The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-17 00:00:00

SOUTHWARK.

Robert Duncan and _Mary Duncan, his wife, were
placed at the bar before Mr. Cottiugham for re-exami-
nation, for conspiring, with another person, not in cus-
tody, to extort money from the London and North-
Western Railway Company, by pretending that they
had received serious injuries in one of the second-class
carriages on the sth of September, owing to a collision
alleged to have occurred on the journey from York to
London at a place called Leighton Buzzard.
Thomas Borridge stated that he was in the habit of
supplying Duncan with greengrocery articles, and from
an entry in his book he found that he had been at the
prisoner's house on the 20th of September, on which
occasion he recollected having seen the female prisoner,
who appeared to be in her usual state of health. She
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tunities of seeing Duncan's handwriting, and should be
enabled now to identify it.
The following letter was then read. It was addressed
to the Secretary of the London and North-Western
Railway Company;"—
" 59, George-street, Bermondsey, Nov. 2, 1848.
" Sir,—The medical gentleman representing the com-
pany, having seen Mrs. Duncan and Mr. O'Brien several
times, is fully aware of the serious injuries sustained by
my wife as well as Mr. O'Brien. You will, no doubt, be
informed by him that Mrs, Duncan is still very ill, re-
quiring great quiet and nourishment, and in the event of
her being again pregnant it will be attended with great
danger. Mr. O'Brien has suffered severely from the in-
juries to his knee and chest, and is still spitting blood,
especially at night, when his cough is very bad, which
will prevent him from attendng to his business for some
time, for did he do so before he is thoroughly well, it
might bring on relapse, the consequence of which may be
very serious. Under those circumstances Ido hope that
we shall not be compelled to proceed in an expensive
litigation against so powerful a company, where the
means of a private individual would be perhaps wasted
entirely in entailing utter ruin on ourselves and family
who have already suffered severely enough. lam wil-
ling to accept 601. for the injuries to Mrs. Duncan ; and
Mr. O'Brien is willing to accept 601., provided it is set-
tled this week, as Mr. O'Brien has been informed by his
solicitor that unless proceedings are issued directly it
cannot be tried this term. In the event of this arrange-
ment not being made, Mr. O'Brien wishes it to be tried
as soon as possible. This letter is, of course, without
prejudice in either case, should we be compelled to have
recourse to a court of law. An early answer will greatly
oblige your obedient servant, "R. DuNceti."
The witness having examined the above letter, stated
that he had no doubt it was in Duncau's handwriting.
Robert Darke—l was acquainted with O'Brien, who
is brother- in-law to the male prisoner. I became ac-
quainted with him in 1840, when I was working as a
compositor in Mr. Bensley's printing establishment. I
am now employed in Mr. Crawford's printing-office, pre
vious to which I was at Mr. Reeve's, and during the
time I was in the latter situation—about, I think, the
middle of December—O'Brien called upon me, and pro-
duced a letter which he said he wanted me to copy. He
mentioned that it related to an accident his sister had
met with in a railway carriage. lat first refused to copy
the letter; but he at length prevailed upon me. The
letter runs thus--

" 11, Northumberland-street, Strand, Dec. 15, 1848
" Sir,—Mr. O'Brien having made application to me
this morning respecting an accident which took place
on the North-Western Railway on the sth of September,
I beg to state that I was present, being one of the
passengers on that unfortunate occasion, and that I was
in the same carriage with Mr. O'Brien and Mrs. Duncan
(whom I afterwards found to be brother and sister)
when the accident took place; and afterwards I saw them
on the line, and likewise at Leighton Buzzard, and came
to town with them. I was very much shook my self and
did not forget it for many days; but having received no
particular injury I did not trouble myself about it, nor
had I any time, but will not travel again by railway if I
can go by any other conveyance. They appeared very
much frightened and hurt. I had told Mr. O'Brien that
if he wanted me at any time he might depend upon me
to come forward, if I could do so conveniently, as I con-
sidered it a piece of gross negligence somewhere. I will
do myself the honour of waiting on you this afternoon at
three o'clock if you wish it, but am leaving town on
Saturday.—Your obedient servant, _ _

_
" R. DARKE.
" To Mr. S. Harrison, solicitor, 5, New Inn, Strand."
The witness, in continuation of his evidence, said, when
I copied the above letter I returned it, and the one I
copied it from, to O'Brien. Ho had previously told me
that such a letter as that referred to was required before
the railway company would grant compensation, as a
person who was present and witnessed the accident was
either absent abroad or dead.

