The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-12 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—YORK, MARCH 8.
Mr. Justice Hill and Mr. Justice Blackburn
arrived at this city yesterday afternoon from Dur-
ham, and proceeded to open the commission at the
Castle and at the Guildhall, after which their lord-
ships attended Divine service at the cathedral.
This morning Mr. Justice Hill tried two city pri-
soners at the Guildhall. At 12 o'clock their lord-
ships proceeded to the Castle, Mr. Justice Black-
burn sitting on the Crown side and charging the
grand jury.
The calendar contains the names of 51 prisoners,
and of 32 persons charged with offences, out on bail.
One prisoner is charged with child murder ; the
rest with the usual variety of offences. Some of
these cases are of a character to require consider-
able time to try them, and on the whole the calen-
dar is rather a heavy one.
The Cause-list is unusually light. Up to a quar-
ter past 12—the time for completing the entry
of the first or West Riding list—only three causes
were entered ; a rush to enter all there were then
seems to have been made, as the list, when published,
containing an entry of 25 causes, of which seven
are marked for special juries. Among the bar this
is esteemed a miserable list. Rumour assigns to the
East and North Ridings list about a dozen causes.
The entry is not, however, completed until to-
morrow.

CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
Isaac Smith was indicted for setting fire to a
stack of wheat, the property of Mrs. Catherine Bar-
rett Downes, at Harewood, on the 22d Nov. last.
The Hon. A. Liddell and Mr. Lascelles prose-
cuted ; the prisoner was undefendGd.
It appeared that Mrs. Downes kept the Harewood
Arms, in the village of Harewood, and that on the
night of the 22d of November last a wheat
stack in the farm-•yard at the back of her house was
discovered to be on fire, and in spite of every exer-
tion the fire was communicated to another stack,
and both were consumed, doing damage to the
amount of about £2OO. In a building adjoining in
the same yard were 27 head of cattle, and close by
was a gasometer, and had either taken fire great
damage and destruction might have ensued. On
that night, shortly before the fire, the prisoner, who
was dressed in a long coat, was seen to leave the
yard where the stacks were, and was afterwards
seen by persons who knew him going rapidly away
in a direction from the fire. On suspicion lighting
upon him he was apprehended, and he then denied
that he had been in Harewood that night. To show
a motive and connect him with the offence it was
proved that he was a Harewood man who_had en-

fisted in the army and had been away for some
years. On the 12th Nov. he returned, accompanied
by a girl about 15 years of age, whom he repre-
sented as his wife, and on that day he stopped at
the Harewood Arms, and, unknown to Mrs. Downes,
obtained a bed from the servants for this girl and
himself. Next day he went out to look for work, and
Mrs. Downes seeing the girl sitting on the doorstep
crying, learnt from her that she had come from
Colchester with the prisoner, and that she was not
his wife, and that she had that day had nothing to
eat. Mrs. Downes fed her, and, at her expressed
wish to go back, charitably sent her to Leeds and
paid her fare from there to Colchester. On the pri-
soner returning he was told what had been done,
and that he would not be allowed to remain in the
house. He became very angry, and to a neighbour,
at whose house he had called, expressed his deter-
mination to be revenged. He was also shown to have
been in possession of a box of lucifer matches a
short time before the fire. On these facts the jury
found the prisoner guilty.
He was sentenced to 10 years penal servitude.
Wm. Minns, 40, Henry Astin, 22, and John Moor,
30, were indicted for a burglary in the dwelling-
house of the Rev. J. Wynn, the vicar of Aisgarth,
and stealing therefrom a £lO note, 10 sovereigns,
and about 30s. in silver and copper, together with
a gold seal and some other articles.
Mr. Price and Mr. Simpson prosecuted ; Mr.
Blanshard defended Moor ; the other prisoners were
not defended.

It appeared that during the night of the 4th No-
vember last the vicarage house of the Rev Mr.
Wynn was entered by a lattice window in the back
premises, and a desk containing the money stolen,
together with a quantity of papers, was removed
from the house. All was safe at night, and next
morning an errand-boy who lived in the house, on
coming down stairs, found the doors open, and that
the house had been broken into, and immediately
alarmed the housekeeper and his master. The desk,
rifled of its valuable contents, was found in a field
near the house about week after. It appeared from
the evidence of the Rev. Mr. Wynn that he had em-
ployed the prisoner Binns last summer to cut his
hay, as a harvest labourer, and had allowed him to
get his meals in the house, and while so doing he
would have an opportunity of observing Mr. Wynn
open his desk, and probably put away money there.
There were traces of only one man's feet to the
house, but the prisoners had all been seen in
company together, and there Isere circumstances-
of suspicion attaching to all ; they had also been
dealing with an amount of money men in their
station were not likely to possess. As regards Moor
the case broke down, and his Lordship directed
him to be acquitted.
The other two men were found guilty.
Sentence was deferred.

