The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-25 00:00:00

LAMBETH.

It will be recollected that on Wednesday last a
young man named Abraham Swarton, in the employ-
ment of Mr. Robson, wholesale confectioner, in Great
Dover-street, Borough, was placed at the bar b-ifore
Mr. Elliott, on a charge, or rather on suspicion, of
having administered some narcotic drug to a young
woman named Harriett Davis, with a felonious inten-
tion, and, while in a state of stupor, taking her to
sleep with him.

From the testimony then given by the complainant
it appeared that she, as well as the prisoner, was in
the employment of Mr. Robson ; that, at the request
of the prisoner, she had met him on the Sunday
evening before ; that she had been to his lodgings
and to three public-houses with him ; and that on
leaving the last she became bereft of her reason, and
had no recollection whatever of what happened to her
from that time until the following morning, when she
found herself in bed with him at a coffee-shop, with
one arm round her neck and the other arm over her
chest. Finding the extraordinary position in which
she was placed, she made an effort to get out of bed,
but the prisoner prevented her for some mo-
ments, and requested her to lie still ; but she strug-
gled, got out of bed, made the best of her way home,
and informed her father and sister of what had hap-
pened, saying, at the same time, that she must have
been drugged, else she could not have been rendered
so prostrate and unconscious of what was passing
around her. The defence set up by the prisoner on
that occasion was, that the young woman had got so
drunk as not to be able to tell him where she lived,
and not knowing where to take or what to do with her,
he had taken a bed at the coffee-house for her, and being
very drunk himself he determined on stopping with
her. He denied having used any violence whatever
towards the young woman ; and this assertion appeared
borne out by the certificate of the medical gentleman.
Mr. Elliott, in the absence of any evidence to prove
the charge of drugging or violation, dealt with the
case as one of aggravated assault against the prisoner,
and convicted him in the penalty of 51., or in default
to one month's imprisonment. Since the conviction
of the accused, Mr. Robson, his master, has made
some communication to Mr. Elliott, which induced
that magistrate to consent to hear witnesses for the
defence, and yesterday being appointed, the witnesses
were in attendance.
As soon as the night charges were disposed of the
case was called on, when Mr. Robson, addressing the
magistrate, said that the young man Swarton had
been in his service for some considerable time, and his
conduct at all times had been so unexceptionable that
he was very much surprised at the charge which had
been made against him. Since his conviction, how-
ever, circumstances had come to his (Mr. Robson's)
knowledge, which perfectly satisfied him, and he had
no doubt on their disclosure would satisfy his worship
also, that the young man was the seduced and not the
seducer.
Mary Ann Marner deposed that she was in the
service of Mr. Robson. On Saturday week she
heard the young woman Davis, who was in the same
employment with her, say that she had succeeded in
making an appointment with " Abraham," and that
she had it nearly all to do herself. When asked what
she conceived the young woman meant by the latter
expressions, ons, the witness replied she thought Davis had
some difficulty in persuading S warton to meet her.
The young woman Davis, who had been sent for
by the magistrate before the case was entered on, here
commenced a moaning noise, and made a great effort
to provoke a faint, but could not succeed, and was
told by the magistrate that there was not the slightest
use in her going on so. The magistrate's remark had
aninstantaneous effect ; the fainting fit was cured as
if by magic; and for the remainder of the inquiry
Miss Davis assumed a positively brazen appearance
and manner.

Swarton, the brother of the accused, said
he heard the young woman ask his brother both on
Friday and Saturday week to meet her on the Sunday
evening, though she well knew him to be a married
man. On the Sunday evening he saw Davis at his
brother's lodgings, and she took tea there with his
brother, who was very tipsy at the time. When they