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

CRIMINAL COUIt.T.-(THIS DAY

(Before Mr. Commissioner tULLOCK.)
Ficrmous Arrow(Eys.—John Oakham, aged 48, stood in•
dieted with obtaining money under false pretences, with in-
tent to defraud James Smart. The prisoner pleaded guilty,
He was charged with being one of a number of persons who
infest the vicinity of the Court, with a view to extort money
from the friends of unfortunate prisoners, under the pretence
that they could get up a defence, and would employ counsel.
Such had been the conduct of the prisoner on the present oc-
casion to the prosecutor.
The Court animadverted in strong terms upon the conduct
of the prisoner, and sentenced him to twelve month's im-
prisonment with hard labour, and intimated that the offence
was punishable with transportation.
(Before Mr. Justice COLTMAN.)
CHARGE OF MURDER.—Jesse Bridger, aged 98, stood in-
dicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Jane Bridger, by
giving her a kick.
It appeared from the evidence, that deceased was seen in a
state of intoxication, in the Borough-road, on the 20th of
February; the prisoner was seen to run after her,
strike her on the face, and kick her in the abdomen,
and swear he would knock her eyes out. She fell, and was
subsequently carried home, and from thence to the hospital,
where she died on the fifth day after the occurrence. On
the cross-examination it appeared that deceased bit one of
the men who was carrying her home, which compelled him
to let her fall, and she came to the ground with considerable
violence. -

On the cross-examination of one or two witnesses, it ap-
peared that the deceased was a most inveterate drunkard ;
that she was in the habit of going to public houses and
getting drunk in the absence of her husband, and had
been found reeling about the streets drunk ; and was
brought home to her husband in that state, with her
head cut, &c., upon several occasions.
The Surgeon who made the post mortem examination, de-
posed, that deceased died from a rupture of the bladder,
which was caused by some external violence, and which
might have been the re,ult of a fall against any projecting
sterstance ; and that the prisoner called frequently at the
hospital to see deceased, and appeared very anxious about her.
The prisoner bore an excellent character, and was said to
be a man of sober and industrious habits, and never ab-
sconded, or went out of the way, during his wife's illness.
The jury acquitted the prisoner of the charge of murder,
and found him Guilty of Manslaughter ; but recommended
him to mercy upon the ground of the great provocation he
had received.

The COURT said that in consequence of the recommenda-
tion, the sentence would not be a severe one ; it was, that
he should be imprisoned for twelve months in the House of
Correction.

Richard Thorpe, coal porter, stood indicted for cutting
Jane Thorpe, with intent to do her some bodily harm, on the
17th March. This was a case somewhat similar to the last
in some of the particulars. It appeared from the evidence
of his wife that she asked him for a penny to get bread for
the child, which he refused her, and knocked her down ; she
remained in the streets all that night; the next morning he
met her again and knocked her down. He subsequently
induced her to go into a public-house, gave her some beer,
put his left arm round her neck, and with his right drew a
knife across her throat; she then gave him in charge to a
policeman.
Several witnesses deposed that the prosecutrix was a
woman of drunken and other depraved habits.
The jury found the prisoner Guilty, and he was sentenced
to six months' imprisonment.