The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-23 00:00:00

MURDER AT ISLINGTON.

CORONER'S INQUEST.—(THIS DAY.)
COLLISION BETWEEN TILE CORONER AND THE MAGISTRATES.
Mr. Wakley, M.P., proceeded to hold the adjourned
inquest on the body of John Templeman, deceased.
The CORONER first called Inspector Miller, and elicited
from him that there had been four examinations before the
Magistrates at Hatton-garden, and that on the last there
had been a remand to the New Prison, Clerkenwell. The
Inspector further stated that he had commucicated to Mr.
Combe, the Magistrate, a message from the Coroner, de•
siring the attendance of the persons Gould, Jarvis, and Jar-
vis's wife, who had been accused of the murder, and that
the Magistrate had refused to accede to the request. saying
that the inquiry was in his hands, and that he would pro-
ceed with it to its close.
The CORONER took up a slip from the Times, Chronicle,
and Morning flerald—which stated that the Magistrates
had said that the Coroner had nothing to do with the Ma-
gistrates, and the Magistrates nothing to do with him—.
and asked the Inspector if that was a correct account ?
The Inspector said it was not.
The CORONER—You see, Gentlemen, how these things
are done 1 It really must be put a stop to !
The Inspector further stated that the persons alluded
to could give important evidence as to the murder.
The CORONER then said—Gentlemen, this is the third
time this has happened at the Hatton-Garden Police-office,
that persona accused of a murder have been refused
to he brought before the Coroner, to give any expla-
nation of the circumstances of the case, on wnich he
had to inquire. And now, Gentlemen, I shall issue
my warrant to the keeper of the New Prison, directing
him to produce before me the persons reterred to, and if
he disobey (as probably he has received positive instructions
not to obey), it will then be a question whether or not I
shall exercise against him the authority which I possess.
And, perhaps, the difficulty can thus be got over, that it'
the prisoners must not come to us, we may go to them,
and can adjourn our inquest to the New Prison. Gen-
tlemen, if steps are not taken to put a stop to these pro-
ceedings on the part of the Magistrates, there will be an
end to that protection for the liberties of the subject
which a Coroner's inquest is calculated and designed to
afford. Let me suppose a case of collision between the
police and the people, and that the Magistrates (though I
hope such a case would never occur) had been instru-
mental in producing the collision, and in so doing had
violated the law, why if those very Magistrates
could forthwith take possession of, and shut up in a gaol,
every person capable of giving evidence on the case, how
could the ends of justice be accomplished. Gentlemen.
the Coroner's office is much older than that of the Police
Magistrate; which is a new office comparatively. Such
a person as a Justice of the Peace was not known in
this country till the reign of Edward 111. ; but hundreds
of years before that period, the office of Coroner was in
existence, and afforded protection to tho people. Now,
Gentlemen, observe what has occurred. The Magistrates
have had before them persons accused of the murder of
the unhappy individual on whose body we are now holding
an inquest—and have held four inquiries,—of two hours',
four hours', and five hours' duration respectively ;
during which times the witnesses examined have had
the cheek upon them arising from the presence, looks, and
remarks of the parties accused; yet after this we are,forsooth,
to go through our examinations in the absence of all the
parties accused, and without any opportunity of saying a
word in explanation of the case, or in extenuation of the
heinous crime imputed to them. Gentlemen, if this be
justice Ido not understand what justice is. Certainly it is
not that justice which shall ever be dispensed by me so
long as I have the honour to hold the office I now admi-
nister. Far be it from me, Gentlemen, to desire a colli-
sion with the Magistrates of Hatton-garden, or any other
police-office, but I know that the Coroner holds a very
peculiar judicial position in this country, and that the
Coroner's office is one of the greatest bulwarks afforded to
the liberty of the subject. When a crime has been com-
mitted, or is supposed to have been committed, what can
be more favourable to the administration of justice than
that 15 gentlemen, selected as you are by a constable sworn
to act impartially, should upon the very spot about which
was the scene of the transaction inquire, and as neighbours
decide whether A., 8., or C. was guilty of the crime; and
what could be more detrimental to justice, or more discre-
ditable to law, than that you should be called on to make
li this inquiry, and come to this decision, without seeing any
of the parties accused, or hearing one word they have to
say. Gentlemen, I know not what your feelings may be,
but I know this, that if you will not be tired, I shall not be
in endeavouring to discharge my duty and to see you dis-
charge yours in a manner that will be satisfactory to the
public. The time is come when this conflict of authority—
alike unseemly and unfortunate—must be brought to an
issue one way or another; but this 1 do hope and trust,
that it will not end in diminishing the power of this office.
Gentlemen, it ought to be borne in mind by you, and
should have been remembered by the Magistrate, that
though upon their committal the Grand Jury might ignore
the bill, or your verdict of guilty, there must be a trial. This
fact alone shows that the Coroner's is not only the more
ancient, but the more important and superior tribunal ;
and that its inquiry, the verdict being final as to the
accused party's trial at the bar of his country, ought not
to be permitted to fall away into a mere matter of form.
And, Gentlemen, sure I am, that if it were allowed us to
descend—and if verdicts bearing on the lives of persons
were thus to be come to—the time would soon arrive when
this Court would attract great contempt and odium, and
when there would be a great outcry for its abolition.
Seeing, then, Gentlemen, that this is a most important
office—designed and calculated to protect the subject
against abuse of authority—nothing shall, I trust, be done
by me to bring if into disrepute ; and I hope that the
issue of these proceedings will be to produce for it in.
creased respect and confidence. Mr. Bell, the clerk, will
now fill up the warrant to the Keeper of the Clerkenwell
Prison tO bring those persons here; and upon his answer it
will be for us to determine what further course to pursue.
The warrant was then drawn out, directed to
Kilsby, the Keeper of the New Prison, the Coroner di-
recting his officer to take care and serve it upon the
keeper personally, and then by questions to Inspector Mil-
ler elicited that the prisoners (Gould, Jarvis, and Jarvis's
wife), were conveyed backwards and forwards to the
Police-office in a van, under the custody of a palicem in,
so that (as the Coroner observed) there could be uo diffi-
culty about it, for the van could as well be brought here as
to Hatton-garden.
The Coroner then asked each of the Jury one by one
whether it was their desire that these persons should be
sent for ? They unanimously replied that it was. He
then said he would go on with such witnesses as were pre-
sent, and desired Mr. Miller to state which of them were
material, observing at the same time that he wished not
any to be called for who could merely answer such ques-
tions as he had observed to have been put at Hatton-
garden—(without going into any criticisms as to others
—referring to what was the religious faith of one of the
parties.)

