The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-08 00:00:00

THE QUEEN V. STURT.

This was an indictment preferred at the instance of the
ustices of the borough of St. Albans, against the defendant,
who is a banker in that town, for a libel.
Mr. Sergeant Shee and Mr. Hawkins were for the plain-
tiffs; the defendant conducted his own case.
.

This action was also connected with one tried at the, last
assizes, in which Mr. Blagg, the town-clerk, and clerk to
the magistrates at St. Albans, was the plaintiff, and Mr.
Sturt the defendant, and he was charged with publishing a
libel concerning him. The libel was contained in a letter
addressed to Sir J. Graham, while Home Secretary, and
charged the magistrates and Mr. Blagg with some irregular
proceedings in reference to the examination of two persons
for embezzlement ; the latter particularly, as having acted
as clerk and professional adviser to the magistrates, and
also as attorney for the prisoner. The present indictment
was preferred by the magistrates for the attack made upon
them in the same communication.

After the case had proceeded some length, it was put an
end to by the defendant consenting to make au apology, and
pay the costs ; and upon this understanding a nominal ver-
dict was recorded.

CROWN COURT.—(Before Chief Justice WILDE.)
Caroline Brown, aged 24, a good-looking young woman,
was indicted for the wilful murder of her illegitimate child,
by casting it into the waters of a mill-stream, and thereby
suffocating and drowning it.
Mr. Hawkins conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Ryland
defended the prisoner. _ _

From the evidence adduced it appeared that the prisoner
was in the service of a gentleman at Hitchin, as cook, and
for some time prior to the month of January there: had
been a suspicion that she was in the family way, bnt there
was no positive evidence upon the point. On the 9th of
that month the body of an infant was found in a mill-stream
which ran at the bottom of the premises of the prisoner's
master, whence there was access to it by a gate or flap. It
Appeared in evidence that there was a grating above the
+Trot in question, and the inference was that the child
must have been thrown into the stream at the place where it
joined the residence of the prisoner; and there were some
other circumstances of suspicion, tending to fix the guilt
upon her, but the evidence was very far from being conclusive.
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.

WESTERN ClRCUlT,—Winchester, March 4.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice WILLIAMS.)
George Pink was indicted for burglariously breaking into
the dwelling-house of Frances Covey, on the 24th of July
last, and stealing therefrom 2701.
Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Edwards conducted the case for
the prosecution; and Mr. Cockburn and Mr. Massey defended
the prisoner. _ _

It appeared from the evidence, which in detail was of very
great length, that Miss Covey is a maiden lady, 85 years of
age. She lives in New-street, in the town of Basingstoke,
keeping one servant maid. The prisoner, who is a respec-
table-looking man, 28 years of age, lived as shopnian in the
service of Mr. Barton, a butcher. Miss Covey and her
servant went to bed about 10 o'clock on the night of the 24th
of July; both of them slept in the same room. They were
awoke about two o'clock in the morning by some noise, and
instantly perceived a man standing by the bed with a candle
in one hand and a pistol in the other; they also saw that
his face was covered with something resembling a piece of
muslin. Although alarmed, they were enabled to take notice
of his dress, and they stated that he had not any coat on, bet
that his waistcoat was of such a pattern that they could re-
cognise it. The man said, " Money I want, and money I'll
have." The old lady wanted to get out of bed and attack
him, bat the maid held her down and spoke to the man,
who said if she was not quiet he would blow her brains out.
The servant then told him she would give him her mistress's
money, and she hoped he wou'..d spare their lives. He was
then a little quiet, and then the servant took a purse from
under the pillow and gave it him. This did not satisfy him,
for he said that was not what he wanted, and he desired her
to give him the keys of the drawers. The woman was so
much frightened that she gave him the keys; there were
several purses containing money in the drawers, and among
that was a Queen Anne's sixpence. The prisoner having the
keys, went to the drawers and opened them, and took out all
these purses with the money. lie then tied the hands of the
servant with a cord which he took from his pocket. He
then went away, but in an instant he came into the room
again, and told them if they did not lie still he would blow
their brains out. He then went out of the house. Imme-
diately after this the servant opened the window, and ob-
served the same man who had been in the room walking in
the street. She then gave an alarm, and a person who lived
on the opposite side of the street hearing it procured a police-
man, and, accompanied by him, went to Miss Covey's house.
l'hey proceeded to make an examination of the house, and
found a back window open and a pane of glass broken.
They also found a hammer and chisel near the drawers.
Miss Covey and her servant gave a description of the man,
and particularly alluded to his waistcoat. In the course of
the morning the policeman went to Barton's, and in the pri-
soner's bedroom be found a coat and waistcoat and a pair of
trousers, and upon taking the waistcoat to Miss Covey she
identified it as that worn by the man who was in the room.
The policeman then examined the rest of the clothes, and
he discovered that one of the pockets of the coat had been
torn off. He then proceeded to examine Mr. Barton's pre-
mises, and under some sawdust he discovered a sort of big,
which, upon inspection proved to be the pocket of the pri-
soner's coat, and it contained all the property Miss Covey
had lost, and among the money the Queen Anne's sixpence
was discovered. In the privy they found several bullets and
a lucifer match- box. The hammer and chisel found at
Miss Covey's were identified as the property of Mr. Bar-
ton. They had been placed in the slaughter-house the
night before, and the prisoner was in that slaughter-house
about nine o'clock that evening. The mother of the pri-
soner lived next door to Miss Covey, and a chair had
been taken from the premises adjoining Miss Covey's, and
placed against the wall of her premises. Mr. Barton hail
two other men in his employ, and they and the prisoner
slept in rooms outside the dwelling-house of Mr. Barton,
but the two men had to pass through the room of the
prisoner to go to bed. On the night of the robbery the
prisoner was not in his room when they went to bed at
eleven o'clock. A large dog was kept on Mr. Barton's
premises, and no stranger could have gone there without
the dog making a great noise. The dog, however, on
that night was perfectly quiet. A short time before the
robbery the prisoner had purchased a brace of pistols, and
on Monday last those pistols were found in a cess-pool
on Barton's premises. The cord which had been tied
round the hands of the servant of Miss Covey was stated
to be similar to those used in slaughter-houses. The pri-
soner was apprehended on the day of the robbery; he had
only been married a short time before, and had intended set-
ting up in business on his own account. No one could have
got to the back part of Miss Covey's house but by means of
the chair put against the wall.
Mr. Cocanuiex addressed the jury, and called several wit-
nesses on behalf of the prisoner.
The Learned JUDGE having summed up the case,
The jury returned a verdict of Guilty.
Sentence-15 years' transportation.
John Parry, the black, convicted yesterday of uttering a
forged 201. note, was sentenced to seven years' transpor-
tation.

