The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-15 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—YonK, JULY 13.
Jacob Ashbury, aged 34, was charged with having, at
Sculcoates, in the East Riding, on the 2d of June last,
married Jane Wheldale, a young woman of respectable
connections, his former wife, Eliza, being still alive.
The jury returned a very of guilty.
His lordship felt it his duty to pass such a sentence as
would mark the gravity of the crime, and he would,
therefore, be transported for seven years.
William Johnson and Mary Cartwright were indicted
for unlawfully abducting Judith Kay, a girl under the
age of 16 years, from the possession of her father.
Mr. Darnborough appeared for the prosecution, and
Mr. Shepherd defended the prisoners.
It appeared that the male prisoner had been a
" navvy" on the Thirsk and Malton Railway, and the
female prisoner was the wife of another " navvy," and
they all resided at the village of Thommanby, in the
North Riding ; the prisoner Johnson lodging at the
house of a grocer named Kay. Kay had a daughter,
who was described by her mother to be only 14 years of
age, though in appearance she might have been taken
to be 17 or 18. Between her and Johnson an inti-
macy had sprung up, which the parents had observed,
and objected to on account of the girl's youth. But
Johnson offerelroinarrylier, and aVeral times proposed
to her to leave her father's house, which she refused to
do for some time, till the female prisoner called upon
her and persuaded her to go off with Johnson, saying
that if she was in her place she would do it. Partly
from this persuasion, and partly from her own inclina-
tion, the girl agreed on Saturday, the 16th of April,
with the female prisoner (who said that Johnson and all
of them were going away the next day) that she would
join them after church on the Sunday, at a little dis-
tance out of the village, and would put her clothes out
of the window that night, so that Johnson could take
them away ; and accordingly the next night the girl
went off with Johnson to Gainsborough, where she
spent the night with him, the female prisoner and her
husband lodging in the same house. On the girl being
missed the police were put in motion, and they were
traced to Gainsborough, where the girl was taken from
Johnson's bed.

Mr. Shepherd submitted to his lordship that there
was no " taking away" of the girl within the meaning
of the statute.

His Lordship, however, referred to the case of the
" Queen v. Mantelow," reported in 22 Law Journal,
p. 115, in which it was held that the girl was in
possession of her father, though voluntarily meeting her
lover, till she went off with him, and that was a suffi-
cient taking within the statute. His Lordship having
summed up,
The jury found both prisoners guilty.
His Lordship, in passing sentence, severely animad-
verted on the conduct of the female prisoner Cartwright,
owing to whose persuasion the girl consented to leave
her father's house, and it was to her conduct that the
girl's ruin might be attributed. The male prisoner's
offence was less, for he offered to marry the girl ; the
female prisoner would, therefore, be imprisoned and kept
to hard labour for two years, and the male prisoner for
six calendar months.

James Hanson, aged 32, was charged with having, on
the 14th of March last, at Bradford, feloniously wounded
Sarah Firth, with intent to murder.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
The sentence of the court was that he be transported
for life.

Mr. Justice Wightman was occupied in disposing of a
road indictment, and other cases of no interest.

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