The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-07 00:00:00

CRIMINAL COURT.—(This Day.)

The January sessions of the above Court was opened
this morning, at ten o'clock, by the Right Hon. David
Salomons, Lord Mayor ; the Right Hon. the Recorder ;
Aldermen Farebrother, Farncombe, Sir F. G. Moon,
Sir R. W. Carden, and Wire ; the Sheriffs, Under-
Sheriffs, and the usual city authorities.
The first edition of the calendar contains the names of
SS prisoners, a considerably smaller number tha❑ usual,
but this is owing to the short period that has elapsed
since the adjournment of the Court.
The Recorder, in charging the grand jury, expressed
his regret that for several consecutive sessions the calen-
dar had contained charges of murder of the most grave
character, and that there were five persons to be tried
for that crime at the present session. In one of the
oases, which was perhaps the most serious one, an un-
happy man, named Corrigan, was charged with the
murder of his wife, under very horrible circumstances ;
but the facts appeared to be so clear that he was afraid
they would feel that they had no alternative but to re-
turn the bill for wilful murder. There appeared to be
no doubt that at the time the act was committed the
prisoner was in a most excited state of mind from the
effects of drink, but it was his duty to tell *hem that this
afforded no justification or palliation in law for such a
crime, and that the total deprivation of reason could
alone be urged as an answer. There was another
case of a most painful character, in which a man
and a woman named Ray with whom he cohabited and
who passed as his wife, were charged with the murder
of two of the children of the male prisoner, and there
appeared from the evidence in the depositions to be very
little doubt that the death of the children was the actual
result of starvation. This case was somewhat peculiar
from the position of the parties in regard to each other ;
but if it should be made to appear that proper food and
nourishment were withheld by both parties with the in-
tention to cause death, they would be amenable to the
charge of murder. If, however, they should be of opi-
nion that the intention to cause the death was not suffi-
ciently clearly established, but that the children died from
their gross neglect and inattention, in that case both
prisoners would be guilty of the crime of manslaughter,
and the rule of law that a wife was not responsible for
acts that were supposed to be committed while she was
under the control of her husband will not apply to the
present case, as the female prisoner did not staid in that
relation, and both would therefore be equally liable.
There was another case of a similar kind, where a man
and his wife were charged with the like offence upon
one of their children ; but upon a perusal of the deposi-
tions, it appeared to him that there was a good deal of
indistinctness in the evidence as to the cause of death.
There was, however, some evidence of ■light violence
and of exposure to the cold on the night previous to the
death ; and if the jury should think, upon the facts that
would be laid before them, that the case was one which
ought to be further inquired into, they would find the
bail. His lordship then made a few observations upon
one or two other oases, and the grand jury then retired.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE,--(This Day.)

SOUTHWARK.

TIN ROIMIRT AT A JEWBLLIB'S AT CLANlAlL—ilenry
Weil, Samuel Jones, and William Davie, notorious
characters, were brought before Mr. A'Beckett, charged
with being concerned with a female, and another man
in custody, in stealing a tray containing thirty gold
rings, six brooches, shawl fasteners, and other articles of
jewellery, from the premises of Mr. James Mulvany, a
jeweller, of High-street, Clapham. It may be recol-
lected that a man named Booker, and a female named
Webb, the wife of one of the above-named prisoners,
were examined on Friday last, charged with being con-
cerned in the same robbery. 1 shawl fastener was
found in the room which they were taken in, correspond-
ing with one stolen from Mr. Mulvany's on the night of
the 81st ult., the particulars of which appeared in this
paper at the time.
Dennis Clark, 108 M, said that from information he
received, he went on Friday night, between eight and
nine o'clock, to a coffee-house in the Westminster-road,
and saw the prisoners sitting together partaking of refresh-
ment. Webb had a new coat and wide-a-wake bat on,
and when told that they were suspected of robbing a
jeweller's at Clapham, they denied all knowledge of it.
Witness had received such information as to their being
connected with the robbery that he felt justified in taking
them into custody. When Police Inspector Moore took
the other two prisoners into custody, he found a silver
mounted shawl fastener in the form of an anchor, a
quantity of silk handkerchiefs, shoemakers' knives, a
plated cruet stand, and other articles, the proceeds of
different robberies ; and it was suspected that Henry
Webb at the time decamped from the place before the
officers arrived with other things stolen from Mr. Mul-
vany's. Some of the rings had been pledged, and wit-
nese asked for a remand to enable him to produce further
evidence against them.
Mr. James Mulvany said he was a jeweller in High-
street, Clapham, and on the night of the 31st ultimo his
shop was robbed of a considerable quantity of jewellery.
He identified the anchor shawl fastener produced as one
of the articles stolen.
Mr. A'Beckett asked when the other prisoners were
remanded to I
Clark replied until Wednesday next.
Mr. A'Beckett said that if such was the vase he should
remand them also until that day.

The dockyard officials at Cherbourg have received
orders to fit eut two screw liners, the Arcola and Dona-
werth, of 90 guns each, and three sailing frigates, which
are to be ready for the opening of the campaign in tke
Baltic in April next. Tke Louis, liue.of-battle ship has
also arrived at Cherbourg to be changed into a screw.
Five bomb-vessels and 12 steam gun-boats, which have
returned from the Baltic, are also to be refitted by that
, period for the same deatination.