslaughter old oseph rolden.
It appeared that prisoner and deceased were fellow work-
men in Price's patent candle factory, and up to the period
of the present unhappy transaction, were the best of friends.
Both parties, with their friends, were at a public-house
larking, when 1,01110 One threw a duster at the deceased,
who struck prisoner and abused him until he got over the
table and knocked him down, and, when down, took him
by the neckhand'aerchief and beat Lis head about on the
hearth where he had falien, thereby producing a concussion
of the brain.
fhe court sentenced him to 4 months' imprisonment.
Robert Necill, 26, labourer, was indicted fur the man
slaughter of Daniel O'llryan.
The facts of this case, which have very recently appeared
when the case was betore the coroner, were briefly these :
Both prisoner and deceased were, upon the 28th of Decem-
ber, at the Three Neale' Tongues, Pearl-street, St. Giles.
There were a great number of persons in the tap-rcom, and
prisoner's sister, being called upon, sang a song, during
which a disturbance arose, and the deceased man kept call-
ing for order, when a Mrs. Connelly, who was very out-
rageous, seised up two quart pots, and according to her
statement, as soon as the riot bigan the prisoner seized one
and struck the deceased a most violent blow on the head,
which fractured his skull. lie was taken to Sailit:Bar
tholomew's Hospital, where he soon expired.
For the defence it was proved by several witnesses that
the blow was given by the woman Connelly, who aimed
it at prisoner, but he stooping down to avoid it, the de-
ceased, who was standing close by, got the blow. The
prisoner went of his own accord before the coroner, and
there set up the same defence.
After hearing a great deal of evidence, which occupied
the court for a considerable time past the usual hour of
rising, the jury Acquitted the prisoner.

THIRD COURT—YEsTEr.DAY.
BILFORZ VIZ COMMON £3IIXJFANT.
Thomas Dibk, 46, mariner, and Lar ink Dale and Ante-
Ants Dshle, his daughters, two girls whose heads starcely
reached above the dock, and the youngest of whom was
stated to be under 12 years of age, were indicted upon three
separate indictments for felony.
The case was a somewhat remarkable one. The father,
who is a respectable man, belonging to or.e of the steam
towing companies, lives with the two girls at Woolwich,
and the prosecutors are drapers of the same town; and,
having on several occasions missed a great many things
from their shop, they communicated with the police, and
the result was that the little girl, who was in the habit of
almost daily coming to the shop for pins and other trifling
articles, was suspected, and followed to their father's house,
sad finally charged with the robbery. After that
the police went to the father's house, and told hint wh..t
had occurred, he said he knew nothing about it, but that
there were two shawls up stairs in his box, which the eldest
girl said her mistress had given to her. The police then
found two new shawls and a piece of print, and also dupli-
cates relating to a quantity of other property which had
been pawned at different shops about the outskirts of the
town by the eldest girl. The property was all such as the
prosecutors found gone from their stock, but the patterns
being usual ones, and all marks having been carefully
taken out, they could not positively be sworn to. The an-
swer Niven by the f.,ther was that, being away from home
sometimes a month together, he could not tell what was
done in his absence.
The jury Acquitted the prisoners upon each indictment.