The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

AUGUST

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—Liverpool. Aug. 17.
NISI PRIUS COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice
WIGHTMAN.)
MELLOR V. LEATHER AND CLOUGH.
This action came on yesterday afternoon, and was
not finished until nine o'clock last night.
Mr. Sergeant Wilkins and Mr. Birnie appeared for
the plaintiff; Mr. Hugh Hill, Q.C., for the defendant
Leather, and Mr. James, Q.C., and Mr. Milward, far
the defendant Clough.
This was an action brought by a merchant residing,
in Liverpool, who in 1849 bought a cream-coloured
pony in Brazil, and in the spring of 1850 brought it
from Pernambuco to Liverpool. The effect of the
voyage greatly deteriorated the pony, and it was
landed in bad condition. A livery stable-keepe r
named Balmer, residing at West Derby, was sent tor,
and he recommended that Mr. Middleburg, the vete-
rinary surgeon, should be called in. The pony, un-
der his attention, recovered, and, being a very beau-
tiful pony, excited general admiration. The pony,
however, soon after became again unwell, and was
again placed under the care of Mr. Middlehurst and.
Bulmer. Bulmer proposed that it should be sent to
a strawyard in Wales belonging to a brother-in-law
of his, named Harker, and to this arrange-
ment the plaintiff agreed. The pony was ac-
cordingly sent there. Some time afterwards
Bulmer went to the plaintiff with a very doleful
countenance, and told him that the pony was dead,
and that he would take him to the tanyard and send
him one of his feet"to keep in remembrance of him. In
so doing Bulmer had acted bona fide to the best of his
information. A short time after this Bulmer met the
defendant Leather, who is a surgeon, and from him
he ascertained that the pony was not dead, as be
(Leather) had bought him of a person named Came-
ron, who went by the name of Scotch Sam. Tbe
plaintiff then saw Leather, who admitted that he had
his pony, but refused to give it up unless 30 guineas
were given to him for it. The plaintiff =fused to do
this, but offered to give Leather 101. to cover the ex-
penses he had been at in medicine to cure the animal.
This the defendant refused, and the plaintiffe asnionwaesf atdh-e
vised to get possession of the pony as he
could.
bßyyti'
tmheanpinaaimnteiffd'sadairrreicstoinon, sabailiff, r,goatcpcoon:p
pony and took it to some livery stables out of the
borough. The defendant Clough, a detective officer,
was employed by the defendant Leather to find his
pony, and take into custody those who had taken it
away, on a charge of felony. This charge was heard
before Mr. Mansfield, the police magistrate, and dis-
missed, and the pony ordered to be delivered up to
Leather on his entering into a replevin bond.
For the defendant Clough, Mr. JAMES submitted
that there was no case against his client, as he was
merely acting in the ordinary discharge of his duty
in doing what he had done, within the jurisdiction of
the Municipal Corporation Act.
pony,tmh ealat'no For
in.
st
ohet eol
client
ikndu
oeti
wfihe
ainarnddkgae
modenir
tt
had
de aat
receiving
beenbe orn,
taohbbelt
fidear
pony
no
enpHlLLdyurbicyt
purchase
and,
ordered
o b
ethdeesatdrovyiceed.of
The pony
ponyd ev ha
seas,
rgfa sr;
hae,t fraitudulentwas
,
sold to Peter Cameron for 205., and frcm him the de-
fendant Leather bought it for 305., intending to make
some experiments upon it, and, if he did not succeed,
to preserve the skeleton for anatomical purposes. He
gave the pony quinine, and under his treatment it re-
covered ; and, as he had made a bona fide purchase of
the animal, he made no concealment of it.
Witnesses were called in support of this statement,

