The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-25 00:00:00

a single case contained in this calendar which is a subject of
the late summary jurisdiction act, which I cannot but think
a source of very great improvement in the administration of
justice, for it cannot but be known to you all, that generally
speaking, all assize calendars comprise a number of cases, the
trial of which, in the formal manner in which it is done in
courts like this, tends to cast ridicule upon the administration
of justice than otherwise. trying persons for stealing articles
of the value of a few pence is quite inconsistent with the
manner in which justice is administered in a court like this,
and I presume, therefore, that the act has been carried into
effect in this county to a very considerable extent, and I am
very certain that a great amount of good will arise from, as
far as you possibly and reasonably can, carrying that act into
operation. Gentlemen, I shall have to trouble you with a
very few remarks indeed. A very great number of the cases arc
cases of burglary, some of them not of a very serious character,
but I am sorry to see so many as nine cases of homicide, and
four of them are cases of murder. All of these cases are very
serious indeed, but one is especially a case of a most serious
character indeed. It is the alleged murder of a man in this
town by strangulation. It is a case in which you will no
doubt deem it your duty to find a bill, and which will, of
course, be tried in the usual way. If the facts be established
as they are contained in the written depositions, it is a case,
probably, of very serious consequences indeed. There is no
other case of that kind to which I shall have to call your
attention except one—that is the case number forty in the
calendar. It is the case of the death of a man, a seaman
belonging to an American ship, who died in Liverpool in
consequence of wounds inflicted upon him on the voyage—in
fact, upon the high seas. I have not satisfied myself yet,
whether it is a case which we have jurisdiction in this country
to try, but if you will be good enough• to find the bill, provided
that the fact of the.fleath having been caused by violence is
brought home to your satisfaction, I will take care to ascer-
tain what the state of the law is before the trial takes place,
and to administer that law properly, as under the*circurn-
stances it is extremely desirable it-should be done, according to
the statutes of this country. There are eleven cases of assault
with violence, and with various intents, and I am very sorry to
say that three of them are of a character which, so far as I am
aware of, has never yet been_met with. These are c ises of inju-
ries, and two of them of veryserious injuries, caused to persons by
biting. So fir as I know, this- is a new species of offence.
One of them is a case in which ' the person accused—if the
facts as stated in the depositions be true—seems to have been
more of a savage beast than a human being. There are,
indeed, two of the cases of that kind. I hope that this is not
about to become a general offence. So far as I know, these
are the first cases which have occurred. There is another
character of case which seems to exist to an enormous extent
in this part of the country. No less than nine cases in this
calendar• are cases of bigamy. Whether this may be peculiar
in Lancashire I do not know, but it is far beyond anything I
have ever seen before, and I understand that in more tha❑
one the offence amounts to trigamy. They are cases, generally
speaking, not of a very serious kind, but of course when any
any offence is committed so frequently, there must be some
severe punishrnent applied to it, in the hope of putting an end
to it. There really is no other matter to which it seems to
me at all necessary to call your attention. The cases generally
are of a very simple character. 'The case number forty, of
which I have already spoken, is the only one which appears to
raise any difficult.), in point of law, and if you will be good
enough to find a bill, should the facts be shown to your
satisfaction, I shall take care that the law is correctly and
effectively administered. If you will allow me to have some
bills as soon as you can, I hope to get through the calendar•
within a reasonable time. .

