The Sun.
London, England, 1831-01-10 00:00:00

AN IMPROPER JURYMAN.

One of the Jurymen here said, he hoped his Lord-
ship would excuse his sitting any longer, as he had
some business to do of the utmost importance to him.
The COURT was considering, when
The Juryman said he had no property in this
county, and he thought he ought not to be kept.
Mr. Justice PARKE exclaimed—What is that ?
You have no property in this county ? How long
have you sat ? You are not qualified to sit.
Juryman—Only that morning.
Mr. Justice PARKE—What is to be done ? How-
ever, he has not been challenged by either of the
prisoners who had been tried that morning. He
must quit the box certainly. The qualification of
the Jurymen ought to be inquired into.
Another Jury was then sworn.
Robert Barrett, aged 26, was indicted for hav-
ing robbed Mary Packer of a sovereign, her pro-
perty, on the 25th of November, at the parish of
Stanton.—The prisoner was acquitted.
Robert Barrett was again indictesl, together with
Robert Willoughby and George Ball, for having de-
stroyed a threshing machine, the property of Mr.
Edwards, on the 24th November, in the parish of
Highworth.—The prisoners were found Guilty.
Mr. Justice PARKE immediately sentenced them
to transportation for seven years.

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF SENDING THREATENING

LETTERS.

Isaac Looker, convicted the day before yester-
day, and sentenced to transportation for life for
sending a threatening letter, was again put to the
bar, and indicted for having sent a certa►n letter to
Henry Woodman, threatening to burn the farm of
the said Henry WVood►nan, if he gave evidence
against any of the prisoners who were confined in
the gaol.
In a second count he was charged with having
aided and abetted in the sending of the above let ter.
Thomas Watts, a keeper of the Earl of Ayles-
bury's, picked up the letter addressed to Mr. Wood-
man, near to Stitchcombe, the residence of that
gentleman, and of course gave it to him.
Mr. Woodman had received the letter in question
from the last witness on the 22d of December, and
from other writings of the prisoner, which he had
in his possession, he suspected it to have come from
him ; he had no doubt that it was written by him;
witness had taken out a warrant against a nephew
of the prisoner's for destroying machines.
Several other witnesses, who gave their testimony
on the former trial, swore to their belief of the letter
being written by the prisoner, and also repeated
their evidence given on that day.
The letter was put in and read, and ran thus—
" Mr. Woodman hif you goes to aware against
or a man in pribson you shall have your farm burnt
down to the ground and look out yourself or hell
you shall have you bluddy hed and guts cut out."
The prisoner, in his defence, said :—My Lord, I
am quite innocent. My desk has been open to my
sons and my servants for between two and three
years ; indeed, except for about two or three months,
it has been open all that time. The key was broken,
and I had not procured another, and I had nothing in
it but my papers. When Mr. Smith took me, I Has
three-quarters of a mile from home—not a quarter of
a mile, as he states. Besides, he left me in the cus-
tody of a constable when he went to my house for
the purpose of searching it. I afterwards begged of
the officer to take me home, which he did, and when
I got home, I found that the officers were searching
my house. I asked whether I did not give the
officers access to every thing, and even told my
children to pay them every attention, and not to
offer any resistance ? I know myself to be perfectly
innocent ; I am as innocent as the child unborn of
every transaction of this sort. I did not write nor
send any of these letters. I consider that Mr.
Valley has borne me malice for two years, and I
have no hesitation in saying that I have lost as much
as 500/, in consequence. I was its the habit of buy-
ing and selling a great deal of underwood, and I had
a very good connection in that line. The prisoner
went into a detail of some particulars relative to his
widening a road, and his building a stable in such a
situation as to create a dislike towards him, and again
protested his entire ignorance either of the writing
or of the sending the letters.
Mr. Missing and Mr. Everett then called several
of the same witnesses who appeared on the former
trial, each of whom swore that the hand-writing
was not that of the prisoner. The Learned Coun-
sel also called _ _ _

