The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-31 00:00:00

CROWN COURT.

(Before Mr. Baron Bramwell.)
James Weekes, 38, and Martha Mattie, 26, were
charged with stealing a sheet, a counterpane, and
other articles, the property of William Weekes.
Mr. Addison prosecuted.
The pruseuutor in this ease, it appeared was a
labouring man, residing at Tonbridge, and he and
the female prisoner had cohabited together for se-
veral years, and passed as man and wife and the
other prisoner lodged in the same house with them.
On the 17th of July the prosecutor went to his
work, and on his coming home rather unexpectedly,
shortly afterwards, he found the prisoners in bed
together. A quarrel took place on this discovery,
and on the same day both prisoners decamped,
taking with them various articles that were alleged
to be the property of the prosecutor, and which
were found in their possession when they were
taken into custody.
The prisoner in his defence said he knew nothing
of any robbery ; and the woman declared that all
the things were her property, and she had bought
them with her own money. _

The jury acquitted both the prisoners.
Joseph Bedford, 24, a determined-looking fellow,
'was charged with feloniously setting fire to a build-
ing belonging to Thomas Izzard.
Mr. Lumley Smith prosecuted.
The fire in question took place on July 16, and
it appeared that the prisoner was met coming away
from the spot in a suspicious manner, and was
stopped by one of the Kent constabulary, who
searched him and found upon him a number of luci-
fer matches. As they were going to the police-
station the prisoner said that he had had a good
character for four years, and if he was punished this
time, when he came out he would set all Kent on
fire. There were other circumstances which left no
doubt that he was the person who had caused the
fire, and while Mr. Colman the superintendent was
conveying him to Sevenoaks for examination, he
said " I don't mind my life more than I do that
horse's tail; I wish the cart would upset and break
all our necks." He afterwards said that he would
destroy himself before night, and when the officer
told him he would have no opportunity to do that,
1:4 replied " Oh I can do it easily enough ; I can do
wit,h my thumb nail.
When the learned Judge inquired of the pri-
soner whether he wished to say anything to the
jury in answer to the charge, he merely replied in
a rough a
ntlY tone, " No "
The jury returned •
EL verdict of Guilty.
The Superi •
wail of Police, in answer to a
question put bnitelyint
aron. Bramwell, said he knew
nothing of the prisoner, and he was a stranger in
the neighbourhood.

Sentence was Postpoto
22, ciese7i, ,
Albert Vass,
h t lence upon James
charged with a robbery wild Lvoas a groom, was i
Baines, and stealing from
Personhietsix sovereigns
. e his property.
and £9 in silver, and a hamil,
Mr. G. Francis prosecuted.
Dawson prisoner was
defended by Mr. Massey-4
It appeared that the prosecutor ho
formerly
lived in Maidstone, but he at present carries
business of a shoemaker in London. 0,1",,0e1a the
of July he came down to Maidstone, and he
_fth
it,
peared to have enjoyed himself pretty freely, aft
was drinking in several public-houses, and treatinB
the persons whom he met there, and exhibitinghia
money. He became a good deal the worse for-
liquor, and at a late hour of the night he met the
prisoner, who undertook to introduce him to some
place where he would be safe for the night, but in-
stead of doing this,
it was alleged that he took the
prosecutor into a bye alley, where he knocked him
down, and used other violence, and robbed him of a
handkerchief and all the money he had about him,
amounting to a considerable sum. The prisoner
was taken into custody on the same morning the
robbery was committed, and atter he had been
secured he was tioon to drop 9, handkerchief, which
was identified by the prosecutor as his property.
The Jury found the prisoner guilty.
Certificates were then put in, from which it ap-
peared that in 1850 the prisoner had been convicted
of felony, and sentenced to imprisonment, that he
was also convicted in 1851, and sentenced to ten
years' penal servitude, and having regained his
liberty long before the expiration of his sentence,
he Was in 1856 sentenced to five years' penal servi-
tude.

Mr. Blundell, the superintendent of the Maid-
stone pouredaell,
the
ever(y active officer, who was formerly
attached to,
question
of London police, stated, in
answer to a
put by the learned judge, that
since the prisonericiill
known him in
Iti.l been at large he bad never
constantly in the Y,aolimputteat employment, and he was
ofprostitutes and thieves.
The prisoner addressedthat heltviB lordship in very good
terms, and asserted
innocent, and begged
him to be lenient to him. ,I.B_
already been sentenced to'Znatiroitted that he had
tude ; but he was very young ajettr' penal
was led led into the affair by another "i): time, and he
a.rl undergo
much older, and although he was ordered who was
penal servitude, lie was only sent to
school. Since that time he bad suffered sey ro matory
, ereiy from

illness; and he hoped that, under all the circum-
stances, his lordship would deal leniently with him.
Mr. Baron Bramwell, ill passing sentence, ob-
served 'atilt he did not see how it was possible to
dsai leniently with a man who had once before
been sentenced to ten years' penal servitude, and
he should have felt himselt compelled to pass a
much more severe sentence than the one he was
about to pronounce if the prosecutor had not to a
certain extent, by his own conduct, invited some
one to rob him. He had, however, been guilty of
a very serious offence in the eye of the law, and he
felt bound to sentence him to ten years' penal ser-
vitude.