and
Mr. Sergeant Witsos replied on the whole case.
His LORDSHIP, in summing up, left it to the jury
to say whether the plaintiff had given authority to
Harker and Bulmer to sell the pony. If he had,
there was an end to the case ; it not, and Harker
had disposed of it in fraud, the plaintiff was en-
titled to their verdict. The jury would also say
what damages they would give if they found for the
plaintiff.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—
Damage?, 201.
His LORDSHIP said cn the pleadings the plaintiff
could only recover 31., but he would give the plain-
tiff leave to move to increase the damages to 20/.
To-day the Court has been occupied until the
afternoon with the trial of an insurance case, to which
there was a plea of fraud, the question raised being
in-
whether the vessel was seaworthy or not when
re?T case was very uninteresting. A nu-
ber of casesh in the second list have been arranged and
disposed of.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Lord Chief Justice
CAMPBELL.)
Robert Bradbury, aged 31, was indicted for a rape
upon Anne Spirey.
Mr. Overend prosecuted, and Dir. Monk defended
the prisoner.
The prosecute ix bad been sworn, and was proceed-
ing to give her evidence when she fainted away, and
a medical man was sent for to attend her.the surgeon
said that the prosecutrix was barwande mind,
and incapable of giving evidence, and ring in
tae cd
not say when she would be sufficiently recovered.
Mr. OvEuEND, on behalf of the prosecution, then
proposed, under a recent statute, to put in evidence
the deposition of the witness taken before the magis-
-1 trate, the witness being unable to attend and give
evidence.
Big LORDSHIP thought the depositions not receiv-
able as evidence under the circumstances, the words
of the statute, the 11th and 12th of Victoria, c. 42,
section 17, being, " that if upon the trial it shall be
proved that any person whose depositions shall have
been taken is so ill as to be able to travel" and give
evidence, his depositions may be read. Here the
witness had been able to attend the trial, but could
not give evidence. The best plan would therefore
be to take a verdict of acquittal ; and under all the
circumstances of the case, and from reading the de-
positions, he did not think that the ends of justice
rsbtarui a,
burglary ee frustrated
art
ygh
eeacirte
2b7y ~
West
was
Derby, at
thfoerhhouayseinogf
Mr. Blair
wcommittedfrFau
John Owen, on the Ist of June. einrba
prosecuted, and Mr. T. Atkinson de-
fended
It
t the
appeared
prisoner.
that
the prosecutor, who lives at West
Derby,
his family consisting of his wife, two maid-
servants, and four men-servants, had on the night of
the Ist of June last his mother-in-law and sister-in-
law staying with him. About one o'clock in the
lobby of his house, into which his bedroom
morning the prosecutor heard some footsteps in the
He called to his men, but receiving no answer be and
his wife got up and went to the bedroo nuoorsind
bolted it. A voice in the lobby then cried, cn-teidi.
your eyes, burst it open," and the door ass.
d almviolent
ately burst oper, and the prosecutor rec
oelrve
blow with an iron weapon,
masked and disguised then
the prosecutor cried
„mit. "
my life, don't kill me.
a nice sum of moray', a
let us have it
sitting-room,
one at the bedroom
notes
his room seven men
Seilthe room, and
,en_tebri
my
men, spare
Hopethen told them he had
opened.
nd of them said " Then
, prosecutor then went to his
Tt;s. "five men on the stairs, and
and Zor, Ile took from his desk in
and gold, which he had
761 i inchester the day before, which be
received in .5-a_n They then placed him on a sofa
gave to the men
with his
at thew. One of them then said, " You have more
. • face to the wall, and ordered him not to look
a t n this ?" and be told them that there were
money
bsoavereigns left in the desk, which they took
a :e"They then ordered him to go to his bedroom
ant'
e \-Nrerehmilewt
od g 0 to bed. A man was watching the door, and a
followed him into his bedroom, and ordered him
intoSsnit in a chair near the bed, pointing a pistol at his
hhiesrewthase
head. The burglars remained iu the house an hour,
taking with them a gold watch, two silver watches,
minontoeyth
ta;nodinsgornoenpltawteo, bmeseindeswtehnet
tarn labourers slept, and ordered them to lie still,
pointing at them something which they took for a
blunderbuss. All the men were masked, and none of