The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-18 00:00:00

CRIMINAL COURT.-HIS DA

LD CO U RT.
(Before Mr. Baron ALDERSON and Mr. Justice Cil.llloo
MURDER.— IT Tomkins. 25, a labourer, was in-
dieted for the wilful murder of Maria Etiduu, on the 15th
of April last.
Te prisoner, who is a mild, inoffensive-looking wan,
pleaged 6' Not guilty." to the indictment yesterday.
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Ballantine conducted toe case
for the prosecution; and Mr. Sergeant Wilkins and Mr•
Ryland were counsel for the prisoner.
Mr. BODKIN addressed the jury for the prmecutioni
and called the following witne,ses for the purpose

provii g the awful ct-thrge against the prisoner.
Arthur Keene said he resided in Westminster, an
o
was emptoyed in the Royal Engineering Departraeol•
On Sunday, tie 16th of April, about one
to
morning, was in Regent-street, Westminster, n"
when he reached the corner of Vincent-street,
he heard a slight cry as from a teuutiaen;
he then went down Vincent-stre.'t, and w"--
about the centre of the street he saw a figure lying °n
the the ground, at the end of it, which he tound to be 7
woman. She was lying on the kerb, on the horse•roaa,
with her face turned to the ground. He saw ato
standing about three yards from her—that man was
prisoner at the bar. Witness asked the prisoner 1',11,11
he had been dping to her, to which he made no rail
He then asked the prisoner if the woman was his viiie'
and why he did not go over and assist her. The prisonen
er
then went a little forward, towards the woman, and thej
turned Jound and said to witness I have stabbed
her, I have killed her with this knife," shows
ins one to witness. As the prisoner went towar
the woman, he said "Maria." She then raise
herself a few inches, and dropped down d
agaius
into her former position. Witness afterwor
went for the police, but before doing so he again ask
the prisoner what he had done it for, and he rePes,l„e
the same answer. After giving information to the po";
witness returned, and found the female still lying °jet.'
but the prisoner had gone.
Alexander Hobson, a policeman of the E
stated that he was on duty in Regent-street on the 16 1 ,
of April. Heard a cry of "Police," and saw the last 11,-1
ness there. Saw the body of a female on the groutiul,
she was then not quite dead, but had a wound on l'lo
breast, undor the collar-bone. Carried her to a surge°
but before he got there she was dead. • aer
Wm. S. Kate, another policeman, saw the Prig°lo
and a woman in Regent-street between t,./ve,o
and one o'clock of the 16th of April. 1", 13;
the prisoner, and wished him good night. VV'tli-11-
said are yr, u going towards home? to which the P,‘l,
goner replied that he was. 'Witness then went on
his beat. At about twenty minutes to one, in COligr.
quence of information he received,
he went tbl
I'earce's, the surgeon, and there saw the woman “„etor
lying on her back. Witness then went with InsPe'
Cummings to the prisoner's residence, and found bin
custody of another officer. 13/ a bad
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant WiLxvss--- opt
the deceased in custody for drunkenness. When hodeciin
the prisoner and the deceased together they seerb
very
Re -e od humour one with the other. ober
go
ed xamin by Mr. BALLANTINE—Both the r--510.•