! The grand jury then retired to their room, and proceeded
to consider their bills. After a short interval some bills
were tent out, and the trial of the criminal cases proceeded.
MAKING AND UTTERING BASE COIN.-Peter Clarke,
George Seymour, Thomas Davis, John Thomson, Elizabeth
Sullivan, and Mary Cross, all of Liverpool, were put in the
dock charged with having on the 8:11of January last, ciunter-
leited four pieces of coin purporting to be half-crown pieces
of the current coin. A second count charged them with
having in their possession on the same day twenty-three
counterfeit halt-crowns. All pleaded not guilty to the first
count. Peter Clarke pleaded guilty to the second count;
all the others pleaded not guilty. The circumstances of this
case have been recently published in the police reports. The
prisoners were found in 77, Eldon Street, by detective
officers Thompson and Scaife, on the night of Saturday the
Bth January last. The prisoner Clarke was there with his
coat off, and engaged in making base coin. The others were
in the room around the fire. The officers being then looking
into the room from an opposite house, saw four operations,
and saw all Of.) prisoners examine the coins after the casting.
The officers then broke into.the room, haying'procnred assist-
ance. A scuffle. took place in which the prisoner Clarke
dashed down the mould upon the floor, stamped on it and
broke it. The prisoners were then all apprehended. The defence
set up was that the prisoners, except Clarke and Seymour,
the latter of whom was seen-to hand a spoon filled with molten
metal to the fortner, had nothing to do with the offence, and
were only accidentally present. The jury found Clarke
and Seymour guilty, and acquitted all the other prisoners.—
William.. Johnson, aged 21, described as a tailor, Catherine
Muldom, aged 54, charwoman, and Thomas Wilson, 26,
hawker, were charged with having, at Manchester, on the
27th Febrbary, 186, feloniously and knowingly had in their
possession one mould, intended to stamp a counterfeit
impression of a shilling, of tEe current coin. The female
prisoner pleaded guilty, the other prisoners pleaded not guilty.
The prisoner Johnson, upon whose person the counterfeit coin
was Jelled, was convicted ; Wilson was found not guilty.—
Anne Gorman, and Mary Jones, the former 45, and the
latter 19, were charged with having, at Liverpool on the 21st
December, 1855, falsely made and counterfeited one piece of
coin, resembling certain of the Queen's current shillings, It
appeared by the evidence of police-officer Yates, that he went
to the place where the prisoners lodged late on the night in
question, and when ho knocked at the. door, a voice from
within replied that it was ve-cy late, and that they were in bed.
On getting admission, however, the prisoners were both found
up and engaged With a mould in casting counterfeit coin.
Detective-officer Scaife gave evidence to the same effect
generally. The jury found the prisoner Gorman guilty, and
the prisoner Jones not guilty. •
SENTENCES.—Peter Clarke, convicted in one of the pro-
was put up for sentence, and sentenced to
imprisonment for eighteen calendar mouths, with hard labour.
ce di g
.George Seymour received a like sentence in the same case.
Catherine Muldom and William Johnson were sentenced
to eighteen month's imprisonment with hard labour. Anne
Gorman, who had been previously convicted of a similar
offence five times: was ;entenced to four year's penal
servitude,

BiJai:lL/MIES. Abel Hatton, aged 16, labourer, was charged
with having at PunitOn, on the 23rd December, 1855,
burglariously broken, and entered, the dwelling-house of John
Bennett, with intent •to commit felony. As no felonious
intent was proved, and the prisoner appeared to have been
only actuated by a desire
to pay a visit to the servant girl, his
Lordship directed an acquittal.—Michael Quigley, aged 20,
and Patrick Burns, aged 17, both factory workers, were
charged with having
at Ashton-under-Lyne, on the 15th
January, 1850, feloniously and burglariously broken,
and entered the dwelling:house of, John Knott,
and stolen therefrom nine -watchguards, five broaches
five hoops, nineteen links of beads, and various
other articles, the property of the said John Knott. The
prosecutor in this case was a pawnbroker, residing in Portland
street, Ashton under Lyne. He deposed that, on the night
in question before going to bed all the property specified,
among other article; was seen by him to be safe in his shim
window. On the following morning he found that the'place
had been broken in, and the property carried away. A second
witness, wife of another pawnbroker in the sauce town, deposed
that some of the articles were 'pledged in her shop by a person
whom she identified as one of the prisoners. It also appeared
that each of the prisoners separately pledged sore of the artit-
cles with a third party. On his being arrested some of the
property was still found in the possession of the prisoner
Quigley. The jury found Quigley guilty of the burglary, and
Burns not guilty.
BIGAMY.—Edward Hammond, aged 21, factory hand,
pleaded guilty to the charge of having, at Ashton under Lyne,
on the 26th November, 1855, feloniously married Margaret
Gordon, he having a wife at that time alive.
BURGLARY.--John Reyes, aged 24, miller, was charged
with having on the 25th of January, 18.56, at Bury, burglitri-
onsly broken into and entered the dwelling house of Louisa
Clarke, and stolen therefrom ono gold pencil case, two silver
pencil cases, and several other articles, the property
of John Campbell. It appeared that on the night in
question the house of the prosecutor was broken into, while
the inmates were asleep.- There were some reonis in the lope
which were occupied ' by Dr. Campbell, a military surgeon,
and from these the property specified was stolen. The very
morning after the robbery, the prisoner was discovered offering