The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 2, 1864.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE,

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—MANCHESTER, Auo. 1.
CROWN SIDE.
(Before Mr Baron Pigott.)

Ann Leslie was placed at the bar charged with firing a
pistol at John Whalley, at Manchester, on the 22d of March
last, with intent to murder him, and with other intents.
Mr Pope and Mr Watson conducted the prosecution, and
Mr Torr defended the prisoner.

According to the opening statement of the learned coun-
sel for the Crown, Mr Whalley, the prosecutor, was a mer-
chant, living at Old Trafford, and had formed a connexion
some 10 or 11 years ago with prisoner, who then belonged
to the class of unfortunates, and had solicited him one even-
ing in the street. The connexion lasted two or three years,
at the expiration of which time Mr Whalley, being desirous
of putting an end to it, gave the prisoner money to estab-
lish herself in business in various places, and to emigrate
to Australia—but these plans for her maintenance failing,
ho ultimately allowed her £3 per month, which allowance
was paid up to a twelvemonth ago. It was then discontinued
on account of the large demands made upon the prosecutor
by the prisoner, and the latter then began to persecute
Mr Whalley by following him in the street and claiming
assistance from him, and to such au extent that he on
one occasion called in the assistance of the police. On
the 15th of last March the prosecutor was opening the
door to leave his warehouse when he perceived the pri-
soner before him presenting a pistol, and he immediately
withdrew inside and shut the door, and saw
nothing more of her on that day. On the 22d, however, ttt
2C minutes past 5 o'clock, as he was leaving his warehouse,
he saw her again standing on the steps of the adjoining
warehouse, and he then warned her that if she attempted
anything he would give her into the hands of the police.
He made his way as quickly as he could towards the Victoria
station, but as he was descending some steps which conduct
to a bridge, from which on the other side a steep incline
rises up to the station, he heard a report of a pistol, and
looking back saw the prisoner on the top step and present-
ing a pistol at him of which she appeared to bo endeavour-
ing to draw the trigger. He called to two boys who hap-
pened to be near to stop her from firing, and took to his
heels across the bridge and into the station, taking refuge
in one of the carriages, the prisoner telling the boys that if
they interfered with her it would be the worse for them,
and calling after the prosecutor "You villain, I'll kill you
to-night," ran after him into the station, where she was
secured with the pistol in her hand. The prosecutor had
not been hit, but it appeared that a man named Taylor, who
happened to be coming from the station and down the in-
cline towards Mr Whalley at the time of the occurrence,
heard the report when he was about 77 yards distant, and at
the same moment felt himself struck on the breasi at a place
where he immediately afterwards found that his waistcoat
was slightly torn. Although no bullet was found, the
theory of the prosecution was that the blow was from the
bullet which, being fired from the pistol when it was pointed
downwards after the prosecutor as he descended the steps,
hit the ground and ricocheted before striking Taylor. A
pistol was found on the prisoner, which had five barrels,
ono of them having been discharged, and being still warm.
The others were all loaded with ball, bat in one the ball
had slipped between the chamber and the barrel, so as to
prevent the revolution of the chambers or a second dis-
charge of the pistol, andin two of them :here was no powder
at all, while in the others there was a very small quantity
of powder indeed. All the nipples, however, were capped,
and the absence of a sufficieney of powder in
the barrels, as well as the displacement of one of the
bullets, was accounted for by the evidence of a gunsmith,
who stated that the bullets were so snail as to be loose in
the barrels. Prisener had bought a pistol shortly before
from a pawnbroker, who she had wished should load it for
her, but on his refusal to do so she bought it on a second
occasion without his doing so.
When it fell to Mr Whalley's lot to be cross-examined he
was compelled to state that he was 59 years of age,a widower,
and the father of five daughters, of whom the eldest was 22
years old. He had bean many years in business and was in
good circumstances. Ile said that she accosted him in the
street, and led him into temptation, and not he her ; and
that from that circumstance, and from what she had told
him, he know at the tine that she was an unfortunate, and
yet he had unfortunatelyyielded to her temptation. He did
not tell her the first night that he would provide for her as
long as she lived, but he did tell her afterwards that she
should not want. He said that he did not regularly allow
her money until after tvo years or more, but he visited and
paid her each time ho did so. Nevertheless he had experien-
ced a tendency towardereform within the first three months
of the connexion, and had spoken of reform for both of them
before she went to London, and he had given her a Church
Service. He had nct a key of her door made for himself,
and if ho did give her an order upon Chubb's to have a
lock and keys made it was for herself only. Ho knocked at
the door, and when he went in he sometimes saw another
going out at the back. He further stated that ho had
given her a letter of introduction to a place in London,
and that she obtained a situation in the Gray's-inn Hotel,
from which she got leave of absence to spend a few days in
Manchester, but he entirely denied that she overstayed her
time in consequence of his renewed connection with her.
I Subsequently he fitted up, first a shop. and then furnished
. lodgings for her, which had cost him considerable sums of
money, and after that he had given her sums of money,
' until furniture bills of her's to a largo amount were sent in
' to bins last August, when he cut off further allowance