and the female were charged together with
ness.
Abraham Wright, another policeman, beard of ye
death of the woman ; saw her body taken t°
district surgeon's and the it ad-house, %Vent to the rove
seat-r's house in Vincent-row, Westminster, ahoill bit"
o'clock, and tool; bite in bed, where witness f
ou
rhol
ani asleep. The prisoner asked what he wanted wit" '";rtis
Ile was told that he had been ill-usinga second The
Ile
prisoner said h.- had nut; he was told
that he had, and he must. get out of bed. He asked
she was dead? anti witness said that she was. 1--", the
,asked, where was she? and witness said she was Ity,
vC
dead-house, St. Margaret's workhouse. Ile then Pegil
d if
his hsnd to his head, and exclaimed "O, 113 Y G,'nere
have done for her." Witness then fetched the Pri-itneee
clothes, and in the right hand pocket of his coat wevikeit
found the knife now produced. Prisoner was then the
where,‘o
$
to the station-house; on going by the place
crime was committed the prisoner said, " Oh, I e4S, he
by it, for she is there looking at me." Afterwe!„, by
said he would go anywhere, and added, "the kril'Y
done it for her ; and the rope will do it for roe. a tb!
Henry Wright, also a policeman, corroborstehooteo
testimony of the last witness. The prisoner ei.e s-orri
going along, " Oh, that soldier, perhaps he will un a tbe,
for it now." W itness had known the deceased sl3,treh
prisoner for some time, but never knew theta dr'
before. h t
Inspector Cumming, of the B division, said ,t-;",tiledt`°t
prisoner, on arriving at the station-house, excill:
him, " Oh, sir, I have done it ; ou don't 101°'" 4oDer
I have suffered for some time." The PP' Ua
while the charge was being entered shook viole110„'.0 hie
searching the prisoner witness discovered blood uP
hand.
tdeflti
Harriet Dowling knew the deceased, and
her body at the dead-house, St. Margaret's, "Teti w
The deceased lodged at her house, and cohabit hope
the prisoner there. The prisoner only came to be
wr 00.0
in the evenings. The deceased was a very sober hopPillA
and the prisoner and deceased seemed to live very I,'-ey he
together. On the Friday preceding the murder At' by the
a slight quarrel. Witness heard something egi-i vele".
prisoner about Newgate, at which the deceased Oibe
Martha Edwards also knew the prisoner tnuse irto.
ceased. Knew the Star and Crown publie"';feiilil°
Westminster. Witness was there on the Fridelt-he daf
previous to the murder. The prisoner au
flamed
ceased were there, and a soldier of the h-0 wow,
Brown. Witness bad heard the prisoner sal he ahe;
marry Maria if she would give the soldier 1113' tAeis ,fra
ceased said she would not give the soldier urlti, the ";*
prisoner married her. On the Friday night The Pic;
ceased left the public-house with the soldier. e deco'
Boner asked her where she was going, and theturnedAd
replied, only to the bar. The deceased r, r
about three-quarters of an hour, and the Prisi-tiel geli."o..
the deceased went home together, on theaPParelPtib.-e0
terms. Saw the deceased and the prisoner at 000
house on the Saturday night; they left about teblit. 11139/
to twelve. The soldier was not there that Dig
h tbe
left together apparently friends. c Doti,. a
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Virltitll4'...-clrie-1
prisoner ani deceased appeared to have been
*ester
freely, but were not drunk. West° ege
to his her
Mr. Pearce, a surgeon in Regent-street, r
—The body of the deceased was brought
on the 16th of April ded•
Il f nd 'olllll i 5 1
00 1° 3
delitb‘
breast which had caused almeostoiunstant_ shdentd
_
The wound was about four inches deep,
P*6o4
trated the yulmonary arter R' a-
Richard &lion, the fathey; of the deceased: tr°
her body. He had lost her for upwards of -
month before she was murdered. 00
This closed the case for the prosecution.,
the ifbrlla

Mr• Sergeant WILKINS then addressed -ob:a
behalf of the prisoner—He said he should De 0,0141
show them that the prisoner had alaays be and rral
leable for his :tunable and peaceable disposition, 110 once
w men among their fellow- workmen were se%trensj
beloved as he was in consequence of his;
good nature. That the deed he coma," "1:11' peso'
premeditated it was idle for any one t° eratiag
and if they had any doubt about it, tbe es°A lb°
which he made when taken into custody woult:4lscitylei
doubt at rest. When he came to his senses, l'eceoe,"
merit was so great that tbe officer deemed it 13,.,
to search him, lest he might lay violent hantins rjur°l 0;0
self; and he exclaimed to the officer, "MY been
done it!" They could ea-ily imagine, if isucb 0 Ot,
possible to rekindle the flame of lite, what hi 9 ace
would have dune to avert the consequences 0. ;be/
• zaigit of
Instead of being an act of premeditation, cos 0,
not rather suppose that the prisoner, from tr"ta fear °to
other which could not be explained, was for a bad t-f
ments deprived of his reason—that passionoonee of
control of his judgment, and under the 1",:s 1/3:oa
that passion he had done the deed ? P.-31141i .-11
probably was aroused by a quarrel between
it wag gibe
the deceased respecting the soldier, and t„p
known that the unhappy class of persons 01. i 00130*:„
deceased was one, were rather violent in thortvir 1'1;0
They were all creatures of eircumstanes, sad 0,00
tues and vices were more the result of accident 000,
generally believed, and, on that ground, those;seratifbe
nate females were entitled to great eoni°34:with
From morning to night they were in contlic' orybo"',o
persecutedwt
hoartl dt
h,
edye despised :yea dm everybody,
violent
leverybody,en tennd abusedv‘i ill-treated
tatteydb
:h
ow eorsterdee
Bra top!
likely was the case in the present instance? i;etif ce
fore, they thought that violence had taken pla°F da r,
thehi deceasedm guilty,a nd the prisoner,
of
murder,i
twould
but
fb
e a¢ilavd4
find
the
ufTepheoleinnLgt
he
eaardnj
duerrdeys Cs
tooou
allownselc concluded ceol tfipd
retidhs
oe an
pe
rn
sotosont
rem er I°lf-;:ts;11,
earth to
might
hhof
oetmlnlboaeßwkaeei
able
his
to
peace
obtain withth
eG
foodr,g and
jvi o that,
eesi a 01‘1-0:0.
might henceforth be despised and shunned hirrjelit"
11, iwitnesseswp•leorye tohfe nmceasi
sled —"thriielee
oti•
'in Tb°
brewers, said the prisoner was five years 0, 010
. ploy, and constantly tinder his observation.
„of
found him a quiet and peacably disposed Ma% o°l,
John Cubley, also in the employ of Messr,'d
said he bad known the prisoner five years, a erso0•003
ways found him a kind-hearted and hunclane_Fassi
Walter Scott had known the prisoner threryinereo%
considered him a peaceable and well-disposeyuidie"nce oe
The Learned JUDGE summed up theL,e), be fel hteP
most feeling address, in the course of wine"„,,latiVl,il'
jury the distinction between murder and aid eyed, be
All intention to kill be said was murder, 51:, 00103
ling was presumed to be murder, unless!
it apioniti be
shown by the circumstances of the case the:;00 c01i,`403,
to something less; for instance, if provo ottot
shown on the part of the person wh° n.ough,.vo, to
Provocation by words, however, was not eu
officifbeeti
roust be blows or some illei.,al act which gas.rfc ban ,bole
justify the sudden vengeunre which the
e19_"..1;; the edetit
guilty of. His Lordship went through 0. Tjelpron,e4iag
of the evidence, commenting upon it
an:, iu cotin;:iibe•
and explaining the law more in detail, "in their 0
commended the jury to the mercy of Gruultivion. boil/
rations to arrive at a true and just cooc__,„ce of.
The jury then retired, and alter an ahoy.'
quarter of an hour, returned into court,

