The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-07 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
HOME CIRCUIT—Lewes, August 6.
CROWN COURT.

Robert Taylor, 20, John Owen, 25 and William John-
son, 27,, labourers, were indicted for flavinm, in the parish
of Cuckfield, feloniously attempted to suffocate Henry
Hilton, a police constable, with intent to commit the
crime of murder.
Mr: Cobbett conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Creasy
appeared for the prisoner Taylor.
Henry Hilton deposed that he was a constable in the
employ of the Brighton Railway Company. On the 4th
of May he was called into a beer-shop, known by the
sign of the Hit or Miss, at Hayward's Heath, about a
quarter before ten at night, and the landlord requested
him to assist in clearing the. house, and told him that he
had a " rough lot " inside. On going into the house he
saw the three prisoners and five or six others, and he
asked them civilly to leave the house, but they all refused
to do so., and Taylor swore he would not go out for him or
any one else. Kenward, the landlord, told them they must
go out, and witness said if they did not go by fair means
they must byfoul,and witness laid hold of Johnson and
. .

put hint outside the door, and Kenward took hold of
Taylor, who resisted, and witness then caught hold of
Taylor and put him outside, and at the same moment
Johnson struck him on the face, and he drew his trun-
cheon and attempted to take him into custody, but be
ran back, and as witness was following him, the other
men seized him, and threw him into a hole of soil.
The hole was about two or three feet broad and about
four feet deep. They put him in with his head down-
wards, and his head went completely under the soil,
and they kept him there for a minute or so, and then
dowsed" his head up and down, and at the same
time he was hit and kicked in all parts of his body, and
he received twO kicks on the back of his head. He
called out " murder" as well as he could, being nearlyz
strangled, and they said " kill the -, smother him."
and they then shoved his head under again, and with
their hands forced 'some Orthe soil into his mouth. A
person came up and struck the prisoners with a poker,
and he was released. He then saw Owen and Tlor
close by him, and they were fighting with the wothan,
Weaver, who had come to his assistance. Taylor and
Owen soon afterwards ran 'away, and witness, whose_
head was bleading very much.at the time, pursued them,
and ho look, Taylor, and Kenward secured Owen. In.
consequence of the injury he received. he was unable to
do his duty. for a fortnight, and he was attended by a
surgeon for three weeks.

iiichard Kenward, the landlord of 'the beer-shop, cor-
roborated the testimony given by the constable. 'He
also proved that upon his asking the people to leave the
house, Johnson. said " he would see him and all the po-
licemen d—d before he would go out." He also was
knocked down,and kicked by the prisoners and their
companions, and he saw them beating and kicking the
prosecutor, and he also saw Owen straddling across him
in the ditch, and he heard him say,' I'll kill the ----."
Cross-examined—Could not say whether Taylor was
knocked down- with a poker, iv witness knocked him
clown with a stick after he, himself, had been struck to
the ground by a brickbat. Did not hear Taylor cry out
" Murder," but he heard him call out to the others to
murder the policeman. Was certain it was the voice of
Taylor he heard cry murder, although he had only seen
him for two hours.

By the COURT—Is sure the prisoners were all present
and took part in the affray.
Lydia Weaver, servant at the beer-shop, gave similar
testimony. She also preyed that the prisoners were pre-
sent at the attack upon the Prosecutor, and on her seeing
what was going on, awl ;milli,* the men would be mur-
dered, she gottliv: poker and knocked Taylor down with
it. The'Jo
then said that if she interfered further or
alteilli:`ed to rescue Hilton they would kill her. She
"..7,0 saw the prosecutor lying across the hole, and Owen
was standing on him and pouring the soil into his mouth,
and Johnson at the same time was holding him by the
collar, and Taylor laid hold of him either by his ears or
by his hair, and shoved his head under the mud.
Cross-examined—She hit Taylor as hard as she could
and knocked him down, and the poker was bent by the
force of the blow. She afterwards hit Owen and did the
best she could to protect her master and the prosecu-
tor too.

Wright, a policeman, proved that he took Johnson into
custody, and when he told him what he was charged with
he said it was " the beer that done it."

Mr. Byas, a surgeon at Cuckfield, proved that he at-
tended upon the prosccutor,•and that he found a wound
on the back of his head an inch-and-a half long, and that
he was under his care for three weeks in consequence of
the injuries he received.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Chief Justice TINDAL intimated his opinion that
the evidence did not clearly make out the intent of
the prisoners to be to murder the prosecutor, and there-
fore they could not be convicted of felony.
Mr. Creasy said he could not hope to rescue the pri-
soners from a conviction for an assault.

