The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-24 00:00:00

S U

large, great coat on. Barrett said to them, " Let me
pass." They drew up their legs, and Barrett passed
into the inner division of the compartment. He there
found Mr. Andrews. Barrett told him that the mail had
been robbed, and that he wished all the first-class pas-
sengers to be searched. Mr. Andrews- expressed his rea-
diness to be searched, and pointed out his baggage which
was lying opposite, and went into the carriage where the
other two persons were.abe policeman of Bridgewater
came to the carriage, but the guard said he knew Mr.
Andrews, and did not wish him to be searched. A. slight
search was made in the division in which the two per-
sons had been sitting, and in the pocket two crape masks
were found, and in a pocket in the door dividing the
compartment a piece of candle. At this time Thomas,
the guard, came to the door of the carriage, and told
Barrett that he believed the man lying down, with the
Jim Crow hat on and cloak, was Pool. He also told
this to Mr. Barlow, who came to the door of the carriage
and called to him "Pool" three times. He made no
answer, upon which Mr. Barlow pulled him by the hat.
He took no notice, but kept the handkerchief to his face.
Mr. Barlow then pulled off his hat, saying. " Pool,
you are very sleepy to-night," upon which he sat up
and wiped his face with the handkerchief. It was then
KliscoVered-tliat it was the prisoner Pool, who had been
a guard on the line for four or five years, but had
been diScharged. All idea of further search at that
time was then given up, and it was resolved to take
on all the passengers to Exeter. Mr. Gibbons, the su-
perintendent of the Bridgewater:police, whe happened to
be at the station, was then placed in the division with
Pool and Mr. Andrews, and a policeman named Wil-
liams, and Rynheart, the guard, in the other with the
person who had been found in the division with Pool,
and who had been put into the other division. This
person subsequently turned out to be Nightingale.. The
train then preceded to Exeter. During the journey
Rypheaxt observed Pool fumbling under his cloak, and
found he had a pocket-book in his band; he took it from
him, and in it were afterwards found a pair of false
moustaches and some string. A conversation took place
during the journey, and both Nightingale and Pool
stated they were not travelling in company.
EIGHT o'CLocx.—The case for the prosecution is just
jury
for and Mr. Cockburn is now addressing the
for the prisoners. The case cannot be finished until a
late hour.