The following prisoners who had been convicted,
(
or who had pleaded guilty to the offence of arson,
were then placed at the bar to receive judgment.
They were Henry Williams, 22, Henry Taylor, 18,
labourers; William James, 18, soldier; Joseph Bed-
ford, 24, labourer ; John orsley,
18, shoemaker ;
Henry Horan 18, and Edward Saunders, 18,
labourers. The whole of them appeared to be quite
unconcerned, and several of the prisoners laughed
in tha face of the learned judge and exhibited the
greatest levity.
Mr. Baron Bramwell, addressing them, said that
although they laughed at the present time, he was
quite certain they would not do so when they were
undergoing the sentence he .should pronounce
upon them. He then said that Williams and
Taylor had pleaded guilty to a charge of setting fire
to a stack of straw, and there was this circumstance
in their favour, that it appeared that if they had
been so minded they might have destrOyed other
much more valuable property, and the sentence
upon them would, therefore, be one year's imprison-
ment with hard labour. As to the prisoner James,
it appeared that he had stated that his reason for
committing the crime was that he was tired of sol-
diering, and wished to get away from it; and it
was very probable that he would have been soon
tired of any honest and respectable mode of get-
ting a living. He was, however, only 18 years
old, and taking that fact into consideration, the
sentence upon him would be one of three years'
penal servitude, and he said he could assure him
that he would find penal servitude very
worse than soldiering. As to the prisoner
He had
Bed-
ford, his case was a much worse one. much
made use of diabolical threats, and the sentence
upon him would be that of five years' penal ser-
vitude. (This prisoner, when the sentence had
been pronounced, exclaimed, in an impudent tone,
"Thank you.") His lordship said he would not
thank him before his sentence was expired. He
then proceeded to say that the prisoner Horsley had
been convicted of setting fire to a stack, and the
consequence of his act was that one of his fellow-
creatures had lost his life. He did not believe, how-
ever, that he entertained the least intention of caus-
ing such a fatal restflt, and he was very young; and
he should therefore only sentence him to five years'
penal servitude. With regard to the remaining
prisoners, Horan and Saunders, they had destroyed
stacks of wheat, of the value of £250, by their
wicked act ; and he could not refrain from saying
that if they Were to work as slaves for the whole of
the remainder of their lives they would not do good
to the amount of the mischief they occasioned when
they set those stacks on fire. They were, however,
only 18 years' old, and on this account the sentence
would be seven years' penal servitude.
The whole of the prisoners left the dock laughing,
and apparently' treating the proceedings more in
the light of a joke than a serious matter, and it was
evident that the sentences that had been pronounced
did not impress them with the slightest terror.
A very laughable occurrence took place in the town
on Tuesday evening. The carriage of the high sheriff
in which that official and the learned judges are
conveyed to and from the courts to their lodgings,
usually stands in the yard of the Mitre Hotel ; and
it appears that in the evening, shortly before the
courts were expected to adjourn, some mischievous
person caught up a goose that was straying about
and placed it inside the carriage, at the same time
placing some peas in the carriage that it might eat,
and be thus kept quiet. When the usual period ar-
rived the carriage proceeded with the accustomed
procession and ceremony to the Court-house, the
goose being, no doubt, very proud at the position of
dignity in which it was so unexpectedly placed, and
the vehicle was drawn up in front of the steps of
the building. The moment Mr. Bannerman, the
high sheriff, made his appearance, the door of
the carriage was thrown open and the steps were
let down with the usual bang, and this alarmed
the poor goose, which sprang out much to the dis-
comfiture and alarm of one of the javelinmen who
was standing close by the door, who, however, con-
trived to seize the intruder, and the high sheriff
then entered the carriage and was driven off. The
goose has since been returned to its owner.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.-NORWICH, July 29.
CIVIL SIDE.

