The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-17 00:00:00

SMALL DEBTS ACT.

Several summonses, granted under this Act, were heard,
and in twa or three, warrants for commitments were issued,
the Court authorising the parties to take the defendants.
In one case, a defendant asked for costs, on account of the
non-attendance of his plaintiff.
The COURT said, there was no power to grant costs in the
Act. The summons would be dismissed, and no further sum-
mons would be granted.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
WES TMINSTER.

On Saturday, John Walker, a young man was charged
with being found in the house of Mr. W. Spires, the
Grosvenor Arms, Ilolywell-street, Milbank, shortly
after midnight, and stealing the contents of the till, and
a pair of sugar tongs.
Mr. Spires, stated that having, as usual, fastened the
house up, he retired to bed at ten minutes past twelve on
the previous night; he had scarcely been there twenty
minutes when his wife thought she heard a noise, and
they listened to ascertain whether it would be repeated.
Being shortly convinced that there was somebody stirring
in the house, complainant struck a light, and having par-
tially dressed himself, opened the room door, and ran
down stairs, when be saw the prisoner rush out of the
bar into the tap-room. Complainant laid hold of the
fellow, when he muttered something of having a " pal "
(companion) at hand; upon which prosecutor told him
he did not care how many he had, and gave him a sound
shaking, upon which prisoner became very quiet. On
an examination of the premises the bar door had been
forced open, some copper and silver money, which bad
been left for change in the morning, and a pair of sugar
tongs, stolen. The back door had been unfastened, and
was propped open ready for the escape of the thief.
The fellow made no defence, and was remanded until
Tuesday.

THE LATE MURDEROUS ATTACK
AT THE MAIDENHEAD STATION.
MAIDENHEAD' FRIDAY EvEs:LING.—The third adjourned
examination of Anthony Thomas Ryves, a police- constable
(but since suspended) in the service of the Great Western
Railway Company, at the Maidenhead station, charged with
having stabbed Mr. Henry Plumb, an articled clerk to Mr.
Ward, solicitor, of this town, on the evening of Monday, the
3d instant, took place this afternoon at the Orkney Arms
Inn, in the parish of Taplow, Bucks, before the following
magistrates of the county :—Caledon George Dupre, Esq.,
M.P.; Mr. R. R. Clayton, M.P.; and the Rev. T. Carter.
The magistrates commenced their sitting in a room below
stairs, but in consequence of the number of respectable per-
sons desirous of obtaining admission to hear the proceedings,
which excited the greatest interest throughout the neigh-
bourhood, the Bench adjourned to the large room on the
first floor, which was crowded during the lengthened Inves-
tigation.
Mr. J. J. Williams, barrister-at-law, and Mr. Ward,
solicitor, of Maidenhead, attended on the part of the prosecu-
tion, and Mr. Bozon, solicitor, of Bucklersbury, London, de-
fended the prisoner.
Mr. Bozon having requested that the deposition of Mr.
John Mahon Williams, which was made at the prisoner's
examination,might be read,
Mr. J. J. Williams said he should offer no objection on the
part of the Crown, and assured Mr. Bozon that no impedi-
ment should be thrown in the way of the solicitor for the
prisoner.
The prisoner, who was then brought in in custody of Mr.
Larkin, the superintendent constable of the Stoke and Iver
districts, left his case in the hands of his legal adviser.
Mr. Henry Plumb, the gentleman upon whom the attack
had been made by the prisoner, was then assisted into
the room, and placed in a chair near the magistrates.
He looked extremely pale, and appeared to be suffering from
great weakness. Upon being sworn, he deposed as follows :
—On Monday evening, the 3d-instant, I and Mr. John
Mahon Williams walked with Mr. Williams, sen., from
Maidenhead to near the railway station, where we left
Mr. Williams, sen., and proceeded on our return to
Maidenhead. On passing by the Dumb Bell public-house,
hearing some music, we looked in at the parlour window
to see what was going on. While we were standing
there a boy, who I have since ascertained is a son of the
prisoner, came up and looked at us with an impudent
grin. I said to young Williams, " Here is Buttons."
Williams said, " Who do you mean ?" I replied, " Don't
you' know the famous Buttons?" When Williams went up
to him, and the boy ran a little way towards Maidenhead-
bridge. He then turned round and said to Wil-
liams, " You had better come this way and lye will
give it to you." The boy then ran off towards the cottage
in which the prisoner lives, followed by me and Williams.
When we got to the cottage, Williams stopped and I walked
on. I told Williams he had better come on with ma. I
then heard the boy cry out, "Mother, mother !" and I also
heard him mention the words, " Young Ward." We gave
him the name of " Buttons" from the page's livery he wore.
Atter Williams had stopped there for about half a minute,
he came running to me, saying, " There's a man running
after us. We raa on together for a little way, when 'Williams
disappeared by creeping through the hedge on the railway
side of the road. The prisoner then came running up to me,
seized hold of me by the collar in front with both hands,
shook me violently, and threw me violently on the ground.
When I got up, he rushed at me again. At that moment I
saw, for the first time, that he had got a knife in his hand.
I dodged away as he was in the attitude of striking me. I
then felt the knife enter my body, under the shoulder-blade
on the left side. I then fell a second time from the force of
the stab upon a heap of stones. When the prisoner first
seized me, he asked why I had insulted his boy ? I told him
I had not touched his boy. After I was stabbed the prisoner
stood over me, with his arm lifted up and the knife in his
hand. I then said to him, "Don't hit me—don't stab me
with that." The prisoner then turned towards his cottage,
and I ran on as well as I could to the bridge, where I saw
two men who assisted me to the toll-house. I was then
taken to the King's Arms, where Mr. Bellis, the surgeon,
shortly afterwards arrived.
Daniel Sexton, constable of Maidenhead, who produced
the clothes worn by the last witness at the time he was at-
tacked, and which were completely saturated .with blood,
was then sworn. He said, I apprehended the prisoner about
twelve o'clock on the Monday night. He was in bed when I
went to his house. I called his name in front of his house
several times. At last he came to his bedroom window, and
asked me what I wanted with him? I told him he was
charged with stabbing a young man at Mr. Ward's. He
replied, " Pooh, pooh, nonsense he is not stabbed, and if he
is, I didn't do it." Ile then came down stairs, and gave
himself into my custody. When about a hundred and fifty
yards from his house, on our road to Maidenhead, he pointed
out a spot in the road and said, "That's the place where the
struggle was." He then said "As to striking him, I did not
strike him at all; and if he is injured as you say, it
mast have been done by falling on the stones,
for I had -no weapon at all with me." The next

