The Sun.
London, England, 1807-06-19 00:00:00

L.ellk REPORT.

COURT OF KING's BENCLI, ftrtlf 18.

••• COLMAN V. BOLTON'.
This wal- an action brought •to recover compensa-
'tion in damages, for -an injury ilstaiiied by the
-Plaintiff, by reason of the negligence of, the. De-
fendant's servant.
The Plaintiff, in,this case, was a cooper, and the
Defendant a coach-owner, who was. in the, habit. of
letting out for hire; to the Post-office, some of the
'wicker-carts Used to carry the Mails from the tlif,
feTent receiving houses throughout this, metropolis,
to the Post-office, in the course of which duty'great
expedition is necessary.
It appeared in evidence,' that, on the evening of
'the 6th of January, 1 sO6, about six o'clock, the
Plaintiff was* returning from Woolwich, 'on horse-;
back, going to meet his,wife and family. 'ln pasS-hig through Oxford...street, his horse going at a
gentle pace, upon • his proper side of the way, the
'befendant's servant, nAnedDeval,, driving one of
those carts, '.stopped for a moment at one of the
'Post-office receiving-houses,' 'at the -corner of Po-
land-street, while a man threw the. mail-bag into the
cart; the driver then set off at full speed-, and, 'while
be was adjusting the bag in the cart, his back turned
td' his horse, going at a-most rapid pace, he ran '
against the Plaintiff, who had-not time to get out of
the way ; he• Was thrown with 'great violence from
his horse, 'and had both bones- of his -leg fraelured,
in so bad a manner, that he -was. Upwards of 44
weeks 'confined to his room,. unable to.attend to any
kind of business. During the whole of. this time
he was attended by two eminent Surgeons, Messrs.
CheValier and Lucas, the linib being in. so-.bad a •
state as to. require their utmost care and attention.
•--He was also under the necessity of having nurse-'
tenders ; and as he had., before. this.-accident, SuPer--
intended his business in person, he was at. con,idr-
able expellee in having a man,, properly skilled, to:
supply his place. ; Hislalth was also so much im-
paired, by long confinement, that his Physicians,
thought it indispensable to: his recovery that: he
should go for some time to the country : he accord-,.
ingly. went to St. Alban's and
,afterwards, to Mar-'
gate ; which, besides negleating his business, in-
volved him in• very great expense, and it is still..
doubtful whether he ever will sufficiently recover
the use of his leg again. The expence's he had been
put to, exclusive of the pain he had suffered, the
loss of his business, &c. amounted to _upwards of
1501.

Mr. OARROW, for the Defendant, observed, that
hiS client was a man' of most respectable and irre-
proachable character, who was admitted on all hand*
to be innocent of this transaction ; and althougb'the'
law made him responsible for the act of his servant,
and however great the is
,ury sustained, he trusted
the Jury would not make their verdict the subject of.
oppression against a man wild, as "far as his indivi-
dual character was concerned, appeared perfectly in-
nocent.' •
Lord
,ELLENBOROUGH having observed upon the
necessity of bringing these kind of actions, in order
to teach persons that they were not to drive furious-
ly through such a city,•as this, to'endanger the lives.
of his Majesty's subiectS, told , the Jury, they .were
not only to take into coniideratjon the money
paid by the Plaintiff, but give bins such further sum
as might be a reasonable compensation for the. pan,
and inconvenience he had undergone.
' Verdict for the Plaintiff--Damages 2001.
BROOKS v. HICKS, ESQ.
This was an action of assault and battery, to
which the Defendant had pleaded the several pleas
following-.--.first,• Not Guilty ; then, a plea of justi-
fication, charging the Plaintiff with first assaulting
him, the Defendant; and lastly, that she, the Plain-
tiff, having improperly intruded herself into his
apartment, he gently laid his hands ,on her and
turned her out.
Mr..PARKE,.in stating the Plaintiff's case, re.
'gretted exceedingly that he should have to complain
of a Gentleman, who, like hinaSell, had for many
-years-worn the same habit he then:wore (that of a
Barrister) ;" and•who, from his profession, should
.have known better than to file such pleas as those
in this action, which he must have known were
totally unfounded. 'lhe Defendant was formerly.
41. Barrister, and now possessed considerable pro-
perty in the North of England. He Was a man of
robust constitution, and in size athletic,., about 36
years of age, and it was most curious that he
should plead that the ,Plaintiff had .first assaulted
him, when it appeared she was a 'Weak old Lady, of.
about 63 years of age, keeping a lodging-house in
Margaret-street, CavendiSh-square. The Defendant
lived in her house, in the first fashion, kept two car-
riages, Src. On the 3d Feb. last the Defendant, being
a man of violent passions, sent for Mrs. Brooks, 'in
order, it was understood, to complain of.her servant;
Mrs. Brooks having,, at the same time, some com-
plaint. against the Defendant himself for some irre-
gularities of his during her absence in the country,
relative to his introducing a female stranger at certain
hours, Into the house, was remonstrating with him
upon the impropriety of his conduct, when he. vio-
lently seized her, turned . her out of the room, and
shut the door in her face, accompanying these acts
With abusive _language. Her arm in consequence.
Was cut, and her gown torn. On the 1 f th of the same
month a porter came with a quantity of hams and
bacon as a present to the Defendant, who insisted on
depositing them, in a• store-room or back-kitchen, of
which Mrs. Brooks wished to keep the entire pos-
session,. and refused to pertnit.the hams, &c. any
room there. Upon this Defendant flew into a pas-
siati, abused her, took her by the shoulder, grazed
her cheek with his cane as he raised his arm, and forci-
bly threw her down upon the stone floor of her'
kitchen; whereby she was much
,bruised.
These fa&s were proved by Jane Roberts, the'
servant of the Plaintiff.
• Mr: GARROVV, for the Defendant, considered this
inost ridiculous and.: preposterods 'story. -Mrs.
Brooks, brawling with resentment, accuses- this
Gentleman, who' is a bachelor, of • having a lady to
:breakfast with him;_ and then because he wished to'
get shut of her vociferous tongue, he turosler our,
•
and she swears' he assaulted her,
He then cajrn4.-Coaier, the Defendant's servant-
rrin, who could not prove- any thing; and Bush,,
the-porter, Who' carried the hams and-bacon ; and
:who stated, that-after Mrs. Brooks had opposed

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