The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-05 00:00:00

case with great regret. I should have been delighted if the
jury could have seen their way to a doubt. 1 believe that
you must have been under the influence of drink, for there
was no adequate motive for your act, for the medals are only
of trifling value. Your punishment must be very severe.
It must be penal servitude for three years. With regard to
you, Charlotte Johnson, you took a very subordinate part in
the affair—

Bambrick, holding up the girl's hand, "Look at this
small hand, my lord ; it is absurd to suppose she could
have done much against a strong man. She was merely in
the room."

The Judge—l say she only took a subordinate part. I
shall not punish her so severely as the male prisoner. She
must be imprisoned, with hard labour, for 12 months.
Bambriek—There won't be a bigger robber in England
than I shall be when I come out.

William Samphee:and John Martingdale were indicted
for maliciously wounding Charles Baker, with intent to
murder him, on the 23d of July, at Farnham.
Mr. Machonochie was council for the prosecution.
It appeared that on the 23d of July Baker,boing the master
of a small vessel called the Arehimedes,was proceeding in the
evening to his vessel which was laying at the quay, when the
prisoners came up to him and said, " You are a policeman."
Baker said ho was not; he belonged to the little vessel on
the quay. They walked on for a short distanco, and then
returned, one of them having au iron bar. They said,
"Let's do for the old -- and throw him overboard,"
and they then struck him on the head with the iron bar and
knocked him senseless to the ground. The mate, hearing a
noise, came on deck, and saw Baker lying senseless on the
mud. Baker did not come to his senses till the next morn-
ing. Ho then went with a policeman to a vessel called the
Rose, which was lying near the Archimedes, and he then
picked out the two prisoners, and they were then appre-
hended. Samphee said they should not have done it if
Baker had not tried to stab them,

The jury found Samphee guilty, and acquitted Matting-
dale.

The learned Judge then sentenced Sampheo to be kept in
penal servitude for ten years.
George Fry was indicted for assaulting Mary Yates with
intent to murder her.

Mr. Beetham prosecuted; and Mr. IL T. Cole defended
the prisoner.

Mary Yates—l am a housemaid in the service of the Rev.
Mr. Lewis. The family went to church on Sunday morn-
ing the 29th of November, shortly before 11. I was the only
person left in the house, and the doors were locked. There
was a knock at the door. I went to it and asked who was
there. The answer was "Me." I knew it was the voice of
the prisoner, who was coachman in the family. I let the
prisoner in. He followed me into the back kitchen. Ho
asked what made me look so cross ? I said, because he was
in my way. Ho went away and returned shortly with a new
silk dress, which he offered me. I told him I did not want
it, as I had plenty of dresses, and it was left on the kitchen
table. I went into the dining-room to look to the fire ; the
prisoner came to me. I asked him what he wanted ; he made
no answer and went away— he returned with a table-knife
in his hand, without his coat. He shut the door with his
back. He then took me by the right shoulder and pointed
the knife at ray side. He said he had been waiting the op-
portunity, and now he would do it. I told him he often said
when he did an evil thing the devil had got the upper hand
of him, and he had got the upper hand 01 him then. I asked
him to put down the knifo and he put it on the chair. 1
tried to get out of the door, but he told me to stay. At last
I got out and wont into the kitchen. He followed me with
the knife in his hand, which he put oa the table. I tried to
get out of the kitchen, but he would not let me go unless I
would promise not to tell a living creature. I told him I
would freely forgive him. I left the kitchen and got into
the garden. He followed me and was much excited, and
said he was a ruined man. I remained in the garden till
the family returned from church. He never courted me,
and we had no quarrel.
A policeman said—l apprehended the prisoner on the 29th
November. I told him the charge was attempting to kill
the young woman. He made no answer. On the road to
the station he said she was a girl he would not hurt a hair
of her head—he supposed it was lowness of mind that made
him do it.

Mr. Cole here said the prisoner would plead guilty to an
assault. Ho was a man of very good character, but seemed
to be in love with the girl.
The Judge said there was not attempt to kill ho supposed.
The man was in love with the young woman and did
not know what to do. He asked the prisoner if he was dis-
posed to act properly in future.

The prisoner said he was, and he was then bound over
to keep the peace for 12 months.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—Dumuot, Dec. 3,
Mr. Justice Wightman opened the commission here yes •
terday, after which his lordship attended Divine service at
the Cathedral.

The calendar contains the names of 12 prisoners charged
with various offences. The bills against several of thew
were ignored.

His lordship sat this morninc at 10 o'clock for the trial of
prisoners, and charged the grand jury.
Thus. Grant was indicted for a rapo on Margaret Res-
lop, at Billingha►u, on the 3d October last.
Mr. Davison and Mr. Fowler prosecuted, and Mr. Camp-
bell Foster defended the prisoner.

It appeared that on Saturday night, the 31 October, the
prosecutrix, who is a married woman with six children, was
going from Port Clarence, where she lived with her hus-
band, to Middlesborough, to make her marketings, about 7
o'clock at night. It was dark, and ehe had to pass along a
broken piece of road, over which there was a plank to walk
ou. She, being short-sighted, asked a man whom she saw
near to assist her over the plank, as it was so dark she could
not see it. Ha said, " Yes, ma'am, t will," and did so.
She had never seen him before. He then walked alongside of
her for some time, and, passing a publiehouse, asked her if
she would go in and have anything to drink. She declined,
and said she was obliged to him. They walked on, and he
asked her if she was married, and where her husband
worked, and when about 150 yards past the public house on
the path, which is there on the railway embankment, and
is very steep, the man suddenly turned round, took liberties
with her, attempted to throw her down, and both fell and
rolled over and over to the bottom of the bank, where, in
spite of her cries and struggles, he committed the offence con-
plained of. Two persons coming that way heard her cry, "Oh
dear, that Irishman." The man bad then run away. Her bon-
net and dress were torn and covered with mud, and she
was much bruised. The man, of whom she gave a descrip-
tion to the police, she swore was the prisoner, who is an
Irishman, and was engaged as a workman on some new
houses building there. One of the persons who came up
had seen the man assisting her over the plank, and he also
swore that the prisoner was the man. There were other
circumstances tending to establish his identity.

The defence was that, supposing the jury to be satisfied
that the offence chsrged had been committed, the identifi-
cation of the prisoner as the man who had committed it was
not satisfactorily established, as the night was admitted to
be dark, and neither of the witnesses who had spoken to the
prisoner knew him before. It appeared, also, that upwards
of 400 workmen, many of them Irishmen, were employed at
a blast furnace close to the place where the offence was
alleged to have been committed, many of whom were dressed
similarly to the prisoner.
His Lordship having left both points to carefully to the
jury, _

The jury retired, and on their return found the prisoner
guilty.

- Ili; Lordship said the case, from its circumstances, was
one of great aggravation, and for this offence, not many
years ago, the prisoner would have been sentenced to death.
The sentence of the Court was that ho be kept in penal
servitude for 20 years.