The Express.
London, England, 1868-04-09 00:00:00

SECOND EDITION.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-alllB DAY.)

CHANCERY CHAMBERS.
ot JULNEY r. DICIAZ LSD YAWN.—
Or THIS C.tBL.

lo this case, which has been before reported. an ppli
▪ ation aa. made to settle the suit in Chawery. It will
bteel that Lord Jersey had obtained an injunc-
tam to restrain the defendants proceeding on s number of
s•aptances given by hie lordship, and subsequently an
,mtheation was made by his lordship that the balls of ex.
chat,;e he had given should be dapouted in court, pending
the 'nit, Anil the matter was adjourned to Vice-Cliancel-
io stuart, for the 17th inst. Since then the suit had
teen aregaged between the parties. •
Ms. Lording (Freshrield and Co.) stated that he had
to ,Itply on the part, of Lord Jersey that the large sum
wid into court by be' lordship, when the injunction was
be
Obt...ned, should paid out to his lordship, and that the
suit should be dismissed, each party paying their own
The other side had consented.
• Italstou for Mr. Dicker, and Mr. Turner on the
pal t of the other defendant (Mr. Yates), attended and
con:elites'.
The chief clerk (Mr. Claude)—Then the snit is settled
Mr. Lording—Yes, sir. All we want its your order that
the sum lead into court, 8,1001., should be repaid to the
risintitf.
The chief clerk said he could make the order, subject
to the approi al of the judge. It was a matter of course,
bat he gener.iliy sent cases in which money had been paid
to the court.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

(THIS DAY.)

(Before Mr. Justice Keating.)
lATKAORDINART CWAVIE OF MURDKR.

1,. f' Wdhan Wooltott, 39, a diminutive, mUd•looh•
was charged with the wilful murder of Thomas
• orgc Woolcott, a boy nine years of age, by drowning

b
Mr. sleigh conducted the prosecution, and the prisoner
defended by Mr. Warner Sleigh.
Thus case, it will be seen from the subjoined narrative,
~• of • very extraordinary charaotF. The prisoner, it

4reeared, was by trade a cabinetmaker, and lie was mar-
., I and had three children, one of theme boy about nine
v • .rs old, whose death was the subject of inquiry. He re-
at Holton, in the neighbourhood of the Regent's
and the offence imputed to him was that
la• bad wilfully drowned the deceased is the canal on
the evening of the 17th of March last. It

ppeared that about 8 o'clock in the evening of that day •
lid named Pritchard, who was walking at a place called
the New North Bridge at Roston near the canal, saw the
prisoner kneeling down upon the bank, and apparently
throwing stones into the water. He went up to him and
asked him if he was drowning • dog. and be replied that he
was not, but there was a boy in the water. Pritchard
looked in the direction pointed to by the prisoner, and he
maw • boy struggling in the water, and he pulled off his coat
and tried to reach the boy in the water, and while be was
so engaged, the prisoner asked him if he could swim.
He replied that he could not, and then asked the prisoner
if the boy who was in the water could swim, and he
said that he could not, as his legs were tied. They then
appeared to have both made some endeavours to get the
deceased out of the water, and the lad Pritchard, who
appeared to have exhibited a good deal of presence of
mind, took off his neckerchief, and threw one end of it
to the lad, who was struggling in the water, and he caught
hold of it, but it Blipped from his grasp, and he dis-
appeared. The prisoner and Pritchard then went for the
drags at a lock-house close by, and as they were going
along the prisoner sold Pritchard that he was the father of
the boy who was in the water, and that he hail sent him
for some sugar some time before, and es he was a lug
time, he went to look for him, and found him, and
they were walking home together by the bank of the
canal, when his slippers slipped off, and he slipped into
the water, and he pointed to a pair of slippers that
were in the bank, and said " there are his slippers."
yhe body was not recovered until some time afterwards,
and he was then, of course, quite dead, and the extra-
ordinary fact was at once apparent that the statement
of the prisoner that his legs were tied, was not true. Sus-
ricion seemed to have been at once directed against the
prisoner, and a police-constable named Stammers, who bad
received information in reference to the matter, went to the
prisoner and told him that he should take bin, into cue-
tody for throwing his boy into the canal, and upon his
doing so, the prisoner made use of the remarkable expres-
sion? " May the Lord's name be praised it ever I did such
• thing." He then went on to repeat the statement shove-
mentioned that be had sent the boy on an errand two
hours before, and that on account of his staying so long
he went to look after him, and when he found him they
uere walking home together by the side of the
wuen the boy's shoes came off, and he slipped
the water. lie said that he tried to get him
but could not. The prisoner seemed to have
all along persisted in the same statement, and when he
als examined before the magistrate he repeated it,
~e .l on every occasion when the affair was alluded to,
asserted hie innocence of the crime imputed to
1n.,. According to the testimony of some of the
ris ••sas' the place where the affair occurred
rather a dangerous one, and it was not commonly
as • public thoroughfare, and it also appeared
:11..t thy prisoner was always observed to treat all his
a kindly, and he had never upon any occasion treated
d...seased unkindly ; but, on the contrary, appeared to
b.• t. r more fond of him than him other children,
r.l a t the slightest motive appeared to be sup
••. •1 f,,r the commission at the fearful crime
imputed to him. The statement of the
1.•:•oarr a-, to the boy having been sent to purchase
was proved to be correct, as when the body of
1...• roar la,' was taken out of the water a half pound of
: a was found in his pocket. A long inquiry into the
k i I:ll,tauces, it appeared, took place before the coroner's
the verdict they returned was one of accidental
Several witnesses were examined on behalf of the
• cation. but nothing in addition to the facts above
was elicited either by the examination in chief

