The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-28 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, MARCH 27.
SCANDALOUS IMPUTATION.—Thomas Catchpole was
opposed by a widow woman named Hickman. She had
brought an action against him, and her son John Hick-
man was the witness ; she denied that he was in part-
nership with her ; she had, however, cards printed as
" Hickman and Son," she was in the same way of busi-
ness as the insolvent.
Mr. WOODROFFE, on the part of the insolvent, asked
her whether her son had not
.been tried at the Old
Bailey and transported for seven years ; he was in-
structed that such was the case.
The poor woman declared that it was false, her son
was a steady young man, and by his exertions supported
her family of seven children.
Mr. Commissioner LAW took up the matter, and eli-
cited from the insolvent that a person had informed him
of the circumstance.
The Learned COMMISSIONER told him it was a scan-
dalous imputation, and one he knew was not true ; he re-
manded him on that ground for a period of ten weeks
from petition.—The poor woman was very thankful.
ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—KINGSTON, MARCH 27.
THE MURDER AT COBHAM.—This morning having
been appointed for the trial of Thomas Sakers, the man
who stands charged with being concerned in the murder
of Thomas Chipps, a gamekeeper to Mr. Harvey Combe,
at an early hour the doors of the Court were besieged
by persons who were anxious to hear the trial, the case
having created a great deal of interest in the county of
Surrey, owing to the daring character of the outrage
that was committed.
Soon after nine o'clock Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE took
his seat on the bench in the Crown Court, and the pri-
soner, Thomas Sakers, was then placed at the bar.
The indictment charged that the prisoner on the 4th

of December, with the stock of a gun, or a bludgeon,
inflicted divers mortal wounds and fractures upo.i the
head of the deceased, of which he languished until the
13th of the same month, and then died.
He was also charged with the murder, upon the
Coroner's Inquisition.
Messrs. CLARKSON and DOWLING conducted the
prosecution, and Mr. CHAMBERS the defence.
Mr. CLARKSON having addressed the Jury, called
witnesses ; but it is neeless to give the whole of the
evidence, as the substance of it has already appeared
in most of the papers.
The only statement of any interest was that made by
an accomplice, which was to the following effect :
James White, the accomplice, was then called. He
deposed that in December last he resided in the Back
Lanes, Kingston. Knew a man named Burdy ; and
was acquainted also with Allen and the:prisoner Sakers.
On the Ist of that month witness met Burdy and Allen,
and Sakers joined them. Witness told &kers and
Allen that Burdy had told him he knew where to go
and get some pheasants. Sakers and Allen said that
Burdy had told them of it before, and they fixed on the
Sunday night to go, and they were to meet at Kingston.
Burdy was drunk, and so they did not go that night.
They met on the next night, andSakers brought two guns
with him. The guns were in pieces, and he pulled them
out of his coat pockets and gave one to witness. Allen
had a third gun. A day or do before this, witness pur-
chased an ounce and a half of gunpowder, at the shop
of Mr. Minck, at Kingston. They set off from King-
ston about a quarter past nine o'clock, Sakers and wit-
ness going first, and Burdy and Allen following them.
Sakers had on a cap similar to the one that was found
in Mr. Combe's park. They went along the Esher road
through the turnpike gate, and across Ditton Marsh.
They went through Esher to Fair Mile, and so on to
Cobham. They did not go by the high road, but
through the fields to Cobham Park. They arrived in
the wood about eleven o'clock, and Burdy shot off once.
Sakers also shot off three or four times. The witness
then identified the gun-stock produced, as being one of
those brought by the prisoner. He identified another
stock of a gun as being the one carried by the prisoner
After they had fired three or four times witness heard a
noise like a gate being opened or shut, and witness told
Sakers, and he said if it was so they had better be off.
They then all began running in a direction away from
the wood, and as they were going Sakers took his gun
to pieces and put it into his pocket. They ran about a
hundred yards, when Allen said, " there is a bloak'
(a man) runnning from that there tree to the sheep-
pens." When they got near to the sheep-pens he saw
a little brown dog, and he barked, and they then ran
into the sheep-pens, Sakers following witness, and the
other two being last. At this moment he saw a man sitting
on one of the pens, and he retreated, and Sakers passed him
and he saw both of the keepers immediately attack
Sakers, and both of them hit him on the head. Did
not see which struck first, but when he turned round he
saw both keepers hitting at Sakers. Witness looked on,
and did not do any thing. One of the Reepers went
away, and Burdy and Allen followed him. At this
moment Sakers was in the act of haling, and the keeper
struck him again, and sprung upon his back, and they
fell down together. SaKers, while falling, called out,
" Don't run." While they were down, he (witness) hit
the keeper over the shoulders with the stock of the gun.
The prisoner and the keeper still kept struggling upon
the ground, and witness saw the other keeper knock
Burdy down. Allen then ran in, and laid hold
of the keeper's arms. While this was going on,
witness was standing at the corner of the sheep-pens
looking on and did not do anything. Sam Burdy got
up after he was knocked down, and picked up a gun-
barrel from the ground, and he went up to the keeper
and hit him on the side of the head with it, and he
(deceased) fell down and exclaimed "Oh Lord, oh
dear!" When witness saw that, he ran away, and when
he had got about fifty yards he called out to his com-
panions to come away, saying they would be " sure to
be took" if they did not. The otherst hen came up to
him, and they went over the palings into the road near to
Effiingham Common. They then went to Leatherhead.
They subsequently returned to Kingston. On their way
Sakers complained a good deal, and appeared to be
very much beaten about the head. They got two
pheasants, and Allen gave Sakers a shilling for his
share of the transaction. He was taken into custody
the day after. _

