The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-14 00:00:00

Metreh 13.
(Before Mr. Baron ALDERSON.)
Edward Jeffries, aged 25, was indicted for the wilful
murder of Jonathan Brett.
Mr. Barker conducted the prosecution; Mr. W. H.
Adams defended the prisoner.
It appeared that on the night of Saturday, the Ist of
February, the prisoner and the deceased were together
at the Red Lion publie-house, at Worksop, in which
town they both lived. At about a quarter-past twelve
they were both turned out of the public-house; and
there was no doubt that both were to some extent in-
toxicated. They went together into the house of the
deceased, and soon afterwards quarrelling was heard.
A witness went into the house, and they were found
standing up as if to fight. They had been quarrelling
about cards. A man of the name of Graves was also
in the house, and the prisoner said, " I will finish you
both." That was about one o'clock. The prisoner
then left the house, and was next seen running in a
direction towards a place called the gashouse, which
was kept open all night, and where there was a fire and
light. On his way he was met by a man, to whom he said,
" Jonathan Brett and another has been punching me,"
and" I'll fetch a mate to give it him." At the gas-house
there was a man named Parker lying down last asleep,
and one named Coulton lying awake. Both had been in
company with the prisoner and deceased that evening at
the public-house, and had left it about the same time. The
prisoner stared at Coulton; and then took from the cor-
ner of the gashouse a gun belonging to Parker. That
was a gun which would take to pieces without disturb-
ing the charge if it wee loaded. Parker had discharged
it with powder only on the Friday before, and had not
loaded it since. He stated that it was broken, and he
should have been afraid to discharge it loaded with shot.
That gun was taken away by the prisoner, and soon
afterwards the report of a gun was heard. The wife of
the deceased went home about two o'clock, and found
her husband lying on the floor of en upstairs room,
wounded in the heed. A surgeon was called in, and
upon examination found a gun-shot wound over the left
eyebrow. A part of the hair and scalp of the head had
been carried away and fixed to the ceiling of the room.
From the position of the mark on the ceiling and the
character of the wound, it was clear that the gun had
been fired by some one standing close to the door of
the house, which was below the window, and a little to the
left. One shot only was lodged in the scalp, and one in the
brain of the deceased, who lingered till the following Tues
day. The rest went into the ceiling of the room. The pri-
soner on the night in question went home to his sister's
house, where he lived, about two o'clock, and went to bed.
Ia his room was found Parker's gun, and also in the house
another gun, which belonged to the prisoner, and a powder-
flask. Parker's gun appeared to have been recently dis-
charged, The prisoner, upon being first charged, said,
" I was at home' ever since nine;" to which the con-
stable replied, " I myself turned you out of the Red
Lion at half-past twelve," but at that time the prisoner
still appeared to be in a state of intoxication. After-
wards be said that ho fetched the gun from the gas-
house, that he went to Brett's and called him up, that
Brett put his head to the window, and that he fired the
gnu off, but not with the intention of hurting him—
merely to frighten him.
Mr. ADAMS, in addressing the jury for the prisoner,
contended that the statement made by him was consis-
tent with all the circumstances of the case. He had cer-
tainly been guilty of a very foolish and wicked act; but
there was no reason to suppose that he intended to kill
the unfortunate deceased. There was no evidence that
he had loaded the gun; and it was not likely that he
would have taken Parker's broken gun instead of his
own, if he bad known that it was loaded with shot. If
he bad intended to kill Brett, he would have chosen a
bettor position for taking aim than that which he bad
taken; and the motive suggested was one which would
account for an intention to frighten the man who had
offended him, but was altogether insufficient to account
for the deliberate intention to take away his life.
The Learned JUDGE summed up the evidence; and
the jury found the prisoner Guilty of manslaughter.
His LORDSHIP expressed his concurrence with the ver-
dict; and sentenced the prisoner to be transported for
ten years.
The business of the assizes terminated about one
o'clock, and the Learned Judge proceeded to Derby, to
open the commission for that county.