The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-07-24 00:00:00

CHARGE OF ROBBERY A,VD MURDER.

In the high Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, on Wednesday,
Hbo! Hamilton, weaver, gunnel Menenty, and Alexander
M'Phie, weaver and shanker, were put to the bar, accused of rob-
bery, as also murder, in so tar as, on the 24th of February, 1826,
they did all and each, or one or more of them, within or near a
park called the Midpark. forming part of the lands of Camlachie,
in the barony parish of Glasgow, feloniously attack and assault
Benjamin Lamont. private soldier in the 78th Regiment, who was
then travelling to Glasgow, on his road to join his regiment, and
did throw him on the ground, and by force and violence rob him
of five one pound notes of the town and country bank of Aber-
deen, a red morocco pocket-book, a regimental passport, and a
small kindle containing a linen shirt, aprinted cotton handkerchief ;
and did discharge at tie said B. Lamont, a pistol loaded with
powder and ball, or-slugs, a tile or delft ware, or some other lethal
hard substance; and the said balls having lodged in the left thigh
of the said D. Lament, the bone of which was severely shattered,
whereby he was mortally wounded, and continued to languish till
the 15th of March, when he died.
Witnesses were examined, who proved various facts connected
with the outrage. and the depositions of the deceased were them
read by the Clerk. The substance of these documents was, that
the deceased, on his way to Glasgow, called in at a public-house in
Parkhestl, and smoked a pipe. On coming out from thence he
inquired of three men the nearest road to Glasgow. They then
accompanied him out of the village. and conducted him through
several fields, one of which appeared to be ploughed. Here lie
complained of the badness of the road, and on his doing that one
of the men seized hold of his arms and threw hint to the ground,
and robbed him of the yrropesty described in the charge. One of
the notes waa No.l-1 it. 11 bile he was in the act of again rising,
ate: being deprived of his money. one of the•mcn said, " D— the
—, he wtll give information, shoot him." and he immediately
Bred • the contents were lodged in his thigh. The robbers then
ran :if. The deceased, in consequence of loss of blood, became
weak, but crawled towards the road, when a man came up and as-
sisted him to the infantry barracks at Glasgow.
A special defence of alibi was given in, and many witnesses were
called in support of it.
The Judge having summed up, the Jury retired, and after an
absence of fifty minutes returned a verdict, finding, by a plurality
of voices, the libel Not Proven.
The Loan J1714714:1: CLERK, in discharging the Jury, observed,
that lie was not surprised, (rem the long and painful nature of the
case, of a diversity of opinions existing among them.
lo dismissing the prisoners, his LORDSHIP said that they had
made the narrowest of all possible escapes, and, from the verdict
which had been returned, might consider themselves really fortu-
nate men. Ile trusted that their future conduct would be such as
to render it quite unnecessary to bring them again to the bar of
that Court; and begged they would reflect, that they had not been
dismissed iu consequence of a verdict of Not Guilty, but of Not
Proven.
'fhe prisoners, who were all well-dressed respectable-looking
young men, conducted themselves with propriety during the trial.
The Court was extremely crowded during the whole time, the curie
having excited more general interest than any niad for a long
Period.

'clock, M