The foreman said the jury had f 'LILA the prisoner
Guilty of murder, but strongly recommended him to
Mercy in consequence of his previous good character.
On being asked whether he had anything to say why
sentence of death should not be passed upon him, the
prisoner made no reply.
Mr. Baron Alderson and Mr. Justice Coltman baying
gone through the formality of putting on their black caps,
Mr. Baron ALDERSON,
addressing the prisoner, said,
after a patient investigation of the case, the jury ha I come
tO the conclusion that he was guilty of murder, and he did
not himself see how they could by any possibility come to
any other conclusion. There was no doubt that the
prisoner had committed the offence with which he stood
charged. The jury had recommended him to the mer-
ciful consideration of the Court, and all the Court could
do was to say that that recommendation should be for-
Warded to the proper quarter, but he could not hold out
the slightest hope that it would be attended to. The
°Worldrime was one of great enormity—sending out of the
a wretched woman to whom he was attached,
in the midst of drunkenness, and without giving her
an oPportunity for prayer, or to ask forgiveness of
he Almighty for the sins of which she had been
guiltY. It was another illustration of the many lamer'
table cases which occurred where one crime or one
Ina led to the commission of others of treater wag-
etude, beginning with one sin against God, and
ending in the commission of one of the greatest crimes
--That of murder—which human laws punished more
ateverely than any other. The Judge then proceeded
s°Y—Time will be given to you to ask pardon
of Almighty God, that time which she whose life
You have taken had not—and I pray that you will make
Food use of that time, and of the spiritual assistance
Which will he rendered to you by the chaplain of the
prison. It now only remains for me to pass the sentence
Which the law imposes upon the Court to declare—that
You be taken from hence to the place from whence you
ame, and from thence to the place of execution, and
the
hanged by the neck until you are dead. That is
sentence of the law, and may God have mercy upon
Your sew.
The
prisoner, who did not visibly appear to be at all
Iweeted, was then removed from the dock.

