The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-17 00:00:00

SHOCKING CASE OF VIOLATION.

GATESHEAD, TUESDAY. - This morning, at the
county police court, Gateshead, seven men were
brought up before a full bench of magistrates, charged
with having, in company with two other men not yet
in custody, committed a rape upon the person of
Anne Begg, under circumstances of the most revolting
description. The names of the men are William
Miller, a quarryman; Edward Brown, a pitman; Richard
Stephenson, a quarryman; Stephen Cooper, a hawker;
William Bell, a pitman; Thomas Harrison, a quarry-
man ; and John Brown, a pitman. Their victim was a
married woman, about 40 years of age, who being
separated from her husband, recently took lodgings with
a woman at a place called Waggonman's-row, which lies
between the villages of Usworth and Washington, and
at a distance of about five miles from Newcastle. I,

appears that this woman had been at Newcastle on
Saturday, the sth instant, which place she left to
proceed home at four o'clock on the following
(Sunday) morning. On reaching the Blue Quarries,
which is about a mile from Gateshead, she passed a
number of mea who were standing together; and one of
them, the prisoner Miller, stepped forward, and offered
to accompany her. They walked on together until they
arrived at a village called Windy Nook, when Miller
called at a public house, and during his absence Mrs.
Begg entered into conversation with a woman
who was drawing water, by whom she was
told that Miller "was a decent sort of man." Mrs.
Begg then proceeded on her journey, but was speedily
overtaken by Miller, and a minute or two after-
wards she turned round, and saw a number of other mei,
rapidly making their way towards her. As soon as these
men overtook her, Miller suddenly threw her with great
violence upon the ground,where she was violated by nine
men in succession. She at first resisted to the utmost,
and shouted " Murder" several times, but was completely
overpowered by these barbarians, who held her in such
a position that resistance was impossible. When they
had all effected their purpose the poor woman got up
almost in a state of insensibility, and heard the
prisoner Cooper said to his companions, " If we do not
make away with her she will do for us." This propo-
sition to murder her was objected to by the prisoners
Bell and Harrison, and the latter was heard to say
" that if they treated her again as badly as they
had done, he would tell the police himself.
Whilst the men were quarrelling amongst them-
selves, the woman walked on, but she had nor
got more than one hundred yards when she was again
overtaken by Miller and Stephenson, who threw her
down is the same brutal manner as before, and both
again violated her; after which they returned to their
companions, who had remained at a distance. The
poor creature contrived again to raise herself
from the ground, and with great difficulty walked
home, about a mile distant, where she arrived
at seven o'clock. Although, as may be imagined,
she was in the most deplorable condition, no medical
man was called in, but her landlady ministered as
well as she was able to her necessities, and for
several days she was confined to her bed. No informa-
tion was given to the police until the following Thursday,
and on the next day (Friday) Miller and Stephenson
were apprehended and examined before J. F. Crow, Esq.,
one of the county magistrates. The complainant was then
present, and after she hadnarrated the facts above stated,
and positively sworn to these two men having committed
a rape upon her, they were remanded until Tues-
day. On the seven men being brought up this morn-
ing, Mr. Superintendent Thompson informed the bench
that the woman was no where to be found, and had been
missing since yesterday morning. Under these suspi-
cious circumstances, the prisoners were all remanded
fur a week. The two men who have at present escaped
the vigilance of the police are well known, and no effort
will be left untried to bring them to justice. Whether
the woman has been murdered or bribed is at present a
mystery, which it is to be hoped will speedily be un-
ravelled.

CAPITAL CONVICTIONS IN EDINBURGH.
In the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh on Mon-
day two labourers (brothers) of the name of Michael and
Peter Scanlan, Irish labourers, were tried for the murder
of an oldl woman at Hilton-on-Forthar, in the parish of
Kettle, in Fifeshire. The evidence given at the begin-
ning of the trial was circumstantial, but was afterwards con-
firmed by the testimony of an Irishman of the name of
Thos. M'Manus, who bad turned informer upon the pri-
soners. The name of the old woman who was murdered
was Margaret Maxwell, who kept a small huckster's shop
at the place mentioned. The prisoners were labourers at
limeworks in the neighbourhood, and dealt with the old
woman, against whom they were proved to have taken
umbrage for refusing to credit them with any more
thhonwhrfoeteeuhi
.3a
serlde.
three-legged
examinedewd andheeregwerg omesmdk euaa l. On Monday, the 15th of February,
.faaurvsosi
pmnAigfeo
wbuoh nenae:dt
been
and
n readmnmurdered
dreadfullyviseemrgimoney
various
nues
yTbimenhtaeoat
rehtpknhers
the value
i prisoners
about
own
buur
yest
sulotl
stolenon who
their clothes were found to confirm the
impres-
sion which prevailed as to their guilt. Theirstiirtswhich the woman with whom they lodged proved were
put on clean on the Saturday evening, had some marks
of blood on them; and one of them was stained with a
white substance, like milk, which tallied with a
.dis-
covery previously made in the old woman's house, of
a basin of milk having been spilt in some way or
another during the struggle. Their stockings
were also covered with clay and dirt, showing
that they had ',gone into the old woman's house with
their stockiaga on only, not to alarm any of the
neighbours by the noise of their shoes. They were
also heard to leave their lodgings for a time in the
course of tho Sunday night. The approver, Thomas
M'Manus, deposed that he and the prisoners had
arranged to rob the old woman of her money and go
to America ; that they met on a Sunday evening,
agreeably to appointment, to commit the robbery;
that the two prisoners went into the house, by
breaking open a back window; that when they were
in ho stood watch outside; that he heard the noise
of a struggle inside, and the old woman cry out,
" Oh, my God;" that, on the prisoners coming out,
Michael Scanlan, in explanation of the noise, said
he had given the' old woman a knock or two.
A witness, who had been imprisoned in the same cell in
Cupar prison with Michael Scanlan, stated that Scanlan
had confessed to baying taken part in the robbery,
but said that it was neither he nor his brother that had
caused the death of the old woman; that it was
M'Manus who got into "grips" with her, and did
the deed. The evidence was followed by a long speech
against the prisoners by the Solicitor-General, who was
replied to by Mr. Craufurd, the counsel for the pri-
soners. The Lord Justice General then summed up,
after which the jury retired, and returned shortly
afterwards with a verdict of Guilty against both the
prisoners. They were then sentenced, in an impressive
speech, to be executed at Caper on Monday, the sth of
July. The prisoners exhibited the utmost indifference
during the trial, and at its close they said the judge and
jury were a set of - asses, and they hoped that they
would all be dead and - before the day of execution

Active representations continue to be made to the
Government on the expediency of correcting the present ex-
cise regulations, which virtually encourage the adulteration
of coffee with chicory, and expectations appear to be enter-
tained that the requisite measures will at length be adopted.
The parties urging the question represent that they do not
wish a revival of the prohibition against the sale of chicory
by grocers to customers who may desire to purchase it, but
simply the adoption of a system that shall not legalise the
practice of vending of one article for the other.

We understand that the French frigate taking out
the French Envoy deputed to arrange with our own envoy
the affairs of La Plata has been detained at Madeira by
casualties. Sir Charles Hotham will therefore have to re-
main at Bahia until the French Minister arrives there. We
are informed, however, that Urquiza, the President of the
Argentine Republic, has evinced an anxious desire to meet
the wishes of the British and French Governments, and that
we may reasonably hope that the waters of La Plata will
soon be opened to the traffic of the world...—Morning Paper.