The Sun.
London, England, 1812-09-15 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, SET. 14.

Ibis day the Sessions of the Peace for this
*l4lltY commenced at Hick's Hall, Clerkenwell,
I le,
after the Grand and Petty Jurors were
"rn n the Court proceeded to the trials'of
tra-
'ersers,
hT-P-RAtlonc6.—Thomas Shelton was put to
,uar, charged with having assaulted and vio-
l-Jolp' beaten William Crocker, an Officer of the
ljel in the execution of his duty.
th iv Crocker stated, that at a late hour of
might,as mentioned in the indictment, as he
pat: Ping his rounds in company with another
zr„„"slc.. he perceived a man hanging from a lbmp-
irog This was in the neighbourhood of Camden
thrvrt• The novelty of the sight brought him to
re: sPot, and just as be had approached it, the
Pave K bandage by which the person, was tied up
kit way, and he fell to the ground, when the
1i;11?ss came up and instantly seized him, upon
cti he assailed the prosecutor with fury, struck
t,;;" and knocked him down, and but for the in-
.lelltion of another patrolc, he must have been
idly
most imminent danger. He was secured,
token appeared that he had consented volun-
ytalLY be hanged, under the following circum-
to,htlees seems there was another man in
liad-PLariY, and it turned out that the two together
at een gambling, first for their money, and
4 .ength for their cloaths; but the defendant
ttak gs lost both his money and cloaths,
.then
,
%a," his life, and agreed, that if he should lose
1134', opponent should have the pleasure of
ted ''nip'' him. He lost, and'aecordingly submit-
Mi
n
t
t)e hanged--andt his adversary., having tied
tni It 4 a lamp-post, left hini:t6 his fate ;
thae. noose not, having been fixed in a secure
preriziler, it gave way, and the defendant was.
etiPitated to the earth—and by the intervention
fror,he Prosecutor and the other officer, saved
tiityi an untimely death. For this act of- hOma-
tie thed e Officer was assaulted as above-men-
T'
c case being proved by other witnesses, the
lidAilt was called upon for his defence.
-\4l-

i-te was a tall, well-looking Young
bourer, and he acknowledged the material Harts
Of the facts alleged against him by Crocker; tir..!
prosecutor,. and sa'd, that he had been g-.9nblitrg
on the night rn7ntioned in the indictment, mid
lost his money and cloaths, and then staked h:s
life, whiCh he also. considered forfeited; and be-
lieved that he Weds in'honour bound to be hanged;
and therefore consented. But he strongly denied
that any assault WaS committed on the witness
Crocker, until he, Crocker, had first assaulted
him.,

The Court and Jury expressed the.utmost asto-
nishment at this singular case,. and after a few
words from the Chairman; he was 'found Guilty.
As soon as the, defendant was found guilty, his
wife came into Court, and implored mercy for
him, assuring their Worships that she would he
answerable for it that he should never desire to be
banged again.
The Bench' became unanimous in the merciful
judgment of granting the female pleade'r the full
liberation of her beloved husband.

Thenuzg Ferry was charged with having assault-
ed Margaret Sexton.

From the evidence of the prosecutrix, it ap-
peared that she is employed as manager and over-
seer to a very respectable contractor for army
clothing ; that, on might stated in-the iridict-
merit, she (the prosecutrix Was quietly and com-
fortably in company with seveol of her work-
women, at the house of a Tepirtable.patAican,. of
the name of Macdonald, at Cock-bill, .El3l-cliii
Cross, when the defendant and Another man rush-
ed into the house, between the hours of eleven and
twelve, and after behaving in the meatviolent
way, dragged her out Of the bouse. Not con-
tent with treating her-thus bedragged one Cf.
the young women, who was in her company, to
the watch-house, Where she : was confined the
whole night.

