The Sun.
London, England, 1823-01-29 00:00:00

JERSEY.

TOVA L COURT, TUESDAY, JAN. 14.
THE RING V. THOMAS DUMARESti, AND PkTEIt COUTAN.
I,',AUX, ALIAS. FRANCIS FCYRE.
The GRANDE ENQUETE assembled to-day, to decide on the
guilt or innocence of Messrs. Durnaresq and Contannaux, who
were brougl it into Court at 10 o'clock, es ortecl by the customary
guards. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL read the accusation'
against the prisoners, the principal counts' of which ware,
" that since they had entered into partnership with Messrs.
Joshua Lerrier, and John Wm. Duke, in October,lo2o, they
had been guilty of the crimes of forgery, robbery, swindling,
and breach of confidence, in the following manner, viz. that Th.
Dumaresq had drawn, in fictitious names, several bills of ex-
change, far considerable sums, to the order of Peter Coutaneaux
or others ; and that the said Coutannaux hail.sold, or disposed of,
the said bills at the bank of" Lerrier Dumaresq, and Co." know.
.ing them to be fal4e,to the great prejudice of the aforesaid Messrs.
Lerrier and Dupre. The prisoners persisting in their decla.
ration of innocence, the depositions of the witnesses, and
other documents were read .; from which it appeared, that
Dumaresq ,and Coutanoux had written letters to which they
forged the signature of Mr. John Poingdestre, with the view
of deceiving Messrs. Lerrier and Dupre ; and that they had
made alterations in others with the same view. That they had
counterfeited, under fictitious names, several bills of exchange
to a'large amount, which' they had discosnted at the bank of
Messrs. Lerrier and Co. ;,that many bills entered in the books
of the said bank, as having been drawh on Mr. Poingdestre of
London, for 40/, 45/., ancl,6ol. sterling each, had in reality
been changed by Dumaresq into 4001., 41101., and 6001. sterling
each; and that in forging the signatures of " Ph. Duval" and
"John Coutanche," they, had fiather defrauded the said bank
of 2,0001. sterling.
The Lieutenant Bailiff, M. MARETT, having, after besting
the evidence, recapitulated in a precise and luminous manner
the whole of the proceedings, the I:lnquete were about to re-
tire when Mr. AN LEY begged to offer a few remarks, which, in
substance, were as follow. That another franti, not mentioned
in accusation, was attributed to the prisoners, by which it ap-
pears that they hadswindled Mr. Lerrier out:of 0,0001. sterling,
before the establishment of the Bank of Messrs. Lerrier, Duran.

resq, and Co. ; this was the affair of the copper, well known in
the island. It appeared also, that notwithstanding the sums
and effects recovered by the activity of Aleasra. Ddhamel, God-
fray, and Dupre, Mr. Lerrier had sustained a loscof upwards
of 10,0001. sterling, that Mr. Dupre bad given a sum of 3,0001.
sterling to assist to pay the creditors.; that the latter had lost
3,0001. sterling.; and that if Mr. Dupre had deposited 2,000/.
sterling on the establishment of the llanit, the total of the loss
sustained amountetl.to 10,0001. sterling.
At a quarter past ten o'clock the linq.nete retired, and after
twenty minutes consultation, returned into Court.; when the
prisoners at the bar, Thomas Dumaresq, and Peter Contort-
eaux alias Francis Pere were declared to .br " mere guilty
than innocent of the crimes laid to their charge."
After sonic further remarks from Ileum llastatown, the
Couteur, and theATTORNEY-Cit.NERAG, the Court proceeded
to pass sentence, which was, that the prisoners, 'rhos. Dumaresq
and Peter Coutansaox alias Francis Peyxe, should he deli-
vered into the hands of the public executioner,. to be exposed
in the pillory on the Royal _Square, two successwe Saturdays,
from twelve till one o'clock, that on the second Saturday they
are to be flogged by the hands of the said executioner' in the;
customary manner, and then banished for ever from the Island.
On Saturday lust, the .I.lith•inst. Th. ihmaresq and Pdsr
Coulancau.v were exposed in the pillory on the Royal Square,
pursuant to the sentenceof the Court, pronounced against them
un 'l'uesday, the 11th instant. The Square xvos excessively
crowded, as well as the windows and roofi of the surrounding
houses, and from twelve till one in the afternoon., the un-
happy criminals were exposed to an incessant shower of
snow-balls, the severity of which appeared to be directed
principally against Coutannaux, who, we understand, has
suffered dreadfully in consequence. His mouth, and ears,
and checks, were, severely, lacerated—some of the. snow-
. balls being so hard that they rebounded violently front
the pillory. His etes were blackened, and a severe blow which
he received in the 'groin; occasioned a temporary strangunry,
which continued until eleven o'clock at night. We understand
that he became delirious from the severity of his punishment.