The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-07 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGEN CE.

ROME CIRCUIT—KnvosroN, .Apnr. 6.
(Before Lord DENMAN and a Special Jury..)
In the case of nuisance referred to yesterday w,'-tiesa was
an action against the South London Gas Company by the
lessee of a house near their works, after the case had pro-
ceeded a. great length, it was arranged that the ma tter
should be settled by reference.
THE INDEPENDENT WEST MIDDLESEX ASSURANCE COMPANY:.
Tile disgraceful fraud perpetrated by the individuals;
composing the above " Company," was this day brought
before the notice cf the Court by an action brought by
parties who had advanced money to the concern, against
an individual named Williams, represented to be an attor-
ney. The aclion was brought to reeovor large sums of
money, such as 3001., 4001. and 7001.
Mr. Platt and Mr. Gurney appeared for the plaintiff,
and Mr. Tliesigcr and Mr. Creasy conducted the case
for the defendant.
Mr. PLATT addressed the Jury, and said the present
action was brought with a view to recover large sums of
money, of which they had been defrauded by means of
the specious artifices and contrivances of the Company
with iv h;ch the defendant was connected. By dint of
flaring prospectuses and promises of great advantages
these unfortunate persons had been induced to
pint with their little all, and in many instances had
been reduced to the most hopeless ruin. The Learned
Counsel went -on to state that this Company had come
before the public (doing great advantages for
the investment cf money, and their prospectuses con-
tained the names of " Esquires" and other distinguished
titles; in fact, ncthing was neglected that was likely to
mislead and defraud the public. The scheme was adver-
tised in every direction, and unhappily it bad its effect; far
a great number of persons, deceived by the specious pre-
tensions that were put forth, were induced to invest all
they possessed in the world with this bubble Company, and
the consequence had been, as he before stated, their utter
ruin. It would be proved that the defendant took a share
in this scheme, and be should be able to prove that the
whole was a fraud upon the public—that persons. were
hired at so much per day to sign policies' &c., as Direc-
tors ; and, uneer these circumstances, the defendant, as he
was prepared to contend, was liable to the plaintiffs for the
lass they had incurred.
Mr. THESIGER said he could not struggle with the
case, and consented to a verdict for the plaintiff.
Mr. PLATT applied for immediate exeeutior.
Lord DENMAN—Most certainly.
CURLING V. EVANS AND ANOTHER.
This was an action by the plaintiff, against the de-
fendants, the late Sheriffs for London and Middlesex.
for alleged negligence in allowing the escape of a debtor.
The case failed iu proof, and the Jury returned a verdict
for the defendants.

NORTHERNCIRCUIT.—LnuarooL, APRIL 5.
CROWN COUkT.
(Before Mr. Baron MAULS.)
THE MURDER AT ASHTON.
John Hulme, 31, and John Williams, 30, were indicted
for the wilful murder of Benjamin Cooper, at Ashton-
under-Lyee, on the 11th of December last.
Mr. Sergeant Atcherley, Mr. Brandt, and Mr. Wortley
appeared fur the prosecution : Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Over-
end for the prisoners.
The i,dictmrnt was of great length, and consisted of
four counts. Tee first count charged them with having of
malice aforethought assaulted one Benjamin Cooper, a
joiner, and that Hulme,. with a certain metal pipe, plugged
at one end with lead and wood, had made to serve the
purpose of g cannon, then cud there charged with gun-
powder, and charged with twenty bullets or slugs, which
was discharged at and against Benjemia Cooper, of which
he died instantly. The other counts varied the charge.
Both prisoners pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Sergeant ATCUERLEY then proceeded to state the
case. The Jury had heard fram the officer of the Court
that this was an indictment which imputed to the two pri-
soners at the bar the crime of murder. The person, whose
death formed the subject of the present inquiry, was a
man named Benjamin Cooper. The day upon which
the transaction occurred was the 11th of December last,
and the place was the town of Ashton-under-Lyne. In
Ashton-under-Lyric, be understeod, there was a con-
siderable traffic in the building and sawing business, end
a considerable number of bands were employed in it.
About the month of October List the prices which bad
been paid for labour to working sawyers in the town of
Ashton/ had been higher than those paid to the same
sawyers in the town of Manchestee The master
sawyers thought proper, whether rightly or not did not
signify to-day, to reduce the prices which they had be-
fore been in the habit of pa3iog, in order that they
might be ah!e to compete with their rivals in trade io
the adjoining town of Manchester. Notice was given
tdhuacte
dfropntai
caensd
wa fotuelrathaattondeayb,
ethe
paid.st sth eyfr
lo,i
sc tonboetri
c, thee
n art
ue:
rally begot considerable dissatisfaction on the part of
the working sawyers in the town of Ashton ; they did
Pot enter into the feelings of the masters who bad to
compare their means with those of the master sawyers of
Manchester ; the working sawyers only considering the
diminution in the wages which they had been in the
hab:t of receiving for themselves and their families.