\ •
This, case was supported by several witnesses.
On the part of the defendant Ferry, Mr. ALLEY
adch-essed the Jury at considerable length. He
stated, that the defendant was an officer of that
part of the town, in the employ of the parish, and
could have .but one object in view,..namely, that
of. discharging a painful duty in clearing. the
public-houses of that neighbourhood of disor-
derlv persons ; and he called witnesses to esta-
blish that fact, as well as to prove that no assault
was committed. In the last, however, he totally
failed, for they one and all proved that assaults
were Coinmited.

Mr. BARRY, for the prosecution, animadverted
on the unwarrantable authority which. this officer
-asstuned, of entering the houses of peaceable pub-
licans, and daring to turn/ their custinners out of
doors, without any breach of the peace. having.
been committed, either by them,. or by any other
person withinside of their 'respective dwellings;
and in Contradiction to what they so assumed, he
asserted, that such violent entry and outrage was.
not only a thing unknown to the Constitution of
the COnntry, but in direetviolation'Of all law.
He conclUodwith asserting, that the a aka 'was
fully proved, and that the Jury innq, in confor-
mity to the 'Oath they had taken; and as conscien-
tious men, find the defendant guilty..
The Foreman of the Jury was de.irons of know-
ing) after hearing what fell from 2,lr.Barry, whe-
ther officers have not a right to enter -the' houses
of publicans, and turn out persons when drinking
in them after 11, or I 2 o*Clock"? .

Mr.--MAtigwAßn4o stated, that he knew of no
law imposing such au authprity. If a breach of
the peace had been committed, or was commit-
ting, that would be a different thing. He then
summed up the evidence, and commented with
much severity on .the conduct, of•the defendant,
who vv-asfoundi Guilty.

Mr. MAINWARING, after animadverting on his
conduct in strong terms, sentenced him to pay A.
fine of -10/.

MOST EXTRAORDINARY CAM

On Stuiday night, a Gentleman, between 50.,
and 60 yearS of age, went into a house 6faa parti-
cular description near the Admiralty. ---lie had not
been long there when. be died suddenly. He had
with him a small dog, of the terrier kind, who
immediately lett the room. There was nothing
found on ,the Gentleman's person to lead to a dis-
eoVery of his identity. About twelve o'clock,
however, last night, three interesting young la—
dies,- of very genteel appearance, between the
ages of' sixteen and twenty, .arrived at the house
in Which the Gentleman died, accompanied by.
the dog. They came in a .chaisefrom Richmond,
where they reside.' It, appears that .the dog, 'int—,
mediately after the decease of his master, ran Off
to Richmond to his master's house. :As soon as
the door was opened, he rusheql into the apart-
ment of the young.ladies, who were in the act of
dressing themselVes. He began, to solicit their
attention by whines and cries, and his eyes turned
to the door, as if to invite th,ern.out. Failing in
this, he became more earnest, seized their clothes,
and pulled them towards the door with ,so much
violence, that one of their gowns was torn. This.
excited great alarm, and from the intelligence
shewn by the animal, it was resolved by the young
,flies to- accommodate themselves to the dog,
who continued: to. -invite them away. A chaise
was accordingly ordered, and the three young
ladies took their seats in it. The .dog led the way,
with his head altriost constantly turned back, and
his eyes fixed upon the carriage, ,until hc,led them
to the house near the Admiralty, where his mas-
t*, died. There they alighted ; but how great
muAt have been their grief, hOrror,. and surprize,
to, find that the deceased was their father !.--..The
body was removed to the Lord Cochrane pub-
lic...house, where an IngneSt will sit upon it this

, . .
. . ... .
It is somewhat whimsical, that the account. of:
the French having given kg-bail at' Cadiz was
sent byAdniiral.l...rnGGE, and .the person who ran
with it into the City was LEOGET:
Yesterday afternoon a Coroner's Inquest was
held at the sign of the Flask, in Flask-lane, Pim-
lie"6, before ANTHONY GEL,L,, Esq. on a view of
the body of John Barratt, WhO, it. appeared;
dapped down, whilst standing in front of his
house, .and died instantaneously. Verdict—Died
by the Visitatiox of God. # )