morning his wife came to see him while in my ,
custody. She said to him in my presence, "It
is a pity you had the knife." " Yes," he replied,
" I had the knife in my hand, certainly, for I
had just been cutting the honeysuckle. I should not
have pursued them had they not used very bad
language towards, and otherwise insulted me." His wife
remarked he had brought the knife in in his hand, and laid
it down on the table. He replied, "Yes, I know I did."
On the same day witness called upon the prisoner's wife, who
gave him the knife (produced) as the weapon used by the
prisoner.
After the examination of a man named Williams, who as-
sisted Mr. Plumb to the toll-house at Maidenhead Lodge,
Mr. Benjamin Bellis, surgeon, who attended Mr. Plumb,
was sworn. He stated that the wound was inflicted on the
left side of the back, four inches below the inferior angle of
the scapula, and three inches and a half from the spine. It
was five-eighths of an inch long, extending obliquely from
above downwards, and penetrating under the inte-
gument to the extent of nearly two inches. He could
not say positively that he was free from danger at the pre-
sent time.
This being the whole of the evidence,
Mr. Bozon said, if the magistrates had made up their minds
to commit the prisoner, he should advise him to reserve his
defence until the period of his trial.
The magistrates said, that from the clear nature of the
evidence which had been brought before them, they had
come to the conclusion to commit the prisoner to the county
gaol to take his trial at the next assizes for Bucks, for stab-
bing the prosecutor, Henry Plumb, No ith intent to do him
some grievous bodily harm.
The prisoner was then given into the custody of Mr. Lar-
kin, the superintendent constable, to be conveyed to Ayles-
bury Gaol, and the witnesses bound over to attend and give
evidence on the trial.
The proceedings, which excited considerable interest, lasted
several hours.