The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-18 00:00:00

ABOMINABLE CRUELTY.

THE MATCH AGAINST TIME.
BURNHAM (BUCKS), JAN. 17.
The magistrates acting for this district—the lion.
G. T. Irby, the Rev. T. Carter, and It. R. Clayton, Esq.—
were occupied to-day for several hours in the hearing of an
information had at the instance of the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animate, through their secretary, Mr.
Thomas, against Mr. John Pickett, the landlord of the
Plough Inn, Oxford, for having, as was alleged, cruelly ill-
treated and over-driven a pony during the performance of
a match against time between Oxford and London and
back. . . .

Mr. Thomas appeared in support of the information, and
the defendant, who appeared in pursuance of the summons
served upon him, was represented by Mr. J. J. Williams,
the barrister. _

■

Mr. Thomas briefly stated the circumstances under which
the complaint was made against the defendant, and after
observiug that the cruelty which was imputed to him was
carried out apparently with no other object than to enable
him to win his wager, and obtain profit through the suffer-
ing of the wretched animal that was under his control. Ile
put the case to the bench as one in which they would be
only doing their duty by committing the detentiunt to gaol,
instead of inflicting a penalty.
The following evidence was then adduced
Sarah linwell deposed that she kept the toll-gate at Bed-
dington, about three miles on the London side of Oxford.
She knew the defendant, and saw him on Sunday, the 10th
December, and he told her he was going to drive his pony
to London and back on the Tuesday morning following,,
and he wished her to keep the gate open between one and
two o'clock in the morning. He also said that he was to be
back in Oxford a few minutes after nine o'clock the same
evening. In consequence of what he said the gate was
opened for him between one and two o'clock, and she saw
the defendant come back at night, about nine minutes be-
t.... =fa. will, i.,0 puuy and cart. A butcher's cart was
before the defendant's 'cart, and attached to it from the
shafts, thus dragging the pony and cart along. About ten
days after this she again saw the &tendon., who paid her
the toll, and thanked her for paying attention to his request
to leave the gate open.
Charles Pears.) deposed that he was one of the constables
of High Wycombe, and he remembered seeing the defend-
ant with his pony and cart about a quarter past five o'clock
on the morning of the 21st December in that town, which
was about twenty-five miles from Oxford. He drove up to
the Falcon Inn, and the pony was taken out of the cart and
put into the stable, and witness examined it, but did net
observe any marks of ill usage, or anything particular
about it at that time. Some gruel was offered to the pony,
but it refused to take it. Witness asked the defendant
" What was up that morning ?" and he said he was going
to London, to the Bank, and back to Oxford with the pony
that day, and that ho had to go there and back in twenty
hours, and that it was a hundred and twenty miles the
pony had to go; and be added that he had left Oxford at
five minutes past one that morning. The pony was then
harnessed again to the cart, and the defendant drove off
towards London. About six o'clock the same even-
ing he saw the defendant and the pony and
oart again at the Falcon, and the pony ap-
peared to . be very much distressed, and he observed some
very large weals on the off side of the pony, and this in-
duced him to look into the cart, and he saw a whip and a
Mick, about as thick as a man's finger and a yard long,
which was split up the middle, for about a loot, and a pieta
of the wood was split off. When the pony was in the
stable some gruel was offered him, but he would not take
any, and some hay was then put in it and offered to it,
but he refused this also, and witness observed this to the
defendant, and he said that was the worst of it, the pony
" would not take anything hardly all day." A bit of raw
beef was tied round the pony's bit before it was placed in its
mouth, and then defendant drove away. Before he started
another horse was placed in front of the pony as a leader.
This leader was attached by two cords to;the harness of the
defendant's pony and he was dragged off. The cellar was
pulled up more than a foot from his shoulders two or three
times before the pony moved, and he would not have
moved then if some persons had not laid hold of the bridle,
and when he went on the defendant began whipping him.
Mr. Irby—Did he whip the animal severely ?
Witness—lie did. The pony did not seem inclined to
move until the other horse got into a trot, and then he was
obliged to follow, being dragged along.
Examination continued—Witness followed the defendant
for about a quarter of a mile, and he got out of Wycombe
about ten minutes after six. All the time witness followed
them the defendant continued whipping the pony, who
seemed quite in an unfit condition to proceed. lie kept
up with the defendant quite easily, as the pony appeared to
be quite unable to travel with any speed.
By Mr. Williams—The defendant staid at the Falcon
about five minutes in the morning, and he understood the
pony had been in the stable about ten minutes when he
saw it again at night. Had been in the police four years,
and did not know much about horses. Had never seen a
horse come in after running the Beacon Course at New-
market. Witness did not bet upon the transaction, and he
gave no information to any one, until one of the constables
of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
applied to him, and he told him all he knew about it.
Henry Frewen, ostler at the King's Arms, at Ux-
bridge, said that he had received instructions to sit up
to receive a pony on the night of the 21st December, and
about • quarter before seven in the morning the
defendant arrived at his stable yard, and the pony
was taken out and placed in the stable, and some gruel was
offered to him, and also some corn, but the pony would not
sat either the corn or the gruel. Me did eat a small quan-
tity of sweet hay and drink some water, and the defendant
remained until about eight o'clock, and then drove away.
Before he left witness looked into the cart and saw some
traces, and also a stick like a walking-stick—a stick about
as thick as his thumb. It was quite Round mid perfect at
this time. The pony returned to Uxbridge about two
o'clock, and when it was taken out of harness it reeled about
and staggered like a drunken man. He get the pony tate
the stable and took off its harness, and three men dressed
him as well as they could, and the defendant stayed until
three o'clock. He looked into the cart while the defendant
stopped, and observed that the stick he had seen in the
morning was splintered about six inches up. The defen-
dant left Uxbridge about 3 o'clock, and witness mounted
a horse and rode after him, and overtook him about two
miles from the town, and at this time a leader was attached
to the cart to draw it up a hill, called lied-hill, and the
leader was taken off when they got to the top. Witness
rode on, and the defendant overtook him, and he saw hie'
whip the pony and also beat it with the stick. lle ap-
peared to hit as hard as he could with both, but it seemed
to make very little impression on the pony. The ribs
of the pony rattled when the defendant hit him
with the stick. lie continued beating and whip-
ping the pony all the distance witness accompanied
him, which was about six miles and a half, and as they
goingio t hadal along g
somethe Itdefendantraces in issaciam dhaenwdiwshiine
wished he had
would
have have helped him along. The pony at this time certainly
seemed to require helping along. The defendant stopped
collar,we re
as
at Gerrard's Cross, and they had some half-and-half to-
gather, and the ostler told the defendant that the pony
would no more get to Oxford that night than he should,
and that he looked " beat" then. The defendant made no
reply to this, but drove off, and the pony appeared to be
very stiff, and the defendant very soon began to use the
whip and stick. Nothing was given to the pony at
w