NEW COURT.
m (Before the RECORDER.)
""larY Anne Burden, 25, John Doig, a sailor, 35, and
;WCatherine Hillman, 60, were charged, the two first with
aling two es' one chain, two seals, and a key,
them.rMr- Charles ason, and the last with receiving
!sFrom the evidence, it appeared that Mr. Mason on
eb
h.e 29th of March went to a beer shop in High-street,
aadwell, about four or five o'clock in the evening, and
remained
left the 5.. drinking there till eleven. At that hour he
the
girl ming room and went to the bar, where he. took
1213°11
his knee, and that sundry other fam
itinesaerzied between them, which ultimately terminated
eyes enci luring which his hat was knocked over
~
One ofth"ue Prop
lice e Watche ty was abstracted from his pers,.n.
e, ..to
m. ;. watches was subsequently traced by the 1)9-
"attaveell, at whose
John Wood's, a pawnbroker in
'Woman. shop it had been pledged by the old
The defence on the part of the prisoner Doig was that
stbeing sone beer-shop, be was induced to go home witch
ged Prr Burden, and that being short of money he
the irine of his shipmates deposited their jackets with
t
~ r andlady of the house as an assurance of psymene
Mmeus of obtaining
19 their accommodation. In the morning, being d -
his clothes, he was induced to be-
rown party to a representation that the watch was his
or:ihand that he had bought it of a shipmaster in the
PEngland
thitMtr.l)4Yß-E, wh.o appeared for the old woman, insisted
there
Was no sufficient evidence to show that the
Watch had ever been stolen at all.
sad
The
the •
'RECORDER summed up at considerable length,
the Jury, after an hour's deliberation, retired. When
A Y. returned into Court, they gave a verdict of
4kequittai for
Hillman, and of Guilty against Burden
IlarondrPcig, who were then sentenced to six months'
Ar"sonment with hard labour.
o -.C.. true bill was found this morning against the Mar-
-A.. of Cliandos, for inimiomeanour.
CL

ERKENWELL.—( THIS DAY.)
amti _ Dupree, nineteen years of age, was charged
: violent outraLe in the house of Mre. Jane Wil-
Joie of No. 8, Philips buildings, Clerkeow,ll, and
the aevent,en, with obstructing the police in
eltectnkti of their duty, and attempting to rescue the
other
prisoner.
It llPPeared that the prisoner Dupree, some time ago,
Ved with a young woman as his wire, in the house of
Ltile Prosecutrix, whom he since had left, and who has
tt obliged to go into an hospital lately, having first
7: 111, law remaining articles of furniture to the prose-
Last evening Dupree came to the house,
forced
pa nied by a mob of women and youths,
his way into the house and up to the room where
be had formerly lived, of which he broke the door off
its hinges and forced off the lock, swearing that he
ould awash every window and every " stick" in the
house. Mrs. Williams was in a dreadful state of alarm
%t the violence and menaces of Dupree, there being in
the house at the . time no one but her mother, an infirm
Itdy 95 years old. The police, however, came to her
ralstance, and although much assailed and obstructed
is", the mob, carried off the two prisoners to the station-
. .otise.
..,:I:luPree's defence was that he was told he had a right
break into the room, and L'Aigu denied that he had
0.?
batructed the police.
M_ g a_r. TYRWRITT ordered Dupree to pay for the damage
tit to the door, or be imprisoned fourteen days, and
e end of that time to find bail to keep the peace
lulls Mrs. Williams.
. so

