The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-08 00:00:00

o'clock, when he was awoke by a noise no if some per-
noon were in the house. He raised himself up in bed,
and at the same moment his bed-room door flew open,
and three men entered. One of these men bad his
face whitened, wore a false moustache, had his coat-
sle eves; turned inside out, and was armed with a
; another had his face reddened, and carried
r. large carving-knife ; and the third man carried a
candle over his head with one band, had a crow-
bar in the other, and the lower part of his face was
covered with something black. A fourth man put his
bead in at the door, but did net enter the room. As
soon as the men saw the prosecutor, one of them ex-
claimed, " Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him dead !"
But another said, " Stop, give him time to tell where his
money is first." The man with the pistol then demanded,
" 'Where's your money'!" Prosecutor looked earnestly
at the men, who, observing this, forced him down in Led,
and covered the bedclothes over him. They pressed
upon him so heavily, that he requested them not to be
re) rough, and one of them again demanded, " Now,
where's your money? Tell, be quick, or you're a dead
rsae." Being afraid of the consequences of a refusal,
he told them his money was in a box in his mother's
morn ; and one of the men then said, " You go and find
the money, and I'll stand guard." Two of the men then
went to his mother's room, and the third man sat himself
down by the prosecutor's bedside, and laid his arm over
his neck. He employed his other hand in rifling the pock-
ets of prosecutor's clothes, which were lying on the bed.
Finding nothing there, he became impatient, and called
out to the ether men, "Can't you find the money ?"
They replied that they could not, and the man in
prosecutor's room replied, " Then come here, and
we'll make him find it." The two men then returned
to prosecutor's room, swearing all manner of oaths, and
proceeding prosecutor out of bed by the hair
of the h
an with the knife at the same time
ead to t
hp:
mil the
covering his eyes with one of his hands. Prosecutor
felt the cold blade of the knife resting on his forehead.
While prosecutor was in this position, the men espied a
box in his own room, and they asked him what it con-
tained. He said nothing but clothes, but they were not
satisfied, and forced the box open with a crow-bar.
The man who did this called for a light, and at that•rne-
meat the burglar who covered prosecutor's eyes was
obliged by a fortuitous circumstance to remove his hand,
and then the prosecutor observed distinctly that Jona-
than Fretwell was one of the party. He had known
him for twenty years, and identified him by a particular
mark on his chin, and a deformity of one of his hands.
Finding no money in this box in prosecutor's rum,
the burglar's required hint to accompany them to
his mother's room. The whole party ranged them-
selves behind him, and one of them took him
by the ears, and pushed him before them, saying,
" Now go straight to the box where the money is,
and if you turn your head, we'll run the knife into
you." When he got into the room, one of the men
took up his position at the bedside of prosecutor's
mother, who was lying moaning in bed, and the others
watched him while he produced his money, out of a
secret drawer in the box. There was 251. in notes, 10
sovereigns, and a railway dividend warrant, but the
latter was enclosed in a letter, and the burglars, sup-
posing it was merely a letter, threw it aside and trampled
it under foot. They told prosecutor he must have some
more money, and when he told them there was a little
in the shop, they ordered him down stairs. On the
way they handled him very roughly, upon which he re-
monstrated, and one of them replied, " Hold your
noise, you d—l, you've reigned long enough." Having
arrived at the shop they compelled prosecutor to open
all his drawers, from which they took 71. 10s. 6d.
They then ordered the prosecutor up stairs, and
one of them accompanied him and saw him safe in
bed. He said to the prosecutor, " Now we are going
down stairs, for we have come a long way, and must
have something to eat and drink. We shan't be gone for
an hour yet, so you had better lie still, for if you get up
er make a noise we shall kill you in a minute." In less
than tea minutes the prosecutor heard the men leave the
house, and he then got up and called the servant girl,
who be found bad also been visited by the burglars.
They had threatened her life if she
gave any alarm,
and had fastened her in her room by bolting the
door outside. The house was then examined, when
it was discovered the- thieves had taken 141. belonging
to prosecutor's mother from a drawer in her room, and
a quantity of silver spoons, a pistol, and two decanters
were also missed. Between five and six o'clock the
prosecutor left the house to give information to the
police, and on their going to Fretwell's house they
found Jonathan Fretwell and his son William up, and
John Fretwell was in bed but he had his stockings on.
They were apprehended, but Win. Fretwell was after-
wards liberated. The prosecutor swore positively to
Jonathan Fretwell, and the evidence against John was
that of the maid-servant, wile deposed that one of the
men who entered her room strongly resembled him. It
was also shown that John and William were seen pro-
ceeding in the direction towards prosecutor's house abut
the time the dog was poisoned, and that they were also
going that way at a later period of the evening.
Mr. Dearsley, for the defence, submitted that there
was comparatively no evidence against John Fretwell,
and as to Jonathan be argued at great length that the
prosecutor was mistaken in swearing to him, however
positive he might be.
His Lordship, in summing up, told the jury that there
was no sufficient evidence upon which they could safely
arrive at the conclusion that John Fretwell was guilty,
and they accordingly acquitted him. Jonathan Fret-
well (the father) was found guilty.
Sentence deferred.

COURT OF COMMOY COUNCIL.