, The Jury found the prisoners Guilty of assaulting the
prosecutor.
Chief Justice TINDAL addressed the prisoners, and told
ihem they had been convicted of an assault under very
aggravated circumstances, and they might think them-
pelves very fortunate they did not go a little further and
destroy the life of the constable, for if they had their own
_lives would most certainly have been forfeited. The
civil power of the country must be protected, and as a
warning to others the sentence was that they be impri-
-soiled and kept to hard labour for twelve calendar months.
71.,. P.....ehti 19. ',curs indicted for foil-m;(1114v stabbinfr
and wounding Wm. Coxheud, with intent to maim ana
disfigure him, and in another count the intent was laid to
'be to do the prosecutor some grievous bodily harm.
Mr. Johnson conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Cob-
bett defended the prisoner.
It appeared from the evidence that the prosecutor was
a private in the 14th regiment of Dragoons, and at the
time the transaction took place he was billeted with some
others of the troop in the neighbourhood of Chichester ;
on the 3d of April, the prisoner and several other men
were at the Half Moon public-house, near Chichester,
about eleven o'clock at night, and a man named Ether-
ton, accompanied by a person named Dunnaway and
about five others, were in the house at the lime the pri-
soner came in. The prosecutor went into the house

alone about eleven o'clock, dressed in his regimentals and
quite sober, and he joined the party of Etherton and
drank with them, and remained in the house about half
an hour, and shortly afterwards the prisoner and all the
others left the house. When they had got a short dis-
tance a quarrel took place between the parties who
accompanied Etherton, and those who were with the
prisoner, and the former stayed back to allow the others to
go on without coming in contact with them, but it appeared
that the precaution was unavailing, and a man named
Dunnaway, who was of Etherton's party, was heard to
call out for assistance and some one said " your
eyes, have not you got a knife ?" The prosecutor, who
was at some distance off, returned to render assistance,
and he was heard to call out that ho was stabbed directly
afterwards, and he fell to the ground, and the blood
streamed from his side. At the same moment the pri-
soner and Dunnaway were observed struggling upon the
ground near the prosecutor. The prosecutor said that
the prisoner was the man who stabbed him, and it also
appeared that he ran away and was apprehended at some
distance from Chichester, and a knife with blood on it
was found in his pocket, and on his hands there were
some spots of blood. The surgeon who was called in
proved that the prosecutor had received a very severe
wound, and it was three weeks before he was in a fit
state to be examined by the Magistrates.
Mr. Cobbett on behalf of the prisoner remarked that
the evidence was insufficient to warrant the serious
offence imputed to him, and he suggested a verdict of
assault against the prisoner.
Chief Justice TINDAL summed up, and the Jury re-
turned a verdict of guilty of an assault only. The
Court sentenced him to be imprisoned and kept to hard
labour for eighteen calendar months.
NISI PRIIIS—AUG. 6.
GAY V. FLEET.

This was an action against the defendant, who is the
proprietor of the Brighton Herald newspaper, for publish-
ing a libel upon the plaintiff. The damages were laid at
5001. The defendant pleaded a justification.
Mr. Thessiger and Mr. Cobbett were for the plaintiff;
apd Mr..Platt and,Mr. Creasy for the defendant.
Mr. 'TAESIGER addressed the JUry, and said the
plaintiff was a highly respectable tradesman at Brighton,
and he brought the present action to vindicate his charac-
ter from the attack made upon it by the defendant. There
were a variety of publications put forward at the present
day in . private. eliaraeter_was, assailed,..but the
nature of these publications gave them very little influ-
ence; but the ease was very different where a respectable
newspaper iike the Brighton Herald,the organ of the predo-
minant party in the State, thought fit to attack the character
of a private individual, and in such a case there was no
alternative.: but an appeal to a Jury of his Lountry. It
was known that . the Chartists had one great object in
view—viz. to effect the liberation of Frost, Williams,
and Jones, who were convicted at Monmouth ; and it
appeared that an application was made to the High Con-
stable of Brighton, by the plaintiff and two other parties,
for a public meeting to address the Queen, and call upon
her to grant a free pardon to those individuals ; but the
High Constable thought fit to refase the request. In a
subsequent publication of the Brighton Herald, the libel
complained of appeared. (The libel was read,it stated
that the plaintiff, with a hundred others, had gone to the
High Bailiff with a requisition for a meeting for the
purpose specified, and that, on its being refused, the
plaintiff said they would go in a body, and " if blood
were required, they would die man by man, and see who
should be masters." In a subsequent paper the article
was again alluded to, and it was still asserted that the
language had been used, and both articles attacked the
opinions of the Chartists.) The Learned Counsel said
that the imputation con /eyed in those paragraphs was a
most serious one, and that it amounted almost to a charge
of high treason against the plaintiff, and the plea of jus-
tification put upon the record greatly aggravated the
offence. The Learned Counsel concluded by calling upon
the Jury to give such compensation as they considered
would meet the justice of the case.
The proprietorship having been admitted,
Mr. Coppard was called to prove that he purchased a
paper at the defendant's office.
Crosc-examined—Knew the plaintiff by sight for the
last seven or eight years. Witness is clerk to Mr. Faith- 1
full, attorney for the plaintiff. Didn't know that the de-
, fendant was a political opponent to Mr. Faithful'. It
was generally said that the plaintiff was a stirring man
among the Chartists.
Mr. PLATT submitted there was no proof that the
libel, if libel it were, applied to the plaintiff.
Mr. Bowdieh was then called, and he expressed his
opinion that the article referred to the plaintiff.
Cross-examined—Considered both the articles, al-
though no name was mentioned in the second, referre4
to plaintifE He did not believe that Gay was a Char-
tigt. Never heard Mr. Gay talk of putting down Kings
and thrones. Did not believe he would do such a thing.
Gay was a. quiet
peaceable man, and he never intruded
upon any public meeting.. Had not heard Gay advocate
the principles of the Charter. -
Mr. PLATT then addressed the •jury in a powerful