The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-18 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE
OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Stafford, March 16.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice CRESS ELL.)
Patrick Grady, 25, John Maloney, 23, and Thomas
Cavannah. 25, were indicted for the manslaughter of
Leoeard Thorpe, at Tipton, on the 15th of August.
The prisoners were indicted fur wilful murder, but the
grand jury ignored the bill for the capital crime.
Mr. Meteyard, with Mr. Iluddlestone, prosecuted the
prisoners, who were without the benefit of counsel.
The facts of the case were as follows—The deceased
was, it appeared, a Derbyshire boatman, and had come
up for a load of bricks. He went to the Angel public-
house, and remained there several hours until midnight,
in the company of another boatman named Ellis.
Grady and Maloney went twice to ask for drink, and
were refused, as it was late. On their coming the
second time the waitress heard Graby say to Maloney,
" Come on, we have given the old b— enough."
Ellis was endeavouring to get a tipsy man, named
Lewis, home, when Cavannah came up and struck
bins. He went on, and the prisoners followed him to
a place called the Castle Wall, where a scuffle en-
sued, and to escape from them he got over the wall
(which is a portion of the ruins of Dudley's once cele-
bratedl castle). He remained there a considerable time,
being in fear ; and during the time heard a great noise,
and cries of " murder," near the railway bridge on the
Birmingham road, a short distance off. It was then
nearly one o'clock on the Sunday morning, When Ellis
was struck his hat was knocked off, and ono of the
party picked it up, and ran away with it. He followed
them. Between the time of their leaving the Angel
door and going to the Castle, Grady and Cavannah
armed themselves with stick, and came up accompanied
by others, crying out to Ellis and Lewis, " Come on,
you b— English b—s," and they then struck them
with the sticks they had procured in the interim. Ellis
it seemed was a pugilist, and known by the soubriquet
of " Jim Crow." The deceased left the house shortly
after Ellis and Lewis, going, in the same direction, and
Cavannah was seen running the same way with a stick
in each hand. About ten minutes to one o'clock the
three prisoners were seen violently beating the de-
ceased, who cried out, " Oh, Lord ! oh, Lord !" and
groaned very much. Shortly after a witness, named
Lane, found Thorpe on the ground with his bead
lying in the gutter, and a lame man, whom he be-
lieved to be Grady, peeping round the corner of
Birmingham street, which was near adjoining. The
deceased was taken on board a " Butty'e " boat, named
Cotterell, who examined his head, and found several
wounds on it, and at half-past four o'clock on Sunday
afternoon the unfortunate man died in the cabin of his
own boat. A postmortem examination of the body was
made by Mr. Hill, a surgeon, who found sufficient inju-
ries of the skull to account for the death, amongst
which was a very deep wound, and the rupture of some
of the vessels of the head. The prisoner Cavannah
lodged at the house of a woman named Culliman, and
at one o'clock on the Sunday morning ho took Maloney
home with him. They both had sticks with them, which
they put in the cellar, and told her to shut the door, as
the police wore after them, for they met five navvies,
who struck them, and they struck the navvies. In half
an hour after Grady and another man came in, and said
Cavannah had gone to the assistance of Maloney, and
took the navvy off him. On the Monday Cavannah
burnt the sticks while Mrs. Culliman was out, and on
hE r return she found them partly consumed. The other
evidence against the prisoners was composed chiefly of
statements made by them. Maloney said, " When the
man was getting the better of me-, I called for Cavannah,
who kicked him off me, and there was not a blow I gave
him, but was sufficient to kill him." Maloney also told
a fellow lodger, that if no man gave the boatman a blow
but what ho gave him himself, it was enough to kill
him. James Bunco went to Cavannah's lodgings, and
asked, " Have you heard that the man who was
beaten by the Irish shoemakers on Saturday night is
dead 7" The persons present made no reply, but Ca-
vannah's wife wished him to leave the room. On the
same day Cavannah went to Bunce's, and told them he
was going to leave, as he was afraid he should be
taken for beating the man that died. Bunce asked how
it happened, and the prisoner said, " A fight took place
between us and the Englishmen, and we fought until we
were separated by the police." Maloney, when in
custody, sent for Superintendent Nl`Knight, and said—
"lt is hard the innocent should suffer for the guilty, and
I will tell you all about it." On Sunday morning I was
in front of the Angel Inn, with Grady, Cavannah, and
John Reardon, when a party ofsmen came up. Some
words ensued, and Cavannah struck one of the men. I
advised him to go away, and he did. One of the party
struck Grady, and another Reardon, whose bat tell of.
He picked it up, and went away. A police officer came
up, and ordered us all off. Grady and myself went
towards Tipton, followed by the men, who at Bir-
mingham-street again attacked Grady, who called
me to his assistance, but I refused, and went
for a police-officer. On my road I met Ca-
vannah, who asked where Grady was. I said,
"They are murdering him at the corner." Cavannah
produced two sticks, which he said he got from the
standings. I told him to throw them away. He refused,
saying, I will have the life of one of them,' and we went
on until we met a man, whom Cavannah struck with a
stick. Cavannah afterwards struck a man in a sleeve-
waistcoat and a straw hat (the dress of the deceased).