HOME CIRCUIT—Lewes, March 22.
(Before Mr. Baron PARKE.)
John Pearson, groom, 23, was indicted for the wilful
murder of Mary Ann Newman, on the 12th of Novem-
ber last, at the parish of St. Leonard's, Hastings, by
beating her on the head with a spade.
Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Horne prosecuted, and Mr.
Ballantine defended the prisoner.
The trial commenced at nine o'clock on Thursday
morning, and was not concluded until nearly twelve
o'clock at night. From the testimony of a great number
of witnesses, it appeared that for some time prior to the
day named in the indictment, the prisoner had been in
the service of a gentleman named Moore, residing at
Caterina Villa, St. Leonard's, but he had been discharged
from the service on the 31st of October, and it would ap-
pear he went to London to take up his abode. The family
of Mr. Moore consisted of himself, his sister, a coach-
man, housemaid, and the unfortunate deceased, who was
cook to his family. It appeared to be the practice of
Mr. Moore and his sister to attend a Baptist Chapel in
the neighbourhood of Hastings, and they were regularly
driven there by the coachman. Some of the servants
attended a church near the residence, and it appeared
that on Sunday mornings the house was left in charge of
the deceased only. On Sunday, the 12th of November,
the family went to church and chapel as usual, about a
quarter to eleven o'clock in the morning. The unfor-
tunate deceased was left at home alone ; and on the
return of Mr. and Miss Moore, about one o'clock,
a dreadful scene presented itself. It was first discovered
that the doors had been fastened on the inside, and upon
an entrance to the house being effected through a win-
dow, the body of the deceased was found lying in the
passage adjoining the kitchen. She appeared to have
received some dreadful injuries upon the head, which had
evidently been occasioned by a spade that was lying near
her, covered with blood; and, although she was not
dead, she was perfectly insensible, and after lingering for
two days she expired. Upon further examination it was
discovered that some watches, plate, and a good deal of
valuable property had been stolen, and it was evident
that the crimes of murder and robbery had both been
committed, and a suspicion almost immediately appeared
to arise that the offences must have been perpetrated by
some person well acquainted with the habits of the
family. Inquiries were immediately set on foot, and
the prisoner was taken into custody in Hastings the
same day, and after several examinations he was at
length committed to take his trial for this offence, and
also for the robbery. The evidence to support the
indictment was entirely of a circumstantial character.
It was proved that on the Sunday before the
murder the prisoner had come down into this part of the
country, and he was seen by several persons going in the
direction of Hastings on that day. On the 12th of No-
vember, an hour after the murder, in all probability, had
been effected, the prisoner was seen at the public-house
of a person named Hicks, about two miles and a half
from Hastings. He appeared very agitated, and asked
for water, which was given to him, and he drank off
nearly a pint. The house of this person, it appeared,
was on the road leading to the prisoner's mother's, and
he was proved to have called at the house of another
man very soon afterwards, where he a second time asked
for water, and again drank copiously. It then appeared
that the prisoner proceeded on to his mother's house,
where he asked for a change of linen, which was given
to him, and he at the same time requested his mother
to give him a pocket handkerchief, as he said he had
lost his own, and this fact proved a very material
ingredient to the inquiry. It was shown that very near
to a wood, when the prisoner was in this neighbour.
hood, a gamekeeper, who was in a shed near the house
kept by Hicks, saw some appearances which induced
Min to make a careful search; and the result was, that
he discovered, hidden under a quantity of dried leaves,
the wnole of the property that had been stolen from Mr
Moore's at the time, no doubt, when the murder was
committed, tied up in a blue and white handkerchief. A
woman with whom the prisoner had lodged in London,
upon this, was summoned as a witness, and she stated
that a day or two before the prisoner left London to go
down to Hastings, she had seen a handkerchief of a
similar description to the one that contained the pro-
perty in the prisoner's possession, and she also said that
when she asked him to let her wash this handkerchief
he refused, and then washed and ironed it himself, a:AI
she expressed a strong opinion that it was the same
handkerchief, and it at all events appeared to be of
exactly the same pattern. Besides these facts, evi-
dence was adduced to show that the footmarks in the
place where the property was found corresponded
with the shoes that were upon the prisoner, and the
footsteps that were upon a bank outside the wall of
Mr. Moore's garden were also represented to corres-
pond with the prisoner's shoes. In addition to these
facts, a witness was also examined, who stated that about
the time when Mr. Moore's family usually went to
church, he saw the prisoner standing in a position from
whence he could command a view ot• the premises, and
see every person who left the house. There were a few
other minor circumstances in the case, but the above nar-
rative comprises the whole of the material facts that were
adduced in evidence.
Mr. BALLANTINE questioned all the material witnesses
at great length, and by his cross-examination, suc-
ceeded in creating a doubt with regard to the identity
of the handkerchief and the footmarks. Ile then made a
most energetic address to the jury on behalf of the pri-
soner, urging, with great earnestness, that although un-
doubtedly a ease of strong suspicion had been made out,
the evidence was not sufficient to justify a conviction for
murder.

Mr. Baron PARKE then summed up, and the jury,
after a very short deliberation, returned a verdict of Not
Guilty.
The prisoner was then arraigned upon the indictment
charging him with the robbery, and no evidence being
offered for the prosecution, a verdict of Not Guilty was
recorded. _ _ _

Marsh 23.
Hannah Sandles, 47, widow, was indicted for the wil-
ful murder of her son, Thomas Sandles, by drowning him
in a well.
Mr. Cobbett and Mr. Johnson prosecuted. No coun-
sel was instructed to defend the prisoner, but at the
request of the Court Mr. Clarkson watched the case in
her behalf.
The evidence for the prosecution made out the charge
against the prisoner in the most conclusive manner. It
appeared that she was left a widow with twe children—
a boy and a girl, aged respectively six and eight years.
In the early part of last year she was again pregnant,
and she was admitted with her two children into the
Chayley union workhouse, and in July last she
was delivered of the unfortunate infant whose
death formed the subject of the present inquiry.
It appeared that before the child was born the
prisoner was frequently heard to express a wish
that it might not come into the world alive, and she
appeared deeply impressed with a feeling of shame at
the position in which she had placed herself by her mis-
conduct. She remained in the union, with her three
children, until the Bth September, when she expressed
her intention to leave, and go to London with her family,
where she expected to get work. The master of the
workhouse advised her to remain, but she persisted in
her determination to go to London; and she left the
workhouse on the morning of the day in question, a six
pence and some bread being given to her to help her on
her journey I The prisoner was observed, with her
three children, going along different parts of the road
towards London; but in the afternoon she went into a
been shop about five miles from the workhouse, and at
this time the baby was missing. The prisoner proceeded
on her journey to London, and nothing more
d
until the 16th of September, when a woman nameho Mand-
ners, who occupied a cottage and garden upon t roa
between the workhouse and the beer-shop, There
the
prisoner was seen without her baby, discovered in the
well upon her premises the dead body of a child. It was
quite naked, and the death had been occasioned
by suffocation from drowning, or some other
cause. Inquiries were made, and it was speedily
ascertained that the infant was the prisoner's, and the
same she had taken away with her from the workhouse
a few days before. Immedately upon this discovery
, taking place an officer of the Sussex, constabulary was