MASON V. WISE..-..-THE GREAT FLOOD IN THE MIDDLE

LEVEL OF THE FENS.
(Reform Chief Juntieu rinetlzhnrn )
This action, which was brought to recover £5OO
damages from the Middle Level Drainage Commis-
sioners for injuries sustained by the plaintiff
through the flood in the level of the fens under
their juris liction, was expected to come on to-day,
but shortly before the despatch of our parcel,
Mr. O'Malley, Q.C. (with whom was Mr. Met-
calfe), read an affidavit from Mr. Wise, the defend-
ant, who is sued in his capacity as clerk to the com-
missioners, to the effect that the action had only
been commenced on the 10th of May, and that
issue had been joined till the 4th inst.; that notice
of trial had not been given till the 1441 inst., and
that consequently he had not had sufficient time to
propare a defence to the action on its merits. The
affidavit further stated that Mr. James Walker, the
engineer employed by the commissioners in the
construction of the sluice and cut, was pronounced
by his medical attendant, Dr. Burrows, to be in
such a state of health that he could not attend in a
court of justice without danger, and that there had
not been sufficient time to obtain his evidence upon
interrogatories ; that information had been obtained
which could lead to the production at some future
time of persons employed as inspectors upon the
works—that Mr. Fowler, C.E., whose evidence was
of great importance, could not possibly attend, in
consequence of pressing Parliamentary engage-
ments; and that Mr. Hawkshaw, C.E., who had
been concerned in the works for remedying the
evils with which the level had been afflicted, and
whose testimony was of the last importance, had
imperative engagements in the House of Lords, as
the session was drawing to a close. The learned
counsel, on these grounds, consequently applied
that the trial might be postponed on the defendant
paying the costs of the day.
Mr. Keane (with whom was Mr. D. Browne)
said, a similar application had already been made to
Mr. Justice Willes, and bad met with a refusal. A
counter-affidavit had been prepared by Mr. Wilkin,
the solicitor to the plaintiff; to the effect that he was
informed, and believed, that Mr. Walker was en-
tirely imbecile and not likely to attend again to
matters of business, and that the defendant was per-
fectly aware of the fact; that he had given the de-
fendant notice to produce the plans, &c., by which
the sluice was constructed ; that he had also sub-
poenaed the contractor and resident engineer, and
many other persons who were employed in con-
structing the banks ; that if the trial was post-
poned the plaintiff would not be able to prepare his
lands at Michaelmas next for cropping, and would
be under the necessity of giving up his occupation ;
that he (Mr. Wilkin) had publicly announced in the
newspapers in a letter, published in the course of
May, that he intended to bring an action, Rec.
Mr. O'Malley remarked that the action was the
result of a subscription commenced in the neigh-
bourhood.

Mr. Keane replied that the subscription would
soon be exhausted, and it must be remembered that
his client was opposed by a powerful body.
Mr. O'Malley proceeded to reply upon the part
of the defendant, and repeated that the evidence
t_roypsed to be adduced by the defendant was of the
or.ltoportance ; that the plaintiff was the occupier
could not
wo,kiitialm under Mr. Wilkie, who was already
niergteuaPr a collection of ls. per acre upon the
sub
bear ; and that the question of damages
afforded for decided until a better opportunity was
The Chief haljaining the damage.
raeemlafter some discussion, said he
was prepared to
between attor.PaY
of the trial, as requested order for the postponement
that the defendant shoe,ti upon the understanding
the plaintiff's costs of
the day usehe action to b:tY_ and client, within a
month.
assizes for the county of r:rtfp.e.ned till the next
parties to make some fot,rl4,:iarh liberty to
the
to have the venue changed. otantive appli-
catiun CROWN SIDE.

Justice liiig'A 1,
(Before Mr. traah,\
u.„,LAwis,crui. womstnnio, •
was charged with ~4,„ ,
hods 1 -tinging
y sarm upon ,
anJdohinnflPicitticnhgersg,rlicBv,Ems
Pe, °,l the
29th June. .
years of age, living a
Saunders with a knife, at shwelthor David
Saunders is a lad about 17
1 half from Ash_
tie, he was with
Wreningham, about a mile am_
welthorpe. On Sunday the 29th ~ u-
t the King's
the prisoner and seine other persona a
Head Inn, Ashwelthorpe. They had four bottles of, e
door
'
cider between them, and drank it outside tae
of the house. The prisoner asked for some of the
cider, but the prosecutor refused to give him any:
The Party left the public-house between 10 and 11_
at night for Wreninghani, and when they reached
that place the prisoner stripped and offered to fight
the whole let. Shortly afterwards he struck at the
prosecutor with a knife and cut his elbow, so seri-
ous is, -wound being inflicted that a surgeon had to
be called in.

Tile prisoner, in defence, stated that he was at-