The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-31 00:00:00

could have the heart to do it?" Shortly afterwards the
taint, hi, and 14,, " I'ne
frightful where the old cooper wa* killed." He said
something else, and the prisoner replied, " What, do
you think I killed him? I didn't go further than the
door with him."

Mary Dart said she sat up the whole of that night in
a kitchen which looked into the road. In the course of
the night, between one and two o'clock, she observed a
light in the kitchen window at Treverton's house. It
was a moonlight night, and between two or three o'clock
she observed a man pass her window twice. He was
dressed in a light fustian coat and trousers. She
thought it was Samuel Hockin. Between five and six
o'clock that morning she left her own house and went
into Treverton's passage. The door was not fastened,
but Treverton's door was locked or bolted. A few mi-
nutes afterwards the prisoner came down and opened the
door. She had on a day cap, and her clothes appeared
" crammed." Witness asked her if she had been to
bed, and she replied " Yes." They then heard voices
outside, and the prisoner looked out of window.
Several people then came to the door and said, "He
is dead." Witness's little girl came in afterwards and
stated that Samuel Hockin was found dead. The pri-
soner replied, " Who could bo so cruel?" Witness
asked her why she did not go out, and she said she
couldn't on any account whatever. Witness said she
thought she saw S. Hockin pass by her window on the
preceding night; and the prisoner made no answer. At
that time G. Stephens came in and said, " In a few mi-
nutes your house will be searched." Whereupon the
prisoner went up stairs and did not come down again
until the constable arrived. West, the constable. said
something to the prisoner's mother, who thereupon called
her daughter down. She had no shoes on, and she took
a pair of slippers from under the stairs and put them on.
The constable told her she must go with him, and she
said, " What do you mean by that?"
The constable West produced the shoes, and some hair
cut from deceased's head after his death, also the stone,
which still presented marks of blood.
John Treverton, the father of the prisoner, said that
at the time in question she was living at his house. There
was only one bedroom there, and it contained two beds.
His wife and himself, with their youngest child, slept in
one of them, and Mary Treverton in the other. On the
night of the 9th October he went to bed at seven o'clock.
He was very unwell, and his son brought him a drop of
ale after he went to bed. He could not swear to the
prisoner's shoes. He never took any notice of her shoes.
The shoes yroduced were not his own nor his wife's. On
the night of the 9th October the prisoner went to bed at
half-past eleven o'clock. He was very wakeful the whole
of that night. Mary did not go out during the night,
and in the morning he saw her get up. Hockin had
once promised the prisoner marriage.
George Stephens was recalled to identify the shoes,
and he stated that he believed them to be the prisoner's.
He was in the habit of making shoes for the family.
John Bligh, a shoemaker, proved that he made a pair of
shoes last year for the prisoner. The shoes produced
were made by him, and they were similar to those made
for the prisoner. This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. SLADE addressed the jury for the prisoner, and
after commenting upon the whole of the case, contended
most emphatically that the evidence was not sufficient to
warrant them in finding a verdict of guilty.
Mr. Justice CRES WELL having summed up, the jury
deliberated for a few minutes, and returned a verdict of
Not Guilty.—The prisoner clasped her bands for joy,
and was immediately conducted out of court.
The excitement caused by this trial was, as usual on
such occasions, very great; and crowds of people were
seen hastening towards the court at seven o'clock in the
morning. It was remarkable that the majority of the
spectators at the trial were females; and Mr. Justice
Cresswell took occasion to observe, in the course of his
summing up, that there were many women whose curio-
sity led them into scenes, from which the better feelings
of human nature ought to exclude them. It was greatly
to be regretted that such was the case, and the oppor-
tunity token by his Lordship for alluding to the subject
was, when he came to that part of the evidence where it
was stated that the prisoner did not go out to see the
body of the deceased. Some, people, he said, were al-
waya anxious to avoid sights of horror. and others were
actuated by the opposite 'reeling. The ladies present
appeared fully to understand this rebuke from the Learned
Judge.

NORTH WALES ClRCUlT.—Beaumaris,
March 26.
(Before Mr. Justice CovrataN.)
CHARGE OF WILFUL. MURDER.—William Peck and
William Goodwill were indicted for the wilful murder of
a:boy, named John Martin, by cruelly beating and other-
wise maltreating him on board the brig Athelstone, of
which ship Peck was captain, and Goodwill first mate.
The crime was alleged to have bt.en committed on the
4th of January last, whilst the vessel was on her voyage
from Quebec to Swansea. Messrs. Townsend and
Yardly were retained for the prosecution; the captain
was defended by Mr. Temple, and the mate by Mr.
Welsby. The brig left Quebec in November last, bound
for Swansea, and on the day named in the indictment she
was in the English Channel; a gale of wind had been
raging, but it having partially subsided, all hands were
ordered on deck to make sail. In a short time it was
found that the deceased had not comp on deck with the
mate's watch, to which he belonged; the mate wont be-
low for the purpose of sending him up, when he found
the bcy in the act of dressing. He took a small line or
piece of yarn, and beat the boy with it, and then
stripping off his clothes except his under and flannel
shirts, hauled hins on deck through the scuttle-holes;
the mate went over to the lee side, and held the
boy in the water, which broke heavily over the
vessel, for about ten minutes; on being released, the
deceased went below for the purpose of putting
on his clothes; in about a quarter of an hour, the cap-
tain passed down to the forecastle, and was followed in a
few minutes by the mate; shrieks end cries were heard
by the crew on deck, as from a person in great agony,
and the second mate was an eyewitness of the beating
inflicted by the captain. The two officers wore down for
about a quarter of an hour, at the end of which time the
lad was again forced on deck through the scuttle hole.
At this time there was blood on his face. He was
dragged aft, the captain beating him along with a piece
of rope near an inch thick, knotted at the end. During
the whole of this time the boy had nothing on but the
two shirts. The captain beat him far four or five
minutes when on deck, and then ordered him to ascend
the rigging to loose the mainsail. He afterwards ordered
the second mate to go aloft, and thrash the boy to his duty,
as he was sheltering from the clemency of the weather,
on the lee side of the mast. The mate, however, did not
strike the boy, but hit the ropes instead. On descend-
ing the lad was again beaten by the captain with the
maintopsail halyards, ropes three inches in circumference.
The captain then took up a boathook, and struck Mar
tin on the small of the back with it, using all his power
and might; this was repeated five or six time, and the
boy appeared as if dying; it was between five and six
o'clock on an intensely cold winter morning, with a
heavy sea running. The boy was next observed lying on
the chain-cable, amidships, with no clothing on him; he
was stretched on the cold iron, with his legs and feet
uncovered, and appeared insensible. Soon after, he
was carried down to his hammock by the mate and one
of the crew, and in a short time after he expired. The
body was covered with marks all over black and blue,
as though he had been terribly beaten : on the follow-
ing day it was consigned to the deep, the funerul service
being performed by the captain. It appeared that the
unfortunate boy was rather sickly, of tender constitution,
and was troubled with a flux. lie, however, was ca-
pable, when he chose, of taking his share in the working
of the vessel. The first port the vessel arrived at was
Holyhead, where she was discharged and the crew paid
off, when one of the men laid the information. The
above evidence was sworn to by five of the crew, who
generally agreed as to the severity of the beatings, the
uncovered state in which the boy was, and the blows
with the boathook, which was 13 or 14 feet long.
The jury Acquitted Goodwill and found Peck Guilty
of manslaughter, with a recommendation to mercy. He
was sentenced to two years' hard labour.
This case closed the assize.