Cross-examined—He saw the men sitting behind the
sheep-pen gate, when he went in. Did not observe
them rise up, but when he turned round he saw both
the keepers striking Sakers on the head. He saw the
keeper with the white jacket on (deceased) hit Sakers
on the head with a bludgeon, and he afterwards knocked
Burdy down.

Daniel Carpenter, a person in the employ of Mr.
Combe, proved that he traced the footsteps of four
persons from the spot where the affray took place, to
Effingham Common ; one of the tracks corresponded
with the shoes worn by White. He also observed
marks of blood in several places upon the track.
Mr. Minck, a shopkeeper of Kingston, proved that
the witness White purchased an ounce and-a-half of gun-
powder at his shop on the night of the 3d December.
The prisoner has bought gunpowder at his shop.
Other witnesses were called in confirmation of the
statement made by the approver White, to show that
the prisoner and White, Burdy, and Allen, were seen
going in the direction of Cobham on the night the
affray took place.

On the case for the prosecution being closed,
Mr. CHAMBERS made a very powerful and ingenious
address to the Jury, contending that the offence only
amounted, at most, to manslaughter, as the prisoner and
his companions were evidently endeavouring to make
their escape when they were suddenly attacked by the
keepers, and not having any notice who they were, thus
resisted them in their own defence, and with no other
desire than to ensure their escape, and, therefore, in
law, the charge of murder could not be sustained.
Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE summed up the evidence,
and the Jury returned a verdict of " Guilty of Man-
slaughter."