NISI PRIUS COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice CRES3WELL

and a Special Jury).
LANKASTER V. COUPLA ND.

Mr. Crowder, Mr. Cockburn, and Mr.-Slade were counsel
for the plaintiff ; and Mr. Sergeant Kinglake, Mr. Barston,
and Mr. Saunders for the defendant.

This was an action brought by the plaintiff, an ironmonger,
against the proprietor of the Hampshire Advertiser, for a libel
imputing to the plaintiff misconduct in his character of Com-
missioner of the Improvement Act for Southampton, relative
to making a road.
The Learned JUDGE characterised it as an extremely dull
case, except to those interested in the politics of South-
ampton.
The jury eventually gave a verdict for the plaintiff, with
40s. damages, at the same time stating that they did not
consider the defendant was actuated by any malicious
motives.

OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Reading, March 5.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Sergeant GesELxa. )

CUTTING A,VD WOUNDING.—CharIes Smith was indicted
for cutting and wounding Jane Morris. The trial did not
close till one o'clock this morning. The undisputed facts
were these :—The prisoner, a young man, of about twenty-
two, was the son of a gentleman, who was a respectable soli-
citor at Bridgnorth, in Shropshire, and a clerk to the ma-
gistrates there. The prosecutrix, a tolerably well-looking
young woman, twenty-one years of age, of small figure
and sharp features, and who gave her evidence to-day with
great firmness and presence of mind, was the daughter of a
journeyman plumber and glazier at Bridgnorth. About
six years back they became acquainted with each other, and
about four years back a connexion commenced, the conse-
quence of which was that she became a mother. After this
event be went to live at Bury, near Manchester. She fol-
lowed him, and he took apartments for her at Manchester,
and supported her there for some months. After some time
his pecuniary advances to her began to diminish, and at
length he abandoned her without giving her any notice of
h.
intention to do so. After undergoing some considerable
privations, she learned that he was at Reading, and by the
assistance of an acquaintance of his at Bury was enabled to
follow him to this town, where he at the time had a situa-
tion in the tax-office. On her arrival here, on the last day
of last year, she took a lodging under the name of Mrs. Smith,
at the house of a Mrs. Cray, in West-street—he lodging at
the house of a Mr. Martin, at No. 26, in that street. They
met—their acquaintance was renewed—he visited her as his
wife, and they spent the night before the day in question
together at her lodgings. On the evening of the 20th of
January she found means to get into his lodgings about six
o'clock, and stopped there till lie came home. Ho was, of
course, anxious that she should leave. She refused. Some
bickerings and reproaches took place. At length, between
eight and nine o'clock, the people of the house suddenly
heard screams and cries of " Murder!" They ran up,
rushed into the room, and found her lying on her back on
the floor, at some distance from the fire-place, in a state of
unconsciousness, and bleeding profusely from a wound on
the rii,ht side of the throat, and the prisoner standing at
her feet. in a stooping position, and facing her, and a razor
lying on the floor, three or four yards from her left side
and the prisoner's right, bloody on the handle and the
blade, and the carpet near it stained with blood from it.
Surgeons were sent for, who dressed the wound. He
N as asked how what was seen had happened, and replied
that she had done it herself. She, on recovering her
consciousness and being asked who did it, said it was