The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-06 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD CitICUIT.—GLOUCESTER, APRIL 5.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Russell Gurney, Q.C.)
THE QUEEN V. CASTRO.
Juan Antonio Castro, a Spaniard, was charged with
the wilful murder of Cornelius Murphy, on the 25th of
' February last, at Bristol.
Mr. Skinner and Mr. Matthews appeared for the
prosecution ; Mr. Powell defended the prisoner.
The prisoner was by birth a Spaniard, and when yes-
terday called upon to plead, he was asked whether he
would be tried by a jury of Englishmen, or by a jury of
half Englishmen and half foreigners. He said he was
indifferent. He was accordingly tried by a jury of
Englishmen. The present inquiry arose out of the death
of an Irishman named Cornelius Murphy, who died on
the 25th of February last, in consequence of a stab in-
flicted by a knife in his back on the previous night, at
about 11 o'clock. It appeared in evidence that, on the
Saturday night in question, a number of Spaniards, of
whom the prisoner was one, were at a public-house in
Princes-street, Bristol, called the Hole in the Wall. In
the same house there
_was also a number of "Highlan-
ders," viz., sailors belonging to the bark Highlander.
The two parties were using bad language and quarrel-
ling, which caused the landlord to put the Spaniards in
one room, and to request the others to leave the house.
A man named Muir, a sailor, was at the Hole in the Wall,
and he said a man, who he believed was the prisoner,
struck him and knocked him down, without any provoca-
tion. Muir then went in to fetch his shipmates, who were
at the time in the house. They rushed down stairs, and
were met at the door by the Spaniards, who assembled
in large numbers. A row then ensued, in which a man
named Robert Hoskins was stabbed. There was fighting
at the time in the street, and Muir, seeing Hoskins fall,
went to his assistance. He was on the pavement, and
saw a man whom he believed to be the prisoner coming
up to him with a knife in his hand. Muir endeavoured
to avoid the party, and got off the pavement for that
purpose. The man, according to Muir's statement, then
ran along the pavement, and stabbed in the back a man
who was standing on the pavement, and who had taken
no part in the row. This witness then returned for ten
minutes to the public house, where Hoskins was. The
man so stabbed was Cornelius Murphy, an Irishman, who
died next day of the wound. This witness stated that he
saw the man who inflicted the wound on Murphy run in
the direction of Queen's-square, where the next day a
bloody knife was found stuck in a shutter. The blade
was about five inches in length with a daggerpointfirmly
fixed in its handle. A young woman named Jane Blake-
man said she was standing outside the Hole-in-the-Wall
on the night in question, and saw the prisoner, whom
she had seen nearly every evening, run across the street
arid stick a knife into the Irishman's back. She saw him
run along the pavement on which the deceased was stand-
ing, and then across the street towards Queen's-square.
Mr. Powell, for the prisoner, contended that the evi-
dence of Jane Blakeman, the only witness who spoke po-
sitively to the prisoner's identity, was not sufficient to
warrant the jury in coming to the conclusion that he was
the man who inflicted the wound on the deceased. At all
events, considering the fight which had taken pace the
offence would not be more than 'manslaughter.
Mr. R. Gurney, in summing up the case to the jury, said
he thought the jury would hardly come to the conclusion,
under the circumstances, that the prisoner had been guilty
of murder. There was not only the fight, but, as a fo-
reigner, the prisoner might reasonably suppose he was
in greater danger than was, in fact, the ewe.

The jury found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter.
Sentence deferred.

THE QUEEN V. BINJOI.

Jose Fernandez Einjoi was charged with stabbing
Robert Hoskins, on the 25th of Februai y last, at
Bristol, with intent to maim, and also to do grievous
bodily harm.

),l r. Matthews appeared for the prosecution, Mr.
Powell defended the prisoner.
The prisoner in this case, Jose Fernandez Binjoi was
also a Spaniard, and he was charged with stabbing
ll,bert Hoskins, the man mentioned in the last case.
When called upon to plead, this prisoner chose to be
tried by a jury of Englishmen, and was so tried ac-
cordingly.
According to Hoskins' evidence, the prisoner and
another man were pushing Muir, and he (Hoskins) ran
up to Muir's assistance. In so doing, the prosecutor
fed against the two men, and went to the ground. He
got up, and again fell ; and as lie was getting up the
second time the prisoner stabbed him in the side with a
knife. The wound was half an inch in depth. A knife
was subsequently found in the Hole-in-the-Wall, in a
place where the prisoner had been seen. (The knife
was produced. The blade was about six inches in length,
with a dagger-like point, and fixed in a strong handle.)
It transpired in the course of this case, that the
Spaniards were quiet before the English sailors came in
and made use of irritating language.
The jury found the prisoner guilty of unlawfully
wounding.—Sentence deferred.

Heni.y-Jones, 47, miner, was charged, on the coroner's
inquisition, with the murder, and, on an indictment,
with the manslaughter of Henry Jones, on the 11th of
January, at East Dean.

Mr. Serjeant Thomas and Mr. Powell appeared for
the prosecution ; Mr. W. H. Cooke and Mr. Barrett
defended the prisoner.
Mr. Serjeant Thomas opened the case to the jury, but
in the course of the opening, it appeared that the pri-
soner was willing to retract his plea, and pleaded guilty
to the charge of manslaughter. Under these circum-
stances, only one or two witnesses were called, who de-
tailed the circumstances of an affray, in which the pri-
soner stabbed the deceased.

A surgeon proved that on the morning of the 12th he
found the deceased with his bowel protruding through a
small wound in the abdomen. Witness, with the assist-
ance of another surgeon, enlarged the wound and re-
turned the bowel ; but the deceased sank under his
injuries and died.
The jury found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter.
Mr. Russell Gurney sentenced him to 4 years' penal
servitude.