The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-27 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT, C.,tamiTE, FEB. 23.
Caowtv COL:RT.—Robert Hetherington was placed at theae
bar, charged with having unlawfully, maliciously, and feloni-
ously stabbed and wounded Joseph Atkinson, of Warble Bank,.
in the parish of Westward, with intent to murder him.
Joseph Atkinson said, I am an innkeeper, and live at
Warble Bank, about two miles from Wighton. I have a .
wife and step-daughter living with me. About ten o'clock of "
the night of the Ist of June we all went to bed-; about eleven .
o'clock some one called out if Joe," and soon after " Joe v
Atkinson ;" I then got up from bed and threw up the bed- -
room window, and inquired who was there ; a man said " it;
me." I said I did not know him ; he said " if I saw-
him I would know him, could he stop all night?" I then puts
down the window, went down stairs, and lighted a candle; C
opened the door, he came in and I bolted the door • he camel,
towards the fire-side, and sat down ; he then asked me if tra
knew him, and I said I did not; I asked him if he was a son;
of Andrew Nixon's, and he said no; he said you must know"
me, I lived servant in this neighbourhood, with Dennison, or
the Heads; I told him I knew little of his servants; he then
asked for a pint of ale, which I gave him ; be .then said he,,
was thrown late, he was intending to go to Cockbridge, to.
look after some draining, as they were giving a better price-
there than where he had been working at Caldbeck and. Se-
bergham. After he had drank the pint of ale, I reo nested
him to go to bed, which he agreed to. I took the carAe and
went up stairs before him, we passed through our own sleep-
kg room to his room. I walked first, showed him his bed, set
the candle down, and retired to bed. I had slept a short time,
and awakened out of my sleep. I felt something touch zny
.throat, and was prevented from rising by an attempt at stra.n
gulation. I then felt a stab at my breast. • I then made a, se-
cond attempt to rise, with that struggle I awakened my wife,
who looked up and said, " In the name of goodness what has
come to us now, have you let in a man to murder us ?" - On
that_ I stretched out my left arm to seize him, and seized the
man by the breast, saying, " Arc you the villain I let in ?"
The man never made answer. The man struck me violently
upon my left arm with a sharp instrument. By that time my
wife was getting up. As soon as she got upon the bed, and
was coming across it at the foot of the bed, he left me and
seized her. Immediately after I went down stairs into the
kitchen, but fainted away by loss of blood, and was insensible
for some time. The prisoner at the bar is the man I let into
my house. _ _ - _

-Other evidence was adduced, after which the Jury found
the prisoner Guilty. The prisoner was put down, and shortly
after placed at the bar, when the Learned Judge, after putting
on the black cap, proceeded to pass the awful sentence of
death upon the prisoner—that he should be taken from thence,
to.a place of execution, there to be hanged till he was dead„
and entreated Cod to have mercy on hig soul.
The Assizes concluded to-night at a late hour, and to-mo r-
row the Commission will open at Newcastle.