The first witness called was the surgeon who had ex-
amined the body, and whose evidence having already been
published, it is unnecessary to go into the horrible details.
The girl Thornton and her mother were also examined.
Their, evidence is likewise before the public. The first
stated that her mother when she heard that nobody
answered to the knocker, and that the window was open,
said " Good God, I hope he is not murdered." The
mother, however, said she only remarked that she hoped
nothing had happened to him.
In answer to questions from the Coroner and Jury, the
mother (who it will be recollected waited upon deceased)
said that he had shown her some money, and used to brag
about his money, and that she had told her son-in-law
about it when she went home, Francis Capriani, who had
since been taken up for the supposed murder. This was
the evenity, before the murder. She had also told Mrs.
Purser, her landlady, about his having money. (The
witness was asked several questions in somewhat an
angry manner, about her baying concealed what she
had seen of the unfortunate deceased, when she first found
out his death, for some time—she having said that it was
because he had told ber not to tell if anything happened to
him, any one but his son ; and that she had, therefore,
told nobody but a baker, who inquired what had occurred ;
and she had asked him not to mention it.
The Jury expressed their surprise at this.
It also came out that the woman who bad before offi-
ciated for deceased had been found dead in a ditch, ad.
joining the neighbourhood—that Gould had been a witness
on that occasion, and Mr. Templcman one of the Jury.
Mr. WatcLEv remarked this was very singular.
The next witness, Mr. \VAKLEY ascertained, would im-
plicate one of the parties imprisoned, and had himself been
taken into custody on suspicion, and confined.
The Coroner then called his officer, who had returned
some time before, and found by questioning him that he
had served the warrant on Kilsby, who had returned a copy
of the commitment from Hatton-garden, and stated that
with the highest respect for the Coroner he would not

produce the prisoners before him. On application to the
Police-office for an order from the committing Magistrate
to justify him in bringing up the prisoners, Mr. Green-
wood (Mr. Combe not being there) declined to interfere.
The CORONET( then having clearly recapitulated the
facts, went on to say, " The question now arises, what is
to be done? Before I decide that point, however, let me

restate that this had occurred twice at th. 2 same office. He

now thought it would be better not to adjourn to the
New Prison (which might place the Governor in a diffi-

cult situation), but to adjourn to this same place on Thurs-
day morning at 10 o'clock, when he hoped the Magistrates
would ace the propriety of not obstructing a full inquiry.
In the meantime a higher authority would be applied to
than theirs.