George Edwards, Vestry Clerk of Wimborne,
who said that was not the writing of the prisoner,
but it was that of his son, Edward Looker; he
taught the son to write.
Robert Evetleigh—Keeps the King's Arms Inn,
at Marlborough ; he had had dealings with the pri-
soner ; saw him write on Saturday five weeks, and
in the course of the last six years, he had seen him
write 100 times; the writing in the letters was not
like his, and he did not believe them to be his writ-
ing
Edward Looker was the son of the prisoner, and
was about eighteen years old ; he lived with his
father, and resided at home through the whole of
December last; he can write; that letter is written
to Mr. Woodman; it was written by himself on the
21st of December, when he was at home; be sat
at the desk in the kitchen to write it; the desk was
part of the bureau, which was always kept open;
that letter is to Mr. Vaisey, and was written by
himself on the 21st of December, at the same time
he wrote the other ; that one is directed to Mr.
Rowland, Axford Farm; when he wrote them, his
two brothers were present ; George Viveash
was
also present ; his father was not at home then; he
left home about six o'clock in the morning to go
to Draycote to sell some wood; it might
_be ten or
twelve miles ; he came home again about ten
ttehne
paper or twelve o'clock that night;
e r at
which his uncle's; a
m one sheet
ahes
letter, he put into the bureau ;e bald borrowedhue, b r
iht at
ed
the
h
he went and
:hedi.d not tell his
pieceafterreVd iavyes a s i
nh
g andaoi
it might have been a week. Coleman was the son
George ;
father about his having written them ,
dropped them on the same evening'
Cross-examined—lle had some relations in cus.
todyth Colemanen;their names;theyhad been are Hobert
abrt
of his uncle, of whom he got the paper; there is a
barn bet n-een the two houses; he had not been to
gee them in prison ; he heard they were taken up
few
for robbery and breaking the machines of Mr.
Vaisey and Mr. Rowland ; he heard that Mr.
Woodman was going to swear against them ; he

heard people talking about the matter; he
never heard it mentioned at home; he did
not hear his father say a word about it
he did not recollect that he had ever said anything
to his father about his cousins being in prison ; he
heard people talk of the Assizes which were to try
them, but his father never said anything to him
about them ; he heard his brothers tell his father
that his cousins were taken up; it was some days
before the 21st of December ; he did not know
what his father said, but he once heard him any that
it was a bad job; when he went out to work in the
morning he very seldom came home till night, when
lie went to bed; he used to carry victuals with him
in the morning, so that he did not come home to his
meals; the week of the 21st of December• he WON et
work at Ramsbury ; he heard people talk of threatene
ing letters which might get the prisoners off; wrote
them, not knowing that there was any harm, and
not being aware of the consequence ; he did not
recollect that he said much to his father about it ; he
spoke to his uncle and brothers about it before he
wrote the letters. He was not present in the Court
when the trial was going on the ether day ; lie wag
standing outside; his uncle told his father that he
had written them ; he told the lawyer who defended
his tither, when he was in prison at Marlborough►
th it he had written the letters; he spelt the words
in those letters as well as he could; he did not try
to disguise his writing, but he had a bad pen to do it
with ; he should not have written the letters if he
had known the consequence of it ; his brother
Laban looked over him as he was writing the letters.
—The prisoner was acquitted.
The son, who surrendered himself on Wednesday,
was again removed to the gaol.

The Court rose at eight o'clock, and adjourned
to nine o'clock to-morrow morning.

SATURDAY.
Soon after Mr. Justice PARKE had taken his scat
in Court this morning,
Edward Looker, aged 18, was put to the bar, and
charged ‘vith having feloniously written and sent a
certain letter to Henry Woodman on the 22d of
December, threatening to burn his farm and to
murder the said Henry Woodman. The prisoner
pleaded Gulty.