UTHWARK. THIS DAY.)
John Sandeman and
ti
san a
i o
bleb, were charged with hay
quantity of gold and silver coininso. in her f
the reigns of James
the First, Charles the First, Philip and Mary of Spain,
ke., suspected to have been stolen.
So x. Hair, a silversmith and jewellerofprilisiognhe-rstsreaent.,
thwark, stated on the previous day the.
the affirmative, the
dertnan called at his shop and inquired if he bought. old
told and silver? The reply being in the
twelve lbs. weightd
Prisoner then said that he had about
of gold and silver coins, some of which hepreoodmuceehd;adne.
kr. Hair suspecting they were improperly
sires
him to fetch the remainder, heandlir. w
•"e whole. In the interval, however,Hairouldsewnteir.ohr
a Policeman, and when Sandemanh in
rettuurnneudstnwdiyth,
and
etitlheer prisoner he gave them b
and cl ,Its found in their possession 192 ounces of gold
" silver coins of the above reigns.t
Itt
he had
Etndenatin at first said the coins belongeodnteoy,his fore•
hers, and that being now in want of m Noe up from the country to dispose of them
the
et o the
prisonersb e s t
advantage When before the magistrate
the
Rave a very. different account—they said that thneeyarwere
bode
1,, kifbgaged at work on Saturday week,
-e iington station on the York Railway, laying down
11"ta' and that, while digging at the depth,
against
la 2
hfeaertd,
()411%sotf there (Wilkinson) struck his spade _
e24ls; anee, which turned out to be a jar filledwihthavtinhge
; that they conveyed the jar home, and
uivided the Awe contents equally between them, they came
together to London.
;ssorter kr. SEcRER said that he was bound to detain the pri-
sday.
Ural!. further inquiries were made on the subject.
NI for that purpose should remand them until next
Thor
PR.OVISIONAL BANK OF IRE-
LAND.— THIS DAY.)
The twe ~ ,1 (. 1 meeting of tee P
prie,
.nty- tali... annual gi nera
4 "Ira 01 thi • h k t k ul.ee to-dav, at the ctnpao.y'',
else i ' a'' •' ' - purpose of electing
eetlr ~ n Old Briatd-strect, for the
who
went
out
buirectoi a in the r,otri of ttiosci 4.
to d irotatin, to receive the rep. i't *Out ttli-71nrectors, and
sr'
.I.4re a dividend from the last half-year.
tWelvrof)ll,ell'oeYknang, Bart., took the chair shortly after
1 lie _l . • ,ea, ,he calling the meeting having been
I,ar'r by the secretary Sir Robert Campbe11,
kime,,,b,,s Es tart',
Sainue'l E. \la an E,q., and Jusepro,a.
Bart, Oliver
tiori. w're. t.sq., the direc'tors who went out by •
Tbele,unsoluattutly re elected.
which, --a..kal then read the report of the directors,er(ps
4,, ester
~ ret,trrin t, ilure of the potato
and
te, o, the ~, cto the a
atate be th tug
pressure of the last year,
°°lefittiat .1• e ergs general y lreland,
. ending hll. th ' ns thuastuah
tiZrtihe lasts'dirp ~ e precautio
in stated that,
everl the
ye"arehater loss thalance;
than had been provided"la
to betehne tbaakoeiric
that loss, how-
last year. ftoakenndp
104,5691' el.
to ci,oooll2s, 0.
" that
had C Marchba ee n l theas
t reduced3reeasrt bt washy
e restgreater
expenses"' n s
°f 46,108/ and odd; but during the present. yeatrea sum
up io Nt • 184. 10d. had been added, making the - . for
th arch last 107 505/• lOs. 11d,
PrePnaed t
e fleas of the pa; yea. r. he directors,. theerefori,
It ar of 4
after providing
Per cent. °ltt,y a dividend from the last ha y
oi. 8
Per cent: ;nailing a dividend upon the whole year '
'',, The
r•
ele.ar ot income tax.
probetiordomt g of the re tort elicited the unanimous ap-
Cork a the
elered by
eymeetibpg,
de
and on the motion. of Mr.
Captain Davis, its adoption was.
Th.._ y the chairman to be carried by acclamation.
diree",!nits were then voted to the chairman, the London.,
di ,!nits and secretary, and also to the provincial,
brok wrs, secretary, and officers, and the meeting
I) up.
ku. g- --__
____________-____
the "n LIIWETT'S CONCERT.—We understand that
to en annual concert of that prince of comic song writers
the krrile Ringers, Mr.Blewett, takes place to-morrow, at
leet. uAsle nail, Store-street. His bill of fare is excel-
Aled,,lrflubg the vocalists, we observe the names of
Miss Anna Thillon, Miss Miran, Miss Poole, and
Phillie (3111Y'
with Templeman, :Sims Reeves, Henry.
tee, 48' .and Harrison. Blewett himself will also sing a
Prue,. alle "'lg. Anion.- the instrumentalists we are
ee,--a117,141.13.a15er, Chattert'on, Grattan. Cooke, Richard-
fur 111€,N,44ludsay Sl,,er. We anticipate a bumper house
tt t°-morrow.
A.I.A
lipa,,',.4l"ne Dorus Gras has arrived in town for the
harn,"". We understand she will sing at the next Phil-
Mg harm:
Concerts, and at Mrs. Anderson's annual morn-
milt)!oerta.
were ""Eles SCOTCII ENTERTAINMENT.--h Wer
I,i3itv llot a little delighted yesterday evening with . 0.0
lirl_itt_,iotitho,
ttl:. Cooper at the Sussex Hall—the clear in.o-
exquisite taste, the caller freshness voice,ef
into-
t° e chasteness of manner with which he introducedds
io.t"ls and a selection of the older Scotch melodies,
whieillib, expression of delight on their countenances,!ese them
Wer snowed how highly his exertions to P e
peo;lea,P, Preeiated. Whether the Scotch are a"musical
th(... _ o,r not we atop not now to inquire,
branchesthougohf
musicalx °°l) not have succeeded in the higher,
ee_mposition to the extent which some other
e,,titartes
tio.-e • ',wee. done, there c,:nnot be a doubt that in
ie."' 6tle Melodies, those beautiful effusions which enter
-m‘t the h
tiriul4 Van and business of every one, they stand an-