The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-15 00:00:00

THAMES.

Thomas Roff, a lighterman and greengrocer, of Fre-
derick's-place, high-street, Bromley, was brought be-
fore Mr. l3roderip on re.uand, charged with kilting and
slaying James Eastman Bradley, aged 20, a toll-col-

lector.
Mr. Sorrell, an attorney, prosecuted o❑ behalf of
the father of the deceased ; Mr. Pelham defended the

prisoner.
The prisoner was originally remanded by the magis•
trate on a charge of wilful murder. Since then an
inquest has been held on the body of the deceased at
the London Hospital. Great difference of opinion pre-
vailed among the coroner's jury, and 12 of them at last
returned an open verdict, that the deceased was run
over by a loaded cart and died of the injuries he re-
ceived, but how he was thrown under the cart there was
no evidence to show. Two of the jury were for a
verdict of manslaughter.
Yesterday the whole case was reinvestigated at great
length by the magistrate. It appeared that the de-
ceased was the collector at the Mile-end turnpike-gate.
On the morning of Saturday, the 4th of March, at 5
minutes before 5 o'clock, the prisoner and his son, who
were in a light c.irt drawn by one horse, drove through
the gate. The deceased asked for the.toll or the ticket
of the day. The boy called out the letter " Y," which,
it appeared, was the initial of the day, commencing at
112 o'clock on the preceding night and ending at 12 on
1 the following night. The deceased said that would not
do, and demanded a sight of the ticket, which the pri-
soner refused to produce. The deceased immediately
rushed towards the horse's head and snatched the reins out
of Hoff's hand. The prisoner struck at him, and the
deceased, in stooping to avoid the blow, was knocked
down by the shaft of a cart laden with vegetables aid
drawn by three horses which was •proceeding in the
same direction. The off-wheels passed over the de
ceased and crushed him in a dreadful manner. He was
raised from the ground by the prisoner and others and
placed in Roll's cart and taken to the London Hospi-
tal, where he died on the following morning. About
three hours before his death and after he had parted
with his relatives, and was conscious he could not sur-
vive, he informed Mrs. Morrill, the nurse in attendance
upon him, that Hoff passed through the gate and would
not produce his ticket, and that when he asked him for
it he struck him twice with the butt end of his whip,
and knocked him down. The evidence was very con-
flicting as to the degree of violence used by the pri-
soner to the deceased, and Mr. Pelham endeavoured to
show that Stevens, the driver of the loaded cart, was as
culpable as the prisoner, and that if he had stopped his
team during the altercation between the deceased and
the prisoner the fatal occurrence would not have hap-
pened. Stevens was not sworn before the coroner's
jury, but made a statement inculpating the prisoner.
Yesterday he was sworn, and after being told by the
magistrate that he had no occasion to answer any ques-
tions which might criminate himself, he stated that he
followed Roff's cart through the gate. The deceased
asked Hoff to show his ticket and be said he would not.
The tollman then ran after the cart, caught hold of the
horse's head, and was pullin, the animal towards the
cart the witness was driving, when the prisoner struck
him with his whip. The deceased was thrown on his
back, and the wheels of the loaded cart went over him.
Stevens thee stopped his team, and helped to put the
deceased in toe prisoner's cart. In cross-examination
by Mr. Pelham, it was elicited from the witness that
there was ample room for his team to pass on the off
side of the prisoner's cart without going so close to it,
and that the road was a very wide one.
The prisoner's son, a lad about 15 years of age, stated
that his father drove through the Old Globe-gate on his
waycei
ve tdo a mc
raerdkiet tti
cakt
eat. quarter c
hb
we faosr et
hse ol i
n'
toi
aclk r eit
was also endorsed "Roff C." The ticket cleared the
Mile•end-gate. It was customary for his father to re-
ceive a credit ticket at the Old Globe-gate on his way to
market, and pay on his return. He was seated by his
father when the deceased ran up. He called out the
letter "Y," and the deceased said that would not do, at
the same time pulling the reins out of his father's hands,
and attempting to turn the horse's head in a contrary
direction to the one his father was proceeding. His
father struck at the deceased once, but did not hit him.
The deceased "bobbed" his head to avoid the blew,
and in rising came in contact with the shaft of the laden
vegetable cart, and was knocked down and run over.
The boy swore positively that his father only struck at
the deceased once.
Another witness, named Hunt, a porter, who was on
the footpath, saw the deceased close to the wheel of the
light cart, and observed the prisoner strike at him twice,
which caused him to ge to the horse's head, and while
there he was knocked down by the laden cart.
Another witness, named Castle, was examined, but
his evidence was not material.
Mr. Sorrell explained, that the collector at the Old
Globe-gate was there a quarter-of-an hour before his
time on the morning in question, and the deceased hav-
ing his misgivings whether the prisoner had actually
received a ticket, wished to see it.
Mr. Pelham advised his client to reserve his defence.
Mr. BRODERIP said he should commit the prisoner for
trial for manslaughter; and, in answer to an application
made by Mr. Pelham to put in bail for the prisoner, said
he must refuse it. It appeared from the evidence of Mr.
Bradley, the father of the.deceased, that the prisoner had
been in the habit of striking at his son. It was the pri-
soner's duty to produce the ticket when it was demanded,
and if it were not for some doubts which had arisen out
of the fact of the prisoner's having tne ticket in his po -
session and calling out the right letter, it would have
been most probably his duty to commit him for wilful
murder.