The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-01 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

SURREY WINTER ASSIZES, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31.
POACHING.—James Dare, Stephen Strudwick, William
Gunner, James Holdforth, Stephen Windebank, Thos. Wheat-
ley, Thos. West, and James Williains, were indicted on the
57th Geo. 111. cap. 9, sec. 1, for entering into a certain wood,
called the coppice, in the parish of Clandon, belonging to John
Webb Weston, Esq. in the occupation of .4ord Cranley, in the
night time of the 10th of December, armed with guns, with
intent to kill and destroy game. The Grand Jury had thrown
out the bill against a man named Spong, indicted with the
above prisoners.
Mr. ADOLPHUS and Mr. LAW conducted the prosecution.
The transaction, as proved in evidence, appeared to have
been one of the most desperate ever prosecuted under the
Statute. It appeared in evidence, that in the evening of the
10th December, Thomas Pratt, game-keeper to Lord Cranky,
in consequence of hearing guns fired in a wood in the occupa-
tion of his Lordship, went out, in company with four or five
other men, for the purpose of apprehending persons suspected
of poaching. They armed themselves with loaded pistols, and
Pratt gave instructions to his companions not to fire unless their
lives were in danger. Upon entering the ground Pratt saw six
or seven men ; he said to his party " Here they are, come
along." He advanced to the men, and four of them presented
their guns at him, and said, " Stand off or you shall have it."
He proceeded and collared one of them, and on the instant he
received a violent blow on the back of his head, which felled
him to the ground. One of the men fell upon him and held
him ; he then fired his pistol, and the ball entered the neck of
his assailant, who loosened his hold and surrendered. Some of
Pratt's party then called out to him to keep the wounded man
down. That person was the prisoner Dare. A desperate con-
flict then ensued between the poachers and Pratt's party. The
former fought with the but-end of their guns, and shattered
them over the heads clf the latter, who, without using their pis-
tols, overcame the poachers, several of whom ran off. The
I gamekeeper swore to Dare, Gunner, Wheatley, and Williams,
who were secured on the spot.
Mr. Justice PARK summed up the case with great impar-
tiality, and suggested to the Jury every topic which was at
' all favourable to the prisoners. He told them, that in point of
law, if only one of the prisoners was armed with intent to kill
game, still they must, in the spirit of this statute, be consi-
dered as being all armed. This had been solemnly decided by
the Twelve Judges. If they had any doubt of the prisoners'
intention from the evidence adduced, the prisoners were en-
titled to the benefit of the doubt.

The Jury retired for about half an hour, and returned all
the prisoners Guilty, but recommended Windebank, Strud-
wick, and Holdforth to mercy, on account of their passive con-
duct in the affair. .

Mr. Justice PARK, in an impressive address to the prisoners,
animadverted in strong terms on their outrageous conduct.—
Whatever doubts he himself might have originally entertained
as to the principle of the statute on which they were indicted,
he could not but now think that, as applied to their case, it
wa : highly beneficial, considering the desperate lengths to
vL, - 'll their low habits had incited them. There were shades
of wrerence in their respective cases, which he should cer-
tainly notice in the judgment he should pronounce. Towards
some of them the severity of the law must be carried to its ut-
most extent. Under all the circumstances, he adjudged Dare,
Gunner, and Wheatley, to seven years transportation, and the
remainder of the prisoners to twelve months' imprisonment and
hard labour in the House of Correction.

George Matthews, John Vickery, Thomas Twilly, and Thos.
Monk, were indicted on the same statute as in the last case, for
being found armed with guns, in a wood, with intent to kill
game, in the parish of Cobham, on the night of the 19th Nov.
and assaulting James Prince.
The Jury found the prisoners all Guilty ; and Vickery, be-
ing the most active in the transaction, was sentenced to seven
years' transportation ; Matthews was sentenced to 18 months,
Twilly to six months, and Monk to three months imprison-
ment and hard labour in the House of Correction.
Daniel Page was convicted of stealing at Effingham, on the
18th of August last, a colt, the property of John Hillick—Sen-
tence of Death was recorded.
Sir Tstomas TURTON addressed the Court in the name of
the Grand Jury, and informed the Learned Judge that they
wished to bring a matter worthy of notice to his Lordship's at-
tention. At the last Assizes the Grand Jury had been informed
that certain persons had compounded a felony, and the Grand
Jury had thought it their duty to direct the High Constable of
the parish in which the transaction took place to prefer an in-
dictment against the alleged offender for a misdemeanour. The
High Constable had defrayed the expence of the proceeding
out of his own pocket, and the Grand Jury wished to know
whether, under such circumstances, the High Constable could
be defrayed out of the county rates.
Mr. Justice PARK confessed his regret that he could not al-
low the Constables' expences in a case of this description,
which was only a misdemeanour. His Lordship had had fre-
quent occasion to lament a deficiency in the law in this respect
as to cases of this denomination, and he for one should be
happy to see misdemeanours placed on the same footing with
felonies; but as the law at present stood he had no authority
to award the expences.
Thomas Hack and Edward Wright, the defendants in the
case just alluded to, were indicted for unlawfully compounding
a prosecution against Richard Hack and Parker Wright, their
sons' respectively for robbing one George Stone, on the King's
highway, by paying to the latter a sum of money for forbearing
to prosecute.
Mr. LAW appeared for the prosecution, and opened the case,
but as Stone, who had been indicted with the defendants, did
not appear, lie was unable to establish the fact of the alleged
robbery, and therefore the merits of the case were not gone
into.

Mr. Justice PARK directed the Jury to find the defendants
Not Guilty, for want of eviderice.—Verdict, Not Guilty.
John Pugh was charged on the Coroner's Inquisition with
feloniously killing and slaying a person unknown, of the 18th
December, at St. Agnes the Martyr.
Mr. ADOLPHUS appeared for the prisoner. It appeared in
evidence that the prisoner was drinking at a public-house, No.
10, Upper Thames-street, in the afternoon of the 18th instant.
The deceased came in .very drunk, and became quarrelsome ;
he charged the prisoner with robbing him, and abused him in
gross terms. The prisoner put him out of the house into the
street ; shortly afterwards the prisoner went out, and the de-
ceased began again to abuse and charge him with robbery.
The prisoner pushed him with his hand, and be fell on the
pavement. The deceased, who was very drunk, attempted to
get up, but in doing so fell again into the middle of the street,
and at the moment a waggon coming by went over his body,
crushed all his ribs, and broke his under jaw. He was carried
to St. Thomas's Hospital, and died in two hours.
Upon this evidence the case against the Prisoner was stop-
ped, and the Jury found the prisoner Not Guilty.