The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-18 00:00:00

CENTRAL

Louis Ansa, a gentlemanly-looking young man, sur-
rendered to take Ma trial for wilful and corrupt perjury.
Mr. Peirce and Mr. F. H. Lewis conducted the prosecu-
tion ; Mr. Sleigh and Mr. Montagu Williams appeared for

the defence.
This case occupied the attention of the court for several
hours. It appeared that the defendant was the clerk
to an attorney named Ilderton, and the substantial
offence imputed to him was that he had wilfully
made a false statement upon his oath before Mr. Justice
Shee at Chambers, in reference to an action in which a
person named Sweitser was the plaintiff, and a Mr. Xenos
was the defendant, the effect of which statement was that
the defendant, who had been taken in execution and oom-
mitted to Whitecross4tieet prison, was set at liberty, and
the plaintiff in the action loot the benefit of thinient
he had obtained against the defendant. It appeared that
Mr. Sweitaer had commenced an action against Mr. %ends
upon a bill of exchange for 2851., and that a learned judge,
under the Bills of Exchange Act, had refused to allow
the defendant to appear to that action, and that Dome-
quently judgment was obtained by the plaintiff. An
affidavit, it appeared, was then made that there
was reason to believe that the defendant in
the action was about to leave the country,
and upon this affidavit a writ of capias was
granted under which the defendant was taken to White-
cross-street prison. Proceedings were subsequently taken
with a view to obtain the release of the defendant
and in the course of these proseedings the present defendant,
who was clerk to Mr. Ilderton, the attorney of Xenon,
attended before Mr. Jwitioe She., at chambers, and made
an affidavit, the effect of which, after stating the grounds
upon which the release of Xenos was asked for, was to
represent that Messrs. Brandon, the solicitors for the
plaintiff Sweitser, were aware that the application for the
release of %encs was intended to be made, and that Mr.
Brandon and three of his clerks had informed him that
they did not intend to oppose it. Upon this affidavit the
learned judge ordered that Xenos should be released from
custody, and it was stated that he immediately went
abroad, and the plaintiff had lost the benefit he otherwise
would have derived from his judgment. It was alleged in
support of the present charge that the defendant had
wilfully made the false representation in question ; and
Mr. Brandon, one of the principals of the firm, and some
of his clerks, were examined insupport of the prosecution ;
but although they swore positively that no such state-
ment as that referred to by the defendant was ever made
by them, they admitted in cross-examination that an ap-
pointment had been made for counsel on both aides to ap-
pear before the judge, but that from misunderstanding or
some other cause the legal representatives of the defend-
ant Xenos were not present, and that something was said
about it being of no use for them to attend before the
judge, am the matters mentioned in their affidavit would
require to be answered, and the summons must be ad-
journed.
Mr. Sleigh, at the close of the case for the prosecution,
took several technical legal objections, with regard to some
of which the Common Serjeant said, that although he did
not think he should be justified in stopping the
case, he should reserve them fur further consideration if it
should become necessary. The learned counsel then took
arother objection, that there bad been no legal proof of the
issuing of the espies, which was alleged to have been the
result of the affidavit made by the defendant.
The Common Serjeant held that this was a fatal objec-
tion, and the jury, therefore, under his lordship's direc-
tion, returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
George Franks, 33, a respectable-looking man, pleaded
guilty to a charge of stealing various sums of money
belonging to his employers, Messrs. Copestake, Moore, and
Co., of St. Paul's-churchyard.
Mr. F. N. Lewis, who was instructed to prosecute, said
that the prisoner had been thirteen years in the service of
the prosecutors, and bore an excellent character down to
the period of the present transaction& He was requested
on this account to strongly recommend the prisoner to the
merciful consideration of the court.
Mr. Waddy, who appeared for the prisoner, urged on
his behalf that he was very respectably connected, that he
had at once admitted his guilt, and that he had been
induced to take his employers' money owing to severe
illness in his family.
The Common Serjeant, taking these facts into considera-
tion, and also the strong recommendation to mercy by the
prosecutors, sentenced the prisoner to six months' hard
labour.
Mr. Commissioner Kerr disposed of several cases of
uttering counterfeit coin, but all of them were of the
ordinary description.