The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-21 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT, June 20.

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Coleridge.)
Bernardo Henriquez, 23, a Spanish seaman, was in-
dicted for the wilful murder of Vessiel Calliger.
Mr. W. Smith prosecuted ; Mr. Cooper was counsel
for the prisoner.

The evidence in this case was explained to the Court
and jury through the medium of an interpreter and so
far as the facts could be ascertained, it appeared that the
transaction which was the subject of inquiry took place
in a sailors' lodging.house at the East-end of the town,
and according to the evidence for the prosecution, after
a scuffle had taken place between a man who was in
company with the prisoner and another foreigner, dur-
ing which blows were exchanged, the deceased, who
was playing at cards with another foreigner, suddenly
got up from his seat and ran towards the prisoner, evi-
dently with the intention of doing him some violence,
upon which it appeared he drew a very formidable
knife acd stabbed him in the belly, thereby inflicting an
injury of which he died a few hours afterwards. It ap•
peared that during the fray the prisoner himself received
some injury in the face, and he asserted that this injury
had been inflicted viy the deceased.
Mr. Cooper addressed the jury with a good deal of ear-
nestness on the part of the prisoner, and he contended
that upon the facts before them they would belierfectly
justified in saying that the prisoner was guilty of the
crime of manslaughter only.
The learned judge having summed up, and called the
attention of the jury to the absence of any evidence of
provocation to justify the act committed by the priso-
ner, and so to reduce the crime to manslaughter,
The jury, after a short deliberation, found the prisoner
guilty of murder, but recommended him to mercy on
account of his being a foreigner.
Mr. Justice Coleridge, after a short delay, put on the
b'ack cap, and passed formal sentence of death • and
the prisoner, who evidently understood very little of
what was going on, left the bar loudly protesting his
innocence, avid declaring that he was the injured party.
James Moore, 40, a little humpbacked man, was in•
dieted for feloniously sett!ng fire to a workshop, with in-
tent to injure George Sinken.
Mr. Platt prosecuted. The prisoner was defended
by Mr. Langford.
This case was of a somewhat peculiar character. It
appeared that the prisoner occupied a portion of a house
in Little Earl-street, Seven-dials, which belonged to the
prosecutor, and that on the night mentioned in the in-
dictment the premises were discovered to be on fire, and
it was with a considerable deal of difficulty that some
of the inmates, and among them the daughter and wife
of the prisoner, escaped with their lives. There was no
direct evidence whatever against the prisoner, but it ap-
peared that very shortly atter toe fire occurred he went
up to a police constable in Bow-street and said that he
had set Mr. Sinker's place on fire, and gave him a letter
to the prosecutor to that effect. It was elicited, in cross-
examination, that the prisoner was addicted to drunken
habits, and that be had been " on the drink," as it is
termed, for a fortnight before the fire occurred.
Mr. Langford upun these facts endeavoured to show
that the prisoner had falsely accu,ed himself of the crime
under the influence of liquor, and that in the absence of
any positive testimony to prove his guilt he was entitled
to be acquitted.

The fury returned a verdict of guilty, and the pri-
soner was sentenced to be imprisoned and kept to hard
lahour for two years.

POLICE INTELLIGENC E.—June 20.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.--A well-dressed, gen-
tlemanly, middle-aged man was brought to this court,
charged with creating a disturbance at the shop of
Messrs. Atkinson, perfumers, Old Boncleitreet. The de-
fendant, as soon as he was placed in the dock, clapped
on his head a oro Am paper boenet, hind part before.
Mr. Leadley (the chief clerk)—Wbat is your name ?
Defendant—Name ! My name is Norval on the
Grampian fills. What's in a name I A rose by any
other name will smell as sweet as—sugar candy. But
joking apart, old fellow, don't make me laugh, and I'll
41: you my name ; it's Pudding-and-Tame ; ask me again
and I'll tell you it's Nathaniel Godbold Muston, No. 8,
Wellington-terrace, gentleman.
Mr. Balderstone, surgeon, who had been sent for to
give an opinion as to the condition of the intellect of
the defendant, intimated to the magistrate, Mr. Beadr,n,
there could be no doubt the defendant was not in his ra-
tional senses.

Defendant—You mean, sir, I am mad • so they said
Fergus O'Connor was, poor fellow, when he was no
m .re mad than I am.

Mr. Low stated that the defendant entered the shop,
and by his antics caused much confusion, and he
also alarmed one of the ladies in the shop by lay-
ing hold of her arm and addre,sing her in a strain of
peculiar familiarity.—Defendant : Alarm a lady—what,
I ! Oh, no ; I should have been afraid she would have
whipped me with her hair, which is nothing else than
scorpions, serpents, and centipedes.—Mr. Balderstone
being of opinion that the predisposing causes of the
malady under which the defendant evidently laboured
arose from intemperate habits, and that he was not fit to
be at large, Mr. Beadon directed that the defendant
should be taken to St. George's workhouse for the pur-
pose of security.--The defendant having concluded some
fragments of a popular ditty, came round and begged to
shake hands with the magistrate. Mr. Beadon good-
naturedly offered his band, which the defendant kissed
with much reverence, and after offering the seine mark
of regard to several others in court, was taken to the
workhouse.