The Express.
London, England, 1862-12-16 00:00:00

COURT OF EXCHEQUER—Disc. 15.

Sitting, at Nisi erias et GaildhalL —(Before Lord Chief
Baron Pollock and a Special Jury.)
HAEENDALS AND OTHERS V. BIM% AND ANOTHER.

The declaration stated that the defendants wrongfully and
improperly dug holes and made excavations in a public
highway, and insufficiently and negligently filled them up,
whereby a " trolly" belonging to the plaintiffs was injured.
The defendants pleaded not guilty, and, secondly. that the
defendants were contractors for making the Metropolitan
Railway under an act of parliament which authorised them
to do certain works, and that they did the works properly
and sufficiently, and did not negligently and improperly re-
instate the road.
A considerable amount of evidence was adduced on both
aides.

The jury, after a few minutes' deliberation, found a ver,
diet for the plaintiffs for the full amount claimed.
The action had before been tried, but the jury, being an.
able to agree, were discharged.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCEIT.—LivERrooL, Dm M.
(Before Mr. Oniumineforker Gurney.)
TRIAL OF TIM LATE REGISTRAR OF Till ROCHDALE PUBLIC

CEMETERY.

Norris Taylor, late mistrals of the Rochdale public
cemetery, was indicted for having, "contrary to law and
public decency," removed bodies from graves and placed :
them in other graves.
Mr. Kay, one of the counsel for the prosecution, stated '
that the Rochdale Cemetery had been established for a
number of years, and that one portion was consecrated for
the use of the established church, while others were
allotted to the dissenters and Roman catholic,. The pri-
soner was the general manager of the affairs of the cemetery,
kept the books and accounts, and read the funeral
services. In 1660, a poor person, named Shep-
herd, purchased a private grave in the dissenters'
ground, and buried a child there. The grave was
then about 12 or 14 feet deep. Two years afterwiltds
Shepherd went to the prisoner and told him that he wished
the grave opened in order to bury his father. The grave
was opened, but instead of being dug up to the level of the
previous interment, the coffin was removed, and the grave
was dug down to the depth of 26 feet, at which point
water rushed in. This was done by the prisocer's orders,
and the object of digging so deep was to drain an adjacent
vault which belonged to Mr. Ashworth, a wealthy resident
of Rochdale. In order to fill up Shepherd's grave to the
previous level, Taylor then ordered the workmen to open
up a number of public graves in the Roman catholic and
established church portion of the grounds, and in compliance
with his orders ten corpses from the Roman catholic graves
and nine from those of the established church were
brought and thrust into the lower portion of the
Shepherd grave, a coating of gravel placed over
them, and the body of Shepherd's child and father then
interred. In order to drain other portions of the
ground not intended for graves) holes were opened by the
prisoner's direction, and as the water burst in here also he
ordered other disinterments to take place and the coffins
were forced into the water to fill up the holes. This had
been going on for several years ; uutil, at length, rumours
of these desecrations having got abroad, a most painful sen-
sation was created in Rochdale, and on one occasion a poor
person who had heard that the body of a friend of his had
been disturbed came to the prisoner to complain. "R ho
told you about it was the question which Taylor put iu
reply to the complaint; and be further asked, " What
difference would it have made to you if we had
flung him into the lane? Why did you not buy
a new grave for him ?" The desecrations described
by the -teamed counsel and others also were then
detailed by various witoessea, including the gravediggers
who bad been employed to remove the bodies.
Mr. Cobbett, for the defence, after making an objection,
which his lordship overruled, to the verbal construction elf
the indictment, could not deny that the bodies had been
removed, but contended that the removals from the public
graves had taken place before those graves bed been closed,
and consequently before any legal interment had taken
place. With regard to the removal of the bodies fens amp-
herd's grave and their reinterment, the learned coaaing
argued that Shepherd had only a right of property to the
extent of the 13 or 14 feet, at which depth the child bad
been buried, and that by depositing bodies lower than that
level there was really no trespass on Shepherd's ground.
Besides, Mr. Cobbett argued there was no evidence that
the prisoner had acted with any criminal intent, either for
the purpose of fraud or wanton desecration.
The jury found the prisoner Guilty.
The learned judge. referred to the very proper jealousy
felt by the British mind in regard to the sacredness of the
deed, and then released the prisoner on his entering into his
own recogniaances to appear when called upon to receive
judgment.