The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-29 00:00:00

Mr. Woods, whose face elibited marks of vio•
lence, gave evidence as to the prisoners' wanton and
brutal conduct, and identified Shean, Kelly, and
Crogan as being the ringleaders, but Farrell was said
to have interfered to prevent the violence upon Mr.
and Mrs. Woods.
M:s. Ellen Woods, the wife, gave confirmatory
evidence, which was also corroborated by numerous
witnesses.

John Walter, 22 N, deposed that he received in-
formation that several persons had been nearly mur-
dered by some Irishmen in the Chalk-road, Islington.
fie prcceeded there, and, with assistance, apprehended
the prisoners.
The prisoners, in their defence, said they were
leaving their work peaceably, when some excavators
insulted them and called them b Irish. They did
not deny having retaliated, when they were pelted
with brickbats and injured severely. They attacked
Mr. and Mrs. Woods by mistake.

Walter said that, when he apprehended the pri-
soners, Kelly said, " We were only having a lark,
and trying our hand to clear the road, which we can
can do if we like, and we made all fly before us."
He (Walter) had received information that other
persons had been dreadfully maltreated, and one gen-
tleman, residing at Mile-end, had been seriously at-
tacked and robbed, but he had not had time or op-
portunity to make inquiries or bring him forward.
Mr. ARNOLD said, he never heard of a more vio-
lent and cowardly outrage. The prisoners might
consider themselves exceedingly fortunate that the
charge of attempting to steal Mr. Wood's bundle had
❑ot been sufficiently substantiated against them. As
it was he should inflict the extreme penalty of the
law upon the prisoners Kelly, Shean, and Crogan,
against whom there was proof of assault. It was
necessary that examples should be made, and this
was an instance fit for such a course. There was not
a sufficiency of evidence against the prisoner Farrell,
and he should discharge him, but he would convict
the other three prisoners in the extreme penalty of
51., and in default of payment, two months' impri-
sonment with hard labour in the House of Correction.

The prisoners could not pay the penalties, and they
were conveyed to prison.

THAMES.

Hugh Johnson, a mariner, was brought before Mr.
Ingham, on remand, charged with feloniously utter-
ing a seaman's advanced note for the payment of 61.,
and an allotment note for the payment of 21. per
month during his absence at sea, purporting to be
signed by " Thomas Chapman," with intent to de-
fraud Sarah llesford, a sailor's boarding-house keeper,
Of 24, Dean-street, Shadwell.
Mr. INGHAM committed the prisoner for trial.
SOUTH W AI?K.

' Michael Bryan, a tall, thin young man, was brought
before Mr. Seeker, charged with attempting to plunder
a vessel lying in the Thames.
Thomas Hodder stated that he was master of the
ship Vulcan, lying off Bermondsey-stairs, and that
about one o'clock that morning he was awoke by
hearing a noise on deck over the state room. He
immediately got out of bed, and going on deck saw
the prisoner, who, finding that he was observed,
ascended the shrouds to avoid detection. He (corn •
plainant) called out " Police 1" upon which a Thames
galley, manned by an inspector and several police-
men, came alongside. The prisoner then descended
from aloft, and, perceiving that he had no chance of
escaping ashore, he jumped off the deck into the mud,
which was upwards of five feet in depth alongside
the vessel, and made towards the landing place.
He, however, made but little way, but still
struggled, and in his efforts to escape from the
police he got completely immersed in the mud,
his head and every part of bis body being under-
neath, and for some time it was supposed that his fate
to be smothered was inevitable, the men in the galley
being out of reach to assist him, and no one venturing
in after him, fearful of the consequences. At length,
however, the prisoner, by a desperate effort, forced his
way through the mud, and, from exhaustion, fell near
the stairs, where he was secured and immediately
conveyed to the nearest station-house, more dead than
alive, and a medical man having been employed, and
restoratives administered, the prisoners soon recovered.
Inspector Falconer, of the Thames police, who was
present on the occasion of the narrow escape from
suffocation the prisoner had, said, that he had known
him for a long time as a dishonest character, and that
he had only been liberated from gaol three weeks ago
after suffering three months' imprisonment. That
the prisoner told him that morning that since his dis-
charge from the gaol he had been starving about, un-
able to obtain any kind of work, and he confessed
that he had gone on board the Vulcan to steal what-
ever he could lay his hands upon. The inspector
added that, in consequence of the prisoner's immersion
in the mud, on being carried to the station-house he
was seized with cramps all over his body, and that
had not immediate steps been taken cholera would
have set in, and probably terminated in death.
The prisoner saint that ha bad no means of living,
and that to send him to gaol would be an act of
mercy to him.

1.11;e MAGISTRATE then committed him to the
House of Correction for three months.

Dispatches were sent off yesterday evening from the
Colonial-office, for the Governors of Canada, New
Brunswick, and Newfoundland.