altogether.
The learned counsel for the prisoner alluied to the interest
his client's position created in the town, restifie I to by the
condition of the court, and said that a diderent complexion
had been endeavoured to be put upon tto story to- day from
what had ever been attempted before. Not in the deposi-
tions or on any previous occasion had the prosecutor hinted
that the prisoner had been an " unfortunate" before he had
reduced her to that position. Therefwe ho had cross-exa-
mined narrowly to that point, which would have some
weight with the jury in dealing with his client's case. He
then proceeded to deal very severely with the prosecutor's
conduct in his connexion with thisyoung girl—a man of
his age and position leading her into sin, yet with words of
reform on his lips. With reference to the assistance given
her, it was not so ranch as the prosecutor had stated, and he
had finally left her destitute. As regarded the offence itself,
the prisoner had merely intended tc threaten Mr Whalley,
and there was no evidence that she had pointed the pistol
at him, or even that it was adequately loaded at all.
At a late hour the jury acquitted the prisoner, and the
verdict was received with loud cheers.
Cyrus Travis was placed at the bar charged with endea-
vouring to poison wife by administering to her a cake
containing a quantity of antimony and seven bent pins.
Mr Pope proseccuted ; the prisoner was undefended.
The prisoner's who, Ellen, was an inmate of the Prest-
wich Lunatic Asylum, and on May
12 he paid her a visit
there, and, treating her apparently affectionately, left her
some oranges and a cake, which was afterwards found to
contain a quantity of tartarised antimony, and seven pins
bent into the shape of a fishhook, The cake was bought by
the prisoner, and upon hint was found a quantity of anti •
mony, exactly corresponding with that in the cake. When
he returned from the asylum he spoke with a neighoour
of his wife's condition, saying that she was worse and
not likely to live long, although in point of fact she was
particularly well; and he also said that he should have to
pay up some arrears of subscriptions to a burial society, in
order to entitle himself to a sum of £5 6s. upon her death,
and that he meditated marrying again.
The Judge having summed up, the jury found a verdict
of guilty.
Sentence deferred.

to get another, and to say nothing about her loss to her
step •father. From this time forward the prosecutor was
constantly missing things from the store, and at last deter-
mined to watch for the thief. On the night of Saturday,
the 26th of March, therefore, instead of leaving the shop
locked up till the following Monday, he got his step-
daughter to lock him in, and, going upstairs, opened the
trap-door slightly, and waited patiently till half-past 10.
About that time he heard the outer door open and some one
go into the prisoner's part of the house. Immediately
afterwards the lock of the store was opened, and the pri-
soner came in with a candle, and going to the till took some
money out. The prosecutor then rushed down the ladder,
exclaiming, " I've got you at last," The prisoner at first
begged for mercy and pardon, but afterwards said the key
had been put under her door by some one, and, suspecting
all was not right, she had gone into the store to see that
everything was safe.
She was convicted and sentenced to six months' imprison-
ment, with hard labour.