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—LEIcEsTEn, MARCH 26,

MOORE V. ORAM.
This was an action of assault. The plaintiff is a jour-
neyman frame-work knitter and glove-maker; the de-
fendant kept the Wood Boy public-house in Wood-
Boy-street, in this town. In the December of last
year Moore, Oram, and others, were playing in Oram's
house at all fours for a tenpenny stake, which the de-
fendant won, and, the money being uncovered, Oram
said there was a halfpenny short, and hinted that Moore
had not put down his quota. Subsequently the money
was found to be right, but a squabble ensued, and Oran),
who was described as being a powerful man, knocked the
plaintiff down, and not content with that, he kicked him
when down, and put him into the street.
The Jury found for the plaintiff—Damages 40s.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—LAXCASTER, 11Lincir 26.
William Bell was indicted for the wilful murder of
John Alderson, at Preston, on the 2d of January last.
It appeared that the prisoner, who is about forty
years of age, but has the appearance of being much older
was on the evening of the day in question at the Wel-
lington public-house in Preston, in company with the
deceased, a man much younger and stronger than him-
self. Both parties were much intoxicated, and high
words arose between them respecting a penny which was
to be paid for a glass that had been broken. In the
course of the contention Bell rose and struck Al-
derson, who, with the chair in which he was
sitting, came to the ground in consequence.
The landlord came in, and prevented Alderson
from retaliating, ordering Bell to leave the house, and
detained the deceased for some time, so as to prevent
any collision. Bell appears to have gone to another
public.house, and obtained more liquor, after which he
went home. The deceased, who lived opposite, also
arrived at home at half-past eleven o'clock. He was
very tipsy, and sat himself down moodily by the fireside.
In about two or three minutes he rose and went out
without his hat. His wife followed him. He crossed
the street to Bell's door, took hold of the latch, and
shook it, desiring him to come out and fight, as he
wanted to pay him for what he had done at the
Wellington. Bell came out, saying, "If thee stops
awhile I'll finish thee in a few minutes ;" and then
thrusting out his hand several times in the direction of the
spot where the deceased was standing, said, " If thou
steps a foot higher I'll stick this through thy heart."
The deceased replied, " I'll try thee," and they
then closed. There was a slight scuffle, and the de-
ceased almost immediately returned to his own house.
His hand was covered with blood ; he sat down, and his
wife assisted to take off his neckcloth and waistcoat. A
wound was discovered over the region of the heart, and
in about ten minutes he was dead. The prisoner was
immediately taken into custody, and a penknife covered
with blood was found in his :possession. He was still
very much Intoxicated. On a post mortem examination
of the body of the deceased, it was found that the in-
strument which had caused the external wound had
penetrated the heart.
The Jury returned a verdict of " Aggravated Man-
slaughter."
His LORDSHIP, after commenting on the enormity of
the offence, said that the use of the knife had become
so common of late, that it was necessary, on every occa-
sion where death was unlawfully caused in that way, to
mark the opinion of the Court upon such cases by a
very severe punishment. The prisoner was sentenced to
transportation for life, to be employed on the public
works.

James Stuttard was indicted for the manslaughter of
his wife, Sarah Stuttard, at Burnley, on the 16th of
October last.
It appeared that the prisoner with several other per-
sons were dining- at the Talbot Inn on the day in ques-
tion, and that all the party were much intoxicated. His
wife, the deceased, came for him to induce him to go
home, but he refused, and on her turning to leave him
he gave her a kick behind, which took effect on the
lower part of her person. She sat down at a little
distance, moaned, and complained of being much
hurt. She shortly after rose to go home and left
the house, followed by the prisoner and some of his
companions, leaving a streak of blood on the floor
all the way from the spot where she first received

EVENING F,DITIOv

the blow. She fainted on the way, and was left on
the footpath by the prisoner and his friends, who, being
intoxicated themselves, thought she was so likewise.
Her uncle, who followed her at a short distance, found
her in this state, and conveyed her to a neighbourly.;
cottage, where she shortly after expired. It was found
that the cause of her death was the haemorrhage from a
wound caused by the kick the prisoner had given her.
The Jury found the prisoner Guilty, and his Lordship,
on his subsequently being brought up for sentence, said,
he had at first been much inclined to transport him, but
taking into consideration the excellent testimonials which
had been handed up in favour of his character, as well
as the fact of his not being in the habit of being intoxi-
cated, although unfortunately so on the present occasion,
he thought ha might mitigate his punishment. Still it
must be a severe one, and he must be imprisoned and
kept to hard labour for eighteen months.