The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-11 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

A SINGULAR Casr.—At the Middlesex Sessions, a man
was tried for stealing 30ft. of zinc. A curious feature in
the case was that the thief offered it for sale to the owner
himself unknowingly. lie was sentenced to four months'
hard labour.

THE VACCINATION QUESTION.—At Bow-street Police
Court, on Friday, a poor woman, the mother of six
children, applied to the magistrate for advice. She had
taken her youngest child to the public vaccinator for the
district, and it had since been very ill, being, it was said,
poisoned by the vaccine matter. The child was
produced in court, nad presented a miserable appearance.
The magistrate directed that the vaccinator should
be sent for, and an inquiry instituted. Dr. Bennett
the public vaccinator, said the child had been vaccinated
in his absence by his assistant. Owing to the recent
discussions in the papers, mothers new attributed every
ailment to the vaccination. Mr. Vaughan said that
if the condition of the child in court was caused by that,
there was no wonder at the reluctance of mothers to
have the operation performed, and magistrates could
hardly punish them for it. Dr. Bennett undertook to
attend to the child,
SHAM PLATE INSURANCE COMPANIES.—The managers of
the sham plate glass insurance companies were on
Friday brought up at Marlborough street Police-
station for further examination. Several witnesses
were called, who gave evidence of the ingenuity
with which the prisoners had defraudel them, and they
were again remanded. Mr. Knox advised the parties who
had charges against them to meet and engage a solicitor
to take up the matter, as it could not be expected that
he should undertake the duties of a public prosecutor, and
each of the prisoners had a solicitor.
DECISION UNDER TIII NEW BEERLIOUSE ACT.—At
Clerkenwell, on Friday, William Roy, who keeps a beer-
house in Clerkenwell, was summoned for opening his
house before 5 a.m. The defendant was prosecuted under
the old Act for unlawfully opening his house before 5
a.m., but it seemed that he should have been proceeded
against under the new Act for suffering beer to be drunk
in his house within prohibited hours. The magistrate
said he could not allow the police to amend the summons,
but they ought now to be careful under which Act they
proceeded. lie must dimiss this summons, but if it had I
ben taken under the new Act, the result might hare been
different.

SERIOUS CIT A ROE AGAINST THE
BEPICSIIIRE POLICE.

The cross-summonses against Inspector Mansell.
Police-constable Gould, and a man named Wellman, in
which Police constable Webb was complainant, has been
proceeded with before the Wallingford borough bench.
The proceedings caused great excitement, and lasted from
eleven o'clock in the morning till eight in the evening.
Jane Webb, who gave the most graphic description of the
assault, said she heard a scuffle and recognised her husband's
voice, and went down to see what was going on. She saw
her husband lying on the ground, near Messrs. Pettitt's
private door. Mansell was on his chest, Gould on his
stomach, and Wellman on his legs. She saw Mansell
get hold of his head, and strike it against the pave-
ment as violently as he could. Then they carried him
into the guard-room, laid him on the ground, and searched
him, and afterwards carried him into the cell. She then
heard Mansell send Gould for a cord, and she followed
Gould in, and saw them tie her husband's legs. She
also saw Mansell kneel on him and strike him, and she
called him either a rascal or a brute. They left him in
the cell with his legs tied, weltering in his blood. Between
four and five in the morning she got up, and called out
to know whether he was alive or dead. When she took
him something to eat she saw two large pools of blood on
the floor, two patches on the walls, and one on the
mattress. The collar of his coat was covered with blood,
his hair was matted, he had two black eyes, and his nose
was swollen to a terrible size. There were bruises on his
throat. He had two large marks on the thick of his arm,
and his shoulders were bruised. Ho had also been kicked
on the bottom of his back. Her husband was locked up
early on Friday morning, and liberated on Saturday after-
noon. Inspector Mansell's solicitor declined to cross-
examine this witness, and the facts were substantiated by
other testimony. The same evidence was given against
Gould and Wellman, and Mr. Smith made a short speech in
defence. The court was then cleared and the magistrates were
in deliberation for upwards of an hour. During this time
the ball became filled with persons anxiously awaiting the
verdict, and the excitement rose to such apitch that, upon
the council chamber door being thrown open, a cheer was
raised in anticipation of the popular decision. The
council chamber was filled almost instantly, when the
Mayor stated that they found Webb guilty of drunken-
ness, and fined him 10s„ and lls. Q. costs. The summons
brought against him by Wellman they dismissed. It gave
them very great pain to inflict the highest penalty in their
power upon Inspector Mansell, who would be fined £5,
;ncludiug costs. The summonses against Gould and
Wellman were dismissed. Loud cheers were then raised,
which NTere renewed as Mr. Merriman left the hall; and
an adverse reception was given to Inspector Mansell,
Gould, and particularly Wellman, who was followed by a
crowd of 200 people, and hooted through the streets.
The mob also made an attack upon Wellman's cottage, in
Leonard's-lane, smashed the windows, charged the door
with brickbats, and made a breach in it some inches in
width. The greatest excitement prevailed, but fortunately
no personal damage was inflicted.

A report from the Select Committee cn the Scotch
Poor Law has just been published in a Blue-book of GOC
pages, and the committee recommend that they should be
re-appointed next session "to continuo the inquiry."

Sir E. W. Watkin, the Liberal candidate for the
representation of East Cheshire, addressed a meeting on
Thursday in the town-hall, Macclesfield. He said that the Irish
land question ought to be carefully inquired into, and, so
far as need bo, it ought to be dealt with. lie admitted
that the question was a very delicate one, because,
in whatever wo did, wo must not interfere unjustly
with the rights of property. If they once touched the f un-
danwntal rights w Melt protected that which belonged to
man, they would in the end do more injury to the weak than
to the strong. No predicted, from all he saw and 'now,
that the time was not far ditAant when there would bo at
much l eaco and contentment in Ireland as there was in
Cheshire.

The DirmiityLam Gazette publishes a statement to
the effcct that Mr. Sheridan's connection with the Albert
Life Oflico is the cause of a strong feeling in Dudley. A
section of the public desire that a public meeting
should be at once called, and Mr. Sheridan requested
to resign. Another section think that Mr. Sheridan
should be beard before any action is taken, and a third
section are willing to wait until matters aro further de-
veloped. It was stated last night, but upon uncertain
authority, that the member had been communicated with,
and that ho would attend any meeting which the town
may call, to considor his share in the transactions of the
coupaoy. ,