The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-21 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCIIIT.—LrvEstroOL, AUG. 19.
CROWN COURT.—Before Mr. Baron PLATT.
William Henderson Horner, master mariner, and
Thomas Henry Chadderton, seaman, were indicted for
the wilful murder of Pedro, alias Angelo Paraiso, on
the high seas, on the 29th of March last.
Mr. Blair and Mr. Conway prosecuted ; Mr. Serjeant
Wilkins and Mr. Aspinall defended the prisoner Hor-
ner ,• and Mr. T. Chambers the prisoner Chadderton.
The prisoner Horner, it appeared, from the statement
of the learned counsel for the prosecution, and from the
evidence of the witnesses, was the master of the ship
Mangosteen, and the prisoner Chadderton acted as his
mate. In January, 1853, the ship sailed from Liver-
pool, on a general trading voyage, and sailed first for
Bombay. The crew at that time consisted of the captain,
the first and second mates, steward, carpenter, sail-
maker, cook, eight seamen, and one boy. The ship on
her voyage out first put into Beaumaris, where the sea-
men, having complained that the forecastle was very
wet, and that there was no place to live in, lest the ship.
The captain was obliged, in consequence, to put back to
Liverpool and ship a fresh crew. He then againnptr_ne
ceeded on his voyage, and arrived at Bombay on h
4th of May. On the voyage out it was alleged that the
captain frequently ill-used the crew by strikin. „ them with
his fist, or anything he could lay hold of.
In conse-
rpenter, second
quence of this alleged ill-usage, the
mate, sailmaker, and eight sailors left the ship at Bom-
bay, and another crew of Lascars were shipped
for w
therebam- in
their place. The ship sailed from Bombay
poa, where she discharged hesrhcearagrro ,ved and then went n
ion the 11th o
of
to Singapore, at which place
October. At that place also the crew, with the exception
of the first mate, steward, cook, and the boy, all left the
vessel, and refused to proceed with her. The captain again
shipped a fresh crew, the whole of whom were foreign-
ers, except one—an Englishman named Foster. It
became necessary, in consequence, to take an interpreter
on board, as none of the sailors, with the exception of
Foster, could speak English. This man, however, re-
fused to remain, after being on board three or four days,
and another was engaged. The ship sailed from Singa-
pore on the 27th of November, on her voyage home.
.After being at sea a month or siSweeks the captain
begatrto beat the men, and stop their food, apparently
from their not understanding his orders, and the men
were frequently flogged with a cat. Among others the
deceased was beaten almost every day either by the cap-
tain or the mate. The cat had eight lashes knotted at
the end fastened to a thick stick. The deceased was
sometimes beaten with the stick, and sometimes with
the lashes over his face, hands, and body, and sometimes
a rope's-end.was used to him. The men were not such
good sailors as Englishmen, and from want of food and .
this treatment they became weak, affected by the cold,
and unable to do the work of the ship. The deceased
was a Portuguese, from South America, and became,
' from these causes, particularly obnoxious to the captain
who-flogged him repeatedly. The day previous to his
death the deceased was knocked down twice by the;
mate, as some of the witnesses said, by the captain's.
orders. On the day that he died the deceased was steer-
ing and gibed the mizen. On seeing this the captain
went up to him and struck him on the face, knocked him
down, and kicked him twice on the mouth. One of the
witnesses stated that, on the man getting up again, the
captain said "he would make him steer," knocking him'
down again and striking him with the cat over his hands
and body till his hands were cut, and blood ran from his:
fingers. After this treatment the deceased fell on the deck.
andwas unable to rise again and had to be carried below,
where he died next day. It was stated also that the
captain had sold some of the ship's provisions at Singa•
pore, and in consequence the crew had to be put on,
short allowance, the captain serving out the provisions
himself and giving to some of the men a greater sharei
than to others. The allowance of the deceased was so
limited that he stole the pigwash for food, and the cap 4
tain on one occasion flogged him for theft. The deceased
in consequence of this treatment, became much reduced
in condition during the voyage. On arriving at Liver:
pool the crew were some days on shore before they com.
plained of the treatment they had received. All th
witnesses appeared to be animated with a strong feelin
against the captain, but spoke well of the mate, who
they said, in treating them ill only acted under the cao
Ulu's orders. One of the witnesses said that he saw th
captain throw the cat overboard the day after the deat
of the deceased. Although the witnesses agreed in th
main facts proved by them, the cross-examination of the
learned counsel for the defence elicited many discrepancies
in evidence. The body of the deceased was buried at
sea, and the learned counsel for the prosecution said
under the circumstances he did not think it necessary to
call any medical testimony.
His LORDSHIP wished to have some medical testimony
as to whether death was likely to have ensued from
the treatment the deceased had received. As the case
stood he thought no reasonable men could come to the
conclusion that the death of the deceased had been pro-
duced by the blows without medical evidence to that
effect. He thought it the duty of the prosecution in it
case like the present to give such evidence.
'A surgeon was then called and sworn, and it appeared
that he had not been in court at the time, and had not,
therefore heard all the evidence. Another surgeon
• was then called, who, on being sworn, stated that,
although he had been in court during all the trial,
from its inconvenient crowding, he had been pushed
froni his seat, and had not been able to hear all
the evidence ; but upon the supposition of the
truth of what he had heard, he was of opinion
that the deceased had died from the ill-treatment he had
received and from want of food, which would produce
death from exhaustion. This would also depend on the
state of the man's health, and whether he was free from
disease.
At the close of this evidence, which was the case for
the prosecution.
Mr. Serjeant Wilkins inquired if the jury thought it
necessary that he should address them ?
The jury turned round in their box, and, after a few
moments' consideration, said they had made up their
minds to a verdict of not guilty.
The mate (Chadderton) was then discharged, this
being the only case against him. There are, however,
two other indictments against the captain for murder,
in causing the death of two other seamen, Samuel
Gonzales and Henry Foster ; and Mr. Blair, on the
part of the prosecution, said he would consider, until
Monday morning, whether he would press the other
cases against the prisoner.