FRIDAY, MARCH 9
CROWN COURT.

(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
Michael O'Brien, aged 40, was charged with
burglary in the dwelling-house of the Rev. John
Wynn, and stealing therein one coat and about £25
in gold, and other articles, his property; .also with
assaulting the said John Winn, with intent to mur-
der him, at Nappa, on the Ist of January last.
Mr. Blanshard and Mr. Middleton prosecuted ;
Mr. Campbell Foster defended the prisoner.
The prosecutor in this case, it appeared, had had
another burglary committed in his house in No-
vember last, and the persons concerned in that bur-
glary were tried and convicted yesterday. On the
night of the 31st of December last Mr. Wynn and
his household, which consisted of one or two
women servants and a boy, retired to rest at ten
o'clock, leaving all safe. About three o'clock on
the following morning Mr. Wynn was alarmed by
his boy coming to his room and telling him that
there were some persons in the house. This in-
duced him to get up and pass along the passage to
the top of the stairs. He then heard the noise re-
ferred to by the boy, and heavy footsteps being
heard directly after upon the stairs, the boy took
refuge in his bedroom and got under the bed, while
Mr. Wynn secreted himself in a dark closet, oppo-
site his own bedroom. The burglars on arriving at
the top of the stairs first went into the servant's
bedroom and examined the boy's box and the bed,
out finding nothing of value, shortlycame out again,
and were proceeding to enter the closet when Mr.
Wynn presented himself. He then found that the'
burglars consisted of two persons, one of whom was
taller than the other, and the features of both of
whom were concealed. The taller man had in his
hand a hay spade, while the lesser man carried a lamp.
\ir.Wynn on being struck with the hay spade on the
head and severely hurt immediately grappled the
taller man, when a fierce struggle ensued, which
lasted at least 20 minutes. Several expressions
were made use of by the burglars, who called out
"Liver up, liver up, or I will give you the knife."
Blows were struck by the taller man at Mr. Wynn,
' the first of which, after providentially catching
against the door, struck and cut the prosecutor
down the forehead ; but for the blow being broken,
as described, it probably would have killed him.
As it was the prosecutor bled profusely from the
wound which he received. Later on in the struggle
the taller man again aimed a blow at the head of the
prosecutor, which he, however, received on his arm.
Eventually, finding that from loss of blood he was
getting weak, the prosecutor made a strenuous effort
to possess himself of the spade, and succeeding in
wrenching it out of the man's hands, be threw it
down stairs. Further violence was then used by both
men, and on one of the burglars threatening to use
the knife Mr. Wynn seized his hand and sustained
a cut about an inch long, as though it had beeniin-
flieted by a closed razor. The threat to give Ar.
Wynn the knife alarming him, he begged them to
give.up using violence and they should have what
they wanted. He had been knocked 4ow_n and
trampled upon, but after the above promise he was
allowed to get up and go to his room. The lesser
burglar followed and rifled the prosecutor's pockets,
while kets,
while he unlocked a drawer and gave them £23 in
gold, in an old kid glove, and some silver. They
also possessed themselves of the remainder of the
property mentioned in the charge, and then de-
camped
by way of the staircase window. After the
burglar's departure, it was found that an entrance
had been effected by taking two panes out of the
kitchen window, and that the burglars had taken
with them a top coat from the back of the dairy
door. Mr. Wynn immediately gave information of
the above circumstances to the police, and on a
search being made footmarks were found about the
house. These were traced for a distance of 400
yards, where, in a field, was found the top coat
belonging to the prosecutor, and which bad been
taken from the dairy. In the pockets of the
coat were also found a couple of razors, which
did not belong to the prosecutor. The wounds
received by the prosecutor were of a serious
character, and incapacitated him from following his
clerical duty for several weeks. Evidence was then
called to identify the prisoner with the burglary.
Mr. Wynn thought he recognised the prisoner from
his oice as being a man to whom he had given em-
ployment about three yews ago. The principal evi-
dence, however, was that of Mr. Wynn's boy, who,