The man cried out, ' Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!' When wo
got to Cavannah's lodgings I gave Mrs. Culliman the
sticks, telling her to hide or burn them, as Cavannah had
killed a man with them.
A very similar statement made by the prisoner Ma-
loney before the magistrates, was put in and read by
Mr. Hemp, the clerk of the arraigns.
In defence, Grady said, " I was by myself that night,
and went home alone." Maloney exclaimed, " Thanks
bo to God, I am innocent, and told the whole truth to
Mr. M`Knight, thank the Lord."
Cavannah merely observed, " I'll leave it all with my
Lord and the jury."
Fifteen witnesses were called to sustain the case on the
lart of the Crown, but the prisoners called none in their

defence.
His LORDSHIP having minutely summed up the volu
miuous evidence, the jury acquitted Grady, and found
the other two prisoners guilty, and they were sentenced
to eighteen months' imprisonment.
Sarah Mason, 22, was indicted fur causing a false
entry of the death of one John Hodson to be made in
the registry book of the Walsall Union, he, John Hod-
son, being then alive.
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, with Mr. ICeating, conducted
the prosecution of the prisoner, who was undefended.
It appeared that Mr. Horton, a jeweller, held 501. in
trust for John Dodson, the prisoner's brother, when he
came of age, being a portion of a larger sum placed in
his hand for such purpose. The prisoner had received
two separate sums of 301. and 201. on account of her
brother prior to the month of October, 1844, when
she called on Mr. Horton, and told him Hodson was
dying at her house in Walsall. By such repre-
sentations she obtained a further sum of 51., being the
interest of the 501. which had been placed iu a savings'
bank; a few weeks after she paid Mr. Horton another
visit, telling him her brother was dead at her house, but
ho refused to give her any more money without a certi-
ficate of death. To procure this she went to Mr. Slee,
the registrar, caused the following entry to be made, had
a copy of it, and paid the fee:—" Died 19th October,
1844, John Hodson, locksmith, George-street, Walsall,
in the presence of Ann Mason." She took the copy of
the certificate to Mr. Horton, received from him the
remaining 50/., and made her mark to a receipt for the
same. John Hodson deposed to-day that he was 21
years of age the 4th of February last. In October and
November, 1844, he was living at Willenhall, and was in
good health. She begged for mercy on account of her
children. The jury found her Guilty.
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD, on the part of the prosecu•
tion, recommended her to mercy.
Mr. Justice CRESSWELL—This law was intended to
benefit the public, and persons who infringe it must be
made an example of. Under the old system no registry
could be made except by the clergyman at the funeral,
so that a coffin, even if filled only with stones, must
have been interred to keep up the frauds of those falsely
or interestedly wishing to register another as dead. This
was attended with so much difficulty as to be hardly ever
attempted; !Jut under the present law nothing is so
easy as for a person so disposed, to make a statement,
sign the registry, obtain the certificate, pay the fee, and
consummate their purpose. The Act of Parliament,
therefore, very properly makes it felony, and it is a very
serious offence. Let her go down. I must consider the
case before passing sentence.
Mr. Sergeant Allen, and Mr. Whateley, Q C., alter-
nately held a court for the trial of prisoners to-day,

NORTHERN ClRCUll.—york, March 16.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Baron RoLFE.)
BURGLARY AND MU George Calvert, 28,
Th ffillas 110(198071, 28, and James Mellor, 22, were charged
with the wiltul murder of William Wood, on the 18th
of December last, at Faweather, in the West Riding.
Mr. Hall and Mr. hardy prosecuted. Mr. Matthews
defended two of the prisoners, Hodgson and Mellor, the
third, George Calvert being undefended.
It appeared that the deceased resided at a place called
Faweather, about four or five miles from Bradford; he
lived by himself in a small cottage, which was 150 yards
from the next neighbour. On the night of the 18th of
December he was awoke by a noise at the door, upon
which he went down stairs with a hedge knife in his
hand, and found in the kitchen four men with their faces
blackened; a struggle ensued he struck at one of them
with the knife, and then ran out [through the window
into the garden, ani thence into a field, where several
struggles took place; but at last the men so beat him
with heavy bludgeons, and other weapons, that ho was
completely exhausted and overpowered; they then car-
ried him back into his cottage, and laid him down whilst
they robbed the house. Atter they had gone, the de-
ceased got up, and supporting himself by a wall which
went along the road, succeeded in reaching the next
neighbour. He west excessively ill for some time after-
wards from the injuries he had received, and he was
attended by a medical man, tinder whose care he gra-
dually improved until the 18th of January, when he be.
came much worso. He lingered until the 2d of February,
on which day he died from water on the brain, occa•
sioned by eie violent blows and contusions he had re-
ceived on his head. The deceased went before the
magistrates at Bradford on the 27th of December, and
deposed to the facts of the outrage nearly as above.
The three prisoners having been apprehended, were