In tie course of the inquiry, it transpired that the
L, C' sel fur the prosecution bad not received any
rr.v.lar instructions from an attarney to enable him to
c01..1. i the case, but merely had the deposition, placed
U. he. i,itels by the officer of the court.
.1 ii•ticc Keating expressed his opinion that it was
:.eat .1. festive amusgement for any learned counsel to
compelled to conduct a came of so much importance
without any further information than he was enabled to
derive from the persual of the depositions.
Mi. slei4h said that the depositions were only beaded to
on the previous day.
Mr. .1 ostice Keating raid he could only lament that there
-bold not. be 1101110 better arrangement, and the system
was one that was certainly not calculated to facilitate the
roLuiniatration of justice. There was no blame attachable
to the officer of the court, because he was not aware whether
a solicitor had been employed to conduct the prosecution
previously, or not, and when be discovered that no at-
torney was retained, all he could de was to ask some
learned counsel of ekperience to conduct the ease.
Mr. S:,igh said that the moment the matter was men-
tioned to lie at once consented to do all that was in
his power to elicit the facts aad facilitate the ends of

Th.--.ltpdice Keating said that the court was very much
',1.1:ge.l to him for undertaking to conduct the cage upon
• .sh short notice.

Mr. W.,ruer Sleigh (who had been instructed to de-
the prisoner through the instrumentality of the
obc.ituo, ,ressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner
1101ise Irtgth, and he argued that none of the
: tl.4t hal Leen brought forward in the evidence were
'tith the assertion of the prisoner that hi
tti.!y innocent of the erime imputed to him, and
...t v..-1 Alt or the child arose from accident.
I h.. ,•tr?..• found the prisoner Not Guilty.
(Before Baron Pigott.)
Morrie° WITH INT7Crf TO WADER.
7 on., 01Parn, 21, shoemaker, was indicted for
toutdou,ly ,booting at John Harvey Hill with a loaded
itl. intent to kill and to murder him. There wee
chlrging him with intent to inflict grievous
1"34,i)* harm and to prevent his lawful apprehension.
31r. Poland and Mr. Boesky conducted the prosecution,
ed M. Lesley defended the prisoner.
PoLind, in opening the case, said that Hill had at
' Lew been in the polio, force, and had latterly been
• employed in watching certain houses frequented
I.raocx engaged in the Fenian conopitaty. On the
a,rning of March 3, about 2 o'clock in the morning, he
returning from a benefit for the Clerkenwell sufferers
,ckney.wick by way of Finsbury-equare and Chiswell-
it.re. t, on reaching the corner of Whitecross-street,
s
Lice's, the prisoner stood in front of him and de-
- • tired at him three shots from a loaded revolver,
*,•••• I,llets from which " whizzed" Past his stole b"
••. .4 them took effect. Hill then cried out "murder"
`'o" he 11.," and amongst others a policeman mimed
iv,. to hi„ ~,,istance. Rill pointed out the_priaone!!ala
the constable to take hold of him. Will melded
1.• .10 so, and in the course of a 'trig&
• two other shots were fired by the prisoner
the revolver, but, like the previous three shots, none
took effect. The prisoner was then secured, and
" .ken to throw away a revolver which was picked up
the the .Pot. On the way to the station he used
,?‘.• ...workable expression, addreseed either to Hill or
" I know you, you b—. 111 suffer tem
for you." At the station he was re-
hr Hill as a person who had been in the habit of
°"4le. ‘° which e corner of Little Windmill-
H.Tuarket, had been freqnented br
iTitnothy Desmond, and others now la
n°l7 on the charge of murder arising out
the explosion at the Clarkaawell Homo of Dr
and which Hill bad been employed to *sta.
prisoner refused his address, but it was enkesquesilly
'!"-A'rtained that be lived in 'Whitener-street ; and on
:4 examination being made of the spot wheys eke bring
'44' mar the muk of a bullet was found on a pest ai