This dissatisfaction produced what is commonly called
a " strike" or " turn out." He rneent to go over this
part of the case as shortly as possible, because it was
only material, on the present occasion, in so far as it
supplied the motive for the deed which formed the sub-
ject of this inquiry. A man named Whitfield, he un-
derstood, was a considerable sawyer in the town of Ash-
ton, and, he believed, a builder too, and he employed
several hands. Some of his men turned out or ‘• struck"
on account of the reduction of wages; and Mr. Whitfield
was forced to apply elsewhere to endeavour to obtain
hands who slienld take the place of some of the men
who bad struck and ceased to wcrk for hire. Two men
were obtaine,-,. Ooe of them was named Benjamin
Cooper, ti.e deceased, about whom they were about to
inquire, and the other was James Cooper, his brother, who
would be a witness to-day. These men worked in Whit-
fleleee yard. In the yard there was a saw-pit. That pit
was partially concealed by a sort of boarding, intervening
between the road and the place where the men were
working, probably for the purpose of making it more
warm for the men to worse in. Here he would mention at
once that he proposed to give in evidence certain attempts
by the prisoners at the bar upo days antecedent to
the 11Th of December. What,ver might be his
evidence, he would not state a single fact, but iei...7ereve to
own opinion with regard to the admisziOity of that
himself the right of proving it under the direction os the
Learned Judge, when the
rived. He came then to the 11th of December. About
proper time should have as.-
six o'clock on the evening of that day—probably the Jury
the saw-pit in question. Here
might be of opinion it was a little before the two
exact or precise point of time, an; person who was at all bCeoothpoerusghwterite right to sattate, if anything turned upon the
practised in a Court of Justice must be.*ware that no great
faith or dependence was to be placed epee the accuracy
of different country clocks. It was only just :owards tne
ee
fgaoar
differencer di nsttoanpeueb, public t
hcfili
nov clocks,
factory case for the prisoners to remark, that no dependence
could safely be placed upon the accuracy or conformity
tcorlyfo ca kemts,icluekn:d.
there church Eve
lim
clocks,iwithht br
of
af e
distancetcooruyn
ten minutes, so that upon the matter of clocks he -pLacedi
no dependence whatever. However, somewhere about
six o'clock these two men were engaged is their labour.
Benjamin Cooper was the top sawyer, and be had a lan-
tern attached to his knee, or mar his knee, which would
therefore make him an object clearly to be seen.. Hie
brother James was the man in the pit. Suddenly a grass
report or explosion was heard. Benjamin Cooper imme-
diately called out for help. He (the Learned Counsel)
forgot who first went to him, but the untortunate man
was
was
found to be much injured. He reeled; and he
afterwards conveyed to some distance upon a board or
shutter. Two surgeons were called in. He was told his
situation, and be exclaimed, so What will become of my
wife and children ?" or some language of that sett, also
dicative of pains such as
some expressions strongly in
" Will nobody, for God's sake, stab me ?" or some phrase.
of that sort. He remained in tbat state till eight o'clock
the same evening, when bo died._ Upon examining his per-
son it was found that different slu.
s had entered his body,
One, ho though', but be did not charge
hl himself with accu-
racy in this matter, bad enteredt o iver, another land pe.
and a third was lodged somewhere near
netrated tbe spine,
hip. Of course an alarm was given, and different per-
thet d and among
sons were taken into cus oye d others a man named
Davies, who would be detained to-day. On the follow-
Davies, sort of metal i e
ing morning a p
there would be " --""eund ;
and he apprehended no doubt whatever that
the prisoners were the persons that used that pipe, and
that it was the instrument which caused the death. It was
a large metal pipe, plugged at one end, capable of holding
a considerable number of slugs, and a considerable .quan-
tity of powder, with a touch-hele which had been
drilled for the purpose of communicating with some
train which, when ignited, would set fire to the pipe.
Slugs, or marks of them, were found in the boarding be-
fore described as bring a screen or shed which protected
the workmen from the weather. He bad mentioned that
a man named Edward Davies was apprehended upon the
charge. He was an tccomplice, who was this day to tell
the Jury the history of this transaction. In this part of
the case let him (the Learned Counsel) tell the Jury two
things. In the first place, though an accomplice was, in
point of law, a competent witness, and a Jury might, if
they thought proper, act upon his evidence, yet, in point
of practice, and in point of just and sound reasoning, it
WAS never ; r.ght to depend upon the testimony of au ac-
complice unless he received, with regard to hi.; story,
from other quarters a confirmation which should erect
his credit, and entitle him to the faith of the Jury, But
there was another remark which he wished not to omit 'in
this place, namely, that when the accomplice first gave
the eccoant of lass having a knowledge of the transac-
tion, he did not then state the whole of that which ho
was about to state to-day. According to the best in-
formation he had, ar.d from the best attention he had been
able to bestow upon the case, he (the accomplice) stated
nothing at all inconsistent with that which. to-day he was
about to disclose. But, for certain reasons, as to shich
the. Jury would have the duty of iequiring, he certainly
did not state nil then which he bad subsequently stated.
He had thought it necessary, to premise these remarks
with regard to the situation in which this man would ap.