The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-08 00:00:00

4351Z11 INTELLIGINCIL

HOME CIRCUIT.—CRurDox, ArorsT R.

The Lord Chit Baron w.sii engsgod during the whole of
the day in trying two specia:jury.cases," Muddcll v. Arden
and 'moth( r." and The Coruwainers' C span, v. Mater&
.e. 3 tae rart:culate of seL.Lh were of na publc in-
In consequence of the sudden departure of Mr. Justice
ere:swell. the whole business of the assizes has been thrown
tutu a state ul the greatest paseibleconfa.ion, and to many
of the reflect suitors the *spew occasioned by the delay
that has been created in disposing of their ceases must
have been A:Ill/IA l'11:11‘1111: Jlr. Seijrant Channel! being
only retained in some of the Leavy special jury causer,
wlieh were not likely to come on at the comma: ncement of
the ass zes, ooiunteered his rvsistauce to clear the Ls., and
he rat in the crown court for that purpose until Friday
evening. It was then arranged that some eases in which
the learned serjeaut was engaged should be taken before
the Lord enief linen to-day, ale. Mr. Edwin James, Q.e.,
tried the common jury cases in his place. The conse-
quence of this gemont was, of course, that
all the cases in wind, these learned counsel
were retained were placed out of their proper
order, and instead of the list being gone regularly
through, As it would Lave been if the learned judge had re-
mained, the witnessee in all the cases were compelled to at-
tend evory day, as the causes were taken just as they could '
be got at. But tor the valuable a-sistance rendered by the
learned serjeant and his able friend of the bar, the assts'.'
would, in all probability, have lasted fur three weeks, and,
as it is, it is ikabtful whether all t'-se causes will he disposed
of olufiug the ensuing week. The course taken by Mr.
Justice Creswell iu quitting the circuit when so heavy a
cause list was to be disposed of has cans- d a good deal of
el-serest i m and remark, hat 11:y among the bar and the
suitor•, but all others connected with the business of the
assizes.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.-GLULTEiTEIt, AUGCST 6.

Butionz !airier Comma-

Ilia lordship finished the crown list to-day, with the est-
i:option of the erect ease of "Smyth, BArt., v. Smyth," which
is to be opened on Monday, one is 1:L•cly to occupy two or
three days.
Fonsu. r. Thumrrr.

This was an action against a coroner for false imprison-
ment. The plaintiff is manag. r of a colliery, in Doan
Forest, and the defendant, Mr. Barnett, is one of the
coroners fur G:osizestershire. It amseared that an inquest
was held at Dizton, in the Forest of Doan, before Mr. Du-
arte, on the body of a man named lioultoo, who came by
his death through a hap a stones which had been left on
tae road under the plaintiffs direction, causing his vehicle
to overturn. The coroner's jury found a verdict of man-
slaughter
against Fosall, who was accordingly committed
to Gloucester gaol upon the coroner's warrant. It turned
out, however, that the inquest was held in the county of
Monmouth, which hire aajoins Gloucestershire, one side of
the road Leing in the former county and the other in the
latter. It was not set up that any malice existed, but the
eons..rienee of this erior was that the inquisition war'
qua•hrd by the Bail Court, and Mr. Foudl brought his'
present action. It was !loved on the trial that the plaintiff
had incurred expenses through his lawyer, in obtaining bail
and quashing the inquisition, to the amount of 711. 15s. 6d ,
and the jury returned a vaitiet with damages 961. 15s. 61
viz. 251., besides tiao coats incurred.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—DevrzEs, AI:GUST 6.
BUO/L1 ML JUP4ICE TALVOTILD.
ZIANSLAVOUTAR or ♦ Win.

Throws SiMMOSida wins indicted fur the manslaughter of
Jane Simmonds, his wife, at Wooton Bassett, on the 2nd of
October. The prisoner and his wife, who were farm-
dihnuters, had been to t!'..e hay harvest-home of a Mr.
Priddy, two miles from Wooten, where tLere was a good
drat of hilarity, and a considerable quantity of liquor
drunk ; they left for Wootton Bassett, a distance of two
miles, at about ileven o'clock, their way for the first mile
being along the canal bank. Prisoner and his wife were
accompanied by several other persons, principally women,
on their way heme. In the course of their walk, and when
the prisoner's wife was walking on before in conversation
with her niece, the prisoner came up and struck her two or
three times ou the head and knocked cif her bonnet, at the
same time attempting to push her into the water, but
without success. He shortly afterwards again came up to
her, caught her round the waist, and threw her into the
water. 'f he women managed to get her out, but
the prisoner walked on, and offered no assistance.
The prisoner was drunk, and very angry, but his
wife was sober, end did nothing to aggravate him.
When they reached home the prisoner commenced
beating his wife. She then ran out to the house of a neigh-
bour named Agborne, and he after her; here there was a
scuffle between them, sufficiently violent for persons outside
of the house to hear them as they fell against the table and
elniirs. The prisoner was then seen to drag his wife out of
the door by one of her arms, and when he bad dragged her
on her left side along the ground for some distance he gave
her a heavy blow or a kick, and left her to go in. She
then called out after him, very faintly, " Tom, Tom, I've
something to say to thee." lie replied, " Say on, and
be —; thee shan't come into my house to-night."
He went into the house and leased the door. A
neighbour named Leighfield then cams out and
went towards the woman, and assisted to take her
to a midwife, the poor woman being within a
month of her confinement. There were large quantities of
blood about, and the woman tell heavily to the ground from
weakness. When they got her to the midwife's door, Mrs.
Leighfield was frightened at seeing so much blood. This
witness then went to the prisoner's door, and called out
" Pray, Thomas, come down, for your wife is dying," to
which he answered "she might die and be d—." She
again entreated him to come out, for " his wife was as
bloody as a botcher," but he took no unties. The poor
woman was then helped into the water closet, where
in a few minutes she died in Mrs. Leighlleld's arms. The
husband then cams out, but he would not believe she was
dead. Ho said it was only • drunken fir, and told them to
bathe her with water; but it was useless, her life was
quite extinct. Mr. Hooper, surgeon, of Wootton Bassett,
was called in, and on arriving found her dead and cold. He
examined her body, and found a great many cuts and
bruises upon it; but only one that was at all serious; this
was a long wound of three inches long and half an
inch deep, under the abdomen ; and it was from the
extensive hemorrhage from this wound that death resulted.
When apprehended, the prisoner said he was sorry he had
not gone to work that day, as all this would then have
been prevented, and he added that "he wished he could be
put before the month of a cannon."
In his defence, the prisoner said there was a large stone
in the garden, standing up edgeways, and when he and his
wife were scuffling, she fell down upon the stone, and he on
the top of her ; it was that which gave her her death-blow,
and not any violence of his.
The learned Judge, in summing up, said it mattered nut
whether the injury was caused by a direct blow or kick,
or whether the woman fell upon a stone through her
husband's violence, and received the injury in that way.
In either case he was answerable for her death, and unless
the jury could bring themselves to believe that the poor
woman had come by the injury from I/ hi* she died purely
by accident, and without her husband's having had any
hand in it, tkey must convict him of the charge now laid
against him.
The jury returned a verdict of Guilty, and
The learned judge, in passing sentence, said this was one
of the most aggravated cases of manslaughter which had
ever come under his knowledge, and was very little short
of wilful murder. There was not the slightest provocation
on the part of the unhappy woman who was now no more.
The sentence of the Court was that be should be trans-
ported beyond the seas for the term of twenty years.