Mr. Clarkson—ls there any truth in what is as-
serted in the letter just read, namely, " That you
were present and witnessed such an accident as therein
described ?" Darke—There is no truth whatever in it.
Mr. Clarkson—Were you to have derived any benefit,
if compensation had been granted by the company to the
parties who made the application for it? Darke—"l was
to have had 41. or 51." The witness proceeded :—O'Brien
afterwards took me to Mr. Harrison, who required the
same proof of my respectability of character, and I in-
formed that gentleman of my situation of life, and those
employers for whom I worked as a compositor. I saw
O'Brien on Friday last (the day on which Mr. Clarkson
made applicatio❑ to this Court for warrants against the
parties implicated in the conspiracy). That person came
to me at one o'clock while I was at dinner at the Ship,
at Hungerford-market, and I expressed my surprise that
he should have called upon me after what had transpired,
and informed him that a warrant was issued for his ap-
prehension. O'Brien then went away, and I have not
seen him since.

--lyiir:CTa;kson—After I copied the above letter I
had my suspicions, and I communicated them to Mr.
Menem Subsequently I gave a voluntary statement of
all that I knew of the transaction to the solicitor of the
railway company. When I saw O'Brien on Friday last,
before he left the room, he expressed a hope that I would
not appear as a witness against him in the event of his
apprehension.
Duncan here requested that some letters relating to a
correspondence between him and Mr. Harrison might be
read, as he considered that it might be of importance.
Mr. COTTINGHAM accordingly perused one of the let-
ters, in which a pen was drawn through the words the
sth of April, and the sth of September substituted.
Darke explained this by saying he made the mistake
himself, and it was corrected by Mr. Harrison.
Mr. COTTINGHAN (to Darke)—Then you represented
to Mr. Harrison that you were in the train when the
alleged accident occurred? Darke—l certainly did.
Mr. Harrison then produced some memoranda. which

jhe took down from Darke's lips when he was first ap-
plied to on the subject, and which were confirmatory of
the circumstances as related in the above letter.
- Cross-examined by Mr. Buchanan—l never saw Mrs.
Duncan during the transaction.
Mr. COTTINGUAM— Now, witness, do you mean to say
that 31. or 41. was the only inducement held out to you
by O'Brien for writing the letter? Ihave already can-
tinned you that you are not bound to give any answers
which may tend to criminate yourself.
Darke—He induced me to do it innocently.
Mr. COTTINGRAM—You repeated the assertions con-
tained in your letter to Mr. Harrison when he examined
you, and when an attempt was made to make him an
innocent instrument in adopting proceedings against the

•
company. s.
Darke—l now sincerely regret what I did, but I did
believe that au accident had really occurred to the par-
ties, and that was the reason I had the folly to copy such
a statement as I did.
Mr. COTTINGHAM asked Duncan if ho wished to put
any questions to the witness; and his reply was that he
could put many, but that he would merely ask him if
he (prisoner) only accompanied him to show him where
Mr. Harrison lived, at the time they instructed that gen-
tleman to proceed against the railway company ?
Parke replied, that such was the case.
Mr. Clarkson here took an opportunity of observing,
that there was nothing whatever to reflect the slightest
imputation on the character of Mr. Harrison for the part
he had taken in the transaction.
Darke said that he regretted ever having mixed him-
self up in such an affair, and that he had witnesses to
speak to his character.
Mr. Clarkson—You have already given evidence of
your character by the letter you wrote, and which has
been just read. The Learned Counsel then said that
there was still one of the offenders at large, and on that
account a remand would be necessary before sending tilt,
case in its present form for trial. He believed that the
evidence of the principal witness who was brought for-
ward on this occasion would probably be rejected by a
jury, he having, by his own admission, taken such a
prominent part in the transaction. He, therefore, applied
that that person should now find sureties for his appear.
ance on the next examination.
Mr. COTTINGHAM at once assented to the application,
and then, addressing Duncan, asked him if he wished to
say anything in his defence ; and told him that it was
entirely optional with him whether he did so or not, as
he would have an opportunity on the next examination.
Duncan said, that he would save the time of the Court
by making an avowal that he was guilty of hisving par-
ticipated in the offence with which he was charged,
and that he was now only anxious to make every
reparation in his power by giving all the inforMation he
could to the conspany ; that he was only guilty to a
certain extent, the chief criminal in the affair being
still at large. The prisoner then reverted to an awful
accident whioh had occurred in his family since his and
his wife's apprehension, and said that on Saturday last
his only boy, a child of five years of age, was burnt to
death, and that his own sufferings on that account, as
well as the painful situation in which he and his wife
were placed, were most acute, and he trusted that the
miseries they endured would operate in some degree as
an atonement for their offence with the company; that
his wife had acted entirely under his control in the
affair, and he trusted, at all events, that she would be
permitted to be at large upon bail, in order that she
might be present to attend to the burial of their unfortu-
nate child. (Both the prisoners were dreadfully affected
while he was describing the accident.)
Mr. COTTINGHAM deeply deplored the accident, but
said that'in a case where such deception had been re-
sorted to for the purpose of defrauding a company, he
should remand the prisoners until Monday next; but,
under the circumstances, he would take bail for the
female prisoner's appearance on that day.