The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-30 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF

MANSLAUGHTER.

Ramsgate during the last few days. The facts elicited by
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hextraordinary s
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of the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages congregated
Margate to celebrate a festival of a benevolent society,
acttuahlat on Wednesday last a large number
attention tf
showt ean tfi
in the Tivoli Gardens. Amongst them was a man named
James Sutton, reported to be respectably connected, who, to-
wards night, attracted attention by his boisterous conduct.
It appears that after the evening's amusement he left his
brother's company, and nothing was heard of him until mid-
night, when two men, named Kemp and Kitching, on their
return home from the gardens while proceeding along a foot
path leading to Hartsdown, an adjacent parish, saw a man
some distance in advance, calling " Holloa !" On coming up
they found it to be John Price, a carrier, living at Runcorn.
Price said, in a very excited manner, " Here is a man who
has been attempting to rob me, and I will not leave him
until I see who he is." A few yards distant they saw a man
lying on the ground, who seemed senseless, who was dis-
covered to be Sutton. Price then charged Sutton with attempt-
ing to rob him. His statement to the it Spector on duty was as fol-
lows :—" On Wednesday night, about half-past ten, I was
going home from the Tivoli, and when half way between
that place and Hartsdown, Sutton jumped out of the hedge
by the footpath, and demanded of me, catching me by the
collar, if I had a watch. I said I had. He asked if I had
any money. I said I had. He then caught hold of me by
the neckerchief, and said he must have it or my life. We
struggled together, and I slipped up my hand and untied
my neckerchief. He then knocked me down twice, and
kicked me. I at length got the better of him, and
got him down. I struck him several times violently on
the head, calling out for assistance, and sitting across
him to keep him down. Kemp was the first who came to my
assistance ; we were struggling for three-quarters of an
hour. I was sober and alone. I did not know the man."
The man Sutton being apparently dying, medical aid was
promptly called to him, but he never rallied, and expired in
the course of a few hours. On the magistrates hearing of
the death, they ordered Price to be arrested, but sub-
sequently liberated him on bail. On the inspector inspect-
ing the spot where the affray occurred, he noticed a quantity
of blood on the ground, and marks of a very violent
struggle; and in the ground was a hole, evidently made by
a man's head beaten against it, and in the centre were
two small stones sticking up about an inch. At the
coroner's inquest, Mr. Thornton, a surgeon, who had
made a post-mortem examination of the body, deposed that
death had been caused by concussion of the brain, and which
might have been produced by beating the head upon the
ground. The head was dreadfully knocked about the ee blackened and lip cut, and marks on the throat as, if seized
by the neckerchief and a man's knuckles forced into the
flesh. It was proved that the deceased and Price were per-
fect strangers. The deceased's relatives spoke to him being
a quiet orderly man, and called the police to show that they
knew nothing of him, at least in the shape of a highway
robber. The coroner's jury, after a lengthened consultation,
returned a verdict of " Manslaughter" against Price, con-
sidering the violence more than necessary, and he was forth-
with ordered into custody by the coroner, and committed to
Maidstone gaol to take his trial at the ensuing assizes.

SHAKSPERE SOCIETY. The fifth annual meeting
was held ou Monday afternoon, in the rooms of the Royal Society of
Literature, St. Martin's-place, when, in the absence of the Marquis
of Conyngliam, the President, the chair was taken by J. Payne
Collier, Esq.,',Director. The report, which was read by Mr. Tomline,
the Secretary, represented the affairs of the Society as in a con-
tinued progressive state, there being a balance in hand of 3551. 16s. 3d
which much exceeded the amount of debts, whilst the subscriptions
of the year were 8121. 13s. 10., and the arrears due 5101. The ordi-
nary bus Inesshaving been transacted, the Chairman drew attention
to the original mortgage deed of Shakspere's property in Black-
friars, once in the possession of David Garrick, and now the only
autograph of Shakspere in private hands, the last having been sold
to the City of London Library, at Guildhall. It had been offered for
sale to the British Museum for 200 guineas, but the purchase having
been declined, it was suggested that a subscription be entered into,

in order to secure a document now invaluable to the lovers of dra:
matie art.

A CHILD DROWNED IN A BETTER-FIRHIN.—On
Saturday, Mr. Mills, Deputy COroner for Middlesex, held an inquest
at the Coach and Horses public-house, at Ealing, on the body of
William smith, a child sixteen months old, who met his death under
the following circumstances :—The deceased was the son of a labour-
ing man employed in the gravel-pits, and living in the Uxbridge-
road. On Thursday morning, about ten o'clock, the mother of the
deceased left him for a minute or twc crawling on the floor of the
room near an almost empty butter-firkin standing there, and
when she returned she discovered that the child had, in the interim,
crawled to the tub, raised itself by It, and then tumbled head fore-
most into the tub, face downwards, into about four inches of water.
It was immediately got out, and a surgeon sent for, who pronounced
life to be quite extinct. Verdict —"Accidental death"
GOOD FORTUNE.—On Thursday last, intelligence was
received in this town by the family of Mr. Hugo, of the demise of a
distant relative, in the neighbourhood of Truro. We understand
that the deceased maiden lady has left considerable property, the bulk of which, to the tune of s me 10,000/., falls into the hands of a
young man of this town called Richard Hugo, a clerk at the office of
Mr. J, N. R. Millett, solicitor, Penzance Gazette.