The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-18 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—LIVERPOOL Aua. 17.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Baron Pollock.)
John Downhant, aged 33, sharebroker, was indicted for
having, as a broker, agent, or bailee, been intrusted with
certain railway scrip, shares, and transfers belonging to one
Thomas Kay, and fraudulently converted the same to his
own use. A second count charged him with fraudulently
converting the proceeds of the same shares to his own use.
Mr.. Fernley and Mr. Hoikar prosecuted, and Mr. Sowler,
Q.C., and Mr. Brett deferded the prisoner.
It appeared that the prisoner was a sharebroker at Bury,
and about the middle of Jan. last the prosecutor,Thos. Kay,
sent to him two and a half £lOO sharesof the Great Northern
Railway Co., three £lO preference shares, and three £7 10s.
preference shares, in the same company, for sale, telling him to
sell the shares le the market for the best price he could get,
and gave him the scrip. Soon afterwards he received a letter
from him informing him that he had succeeded in selling
the stock for £314. He called afterwards and saw the pri-
soner, who said he would settle with him, but he did not.
lie said, "he had not received the money himself as yet."
Prosecutor could get no settlement with the prisoner, and
in March he obtained from him an I 0 U for £307, the price
of the shares, less commission, which he took as good evi-
dence of the debt, and he then said he had various other
transactions, and had taken the prosecutor's money to dis-
charge them. He afterwards gave prosecutor an order on a
person named Grundy,
who had' some property in a building
club in which the prisoner interest,Grundystaoidpahye tchoeutrioisleo-t
cutor the amount due to
him.
comply with it, and that proserocsuetcourtmorusrtecfreed,inawntiithotehne
other creditors. This the p
brought his case before the tnag
i'Sfrostees Act. It appeared
magistrates,
'Trustees
committed the
prisoner under the Fraudulent
that the prosecutor had hirnself siglnjaesdert.he transfer, and the
stock was handed over to the purc
Ills Lordship thought there was an end of the case as to
the misappropriation of the scrip.
It was then proposed to show that the prisonbei, r
and
dd
bracd-
eel-led the money for which the scrip was so
misappropriated it. To prove this it was
proposed to put in
an account book of the prisoner's containing an admission
of the reeept of the money, and the clerk of the prisoner's
attorney was called to prove that notice to produce the ac •
count book was served upon him, in order to give secondary
evidence of the account.
Hie Lordship thought this would not do. How could a
felon appoint an attorney? He could not appear by
attorney.
Mr. Fernley asked the witness if the notice was shown to
the prisoner at the bar
His Lordship refused to allow the question to be answered.
It would be a breach of confidence between the attorney and
his client to answer P.
Mr. Fernley said be could carry the cue no farther.

could not show that the money came to the prisoner's
hands.
His Lordship said, it appeared to him that the charge of
selling the stock itself was disproved; there must, there-
fore, be a verdict of not guilty.
The jnry thereupon, by his Lordship's direction, acquitted
the prisoner.
Mr. Sowler said it would be satisfactory to the jury to
state that he had the late high sheriff and a crowd of wit-
nesses from Bury to speak to the prisoner's character.
His Lordship—l think, in all probability, Mr. Kay wenld
like his money very much better than the prisoner's cha-
racter.
Another charge against the prisoner was postponed till
next assizes, and he was discharged on his own recognisances.
Michael Ware was indicted for ttle wilful murder of Wm.
Schoningen, at Liverpool, on the Slat of March last.
There was also a second count charging the crime as man-
slaughter.

Mr. Aspinall and Mr. E. M. Fenwick appeared for the
prosecution ; the prisoner was undefended.
From the statement of the learned counsel it appeared
that the unfortunate deceased bad gone with three shipmates
to a casino and dancing house in Blundell-street, Liverpeol,
on the night of the 31st March last, and after remaining
there some time, in company with various prostitutes and
sailors, the deceased and the prisoner commenced chaffing
each other as to their " Yankee" origin. This led to high
words and altercation between them, and one of the women
observed the prisoner pull a knife from his belt and place it
in his left breast under his coat. About this time the two
men had separated, but shortly afterwards they passed each
other again in the room, when some further provoking re-
marks passed between them, upon which the deceased struck
the prisoner on the left side of his face, aed the latter imme-
diately, drawing the knife from his breast, stabbed Schonin-
gen to the heart. The deceased fell back into the arms of a
shipmate, and expired in a few minutes. The prisoner was
then surrounded by Schoningen's friends, and after much
struggling, in which be contrived to inflict wounds upon
two or three of them, he was followed into the street, and
ultimately captured by a policeman, who picked up the
knife wet with blood within a few yards from the spot where
he had taken him.
The waitress at the casino deposed that she had witnessed
the quarrel from the very first, and fearing that some mis-
chief would take place, had called in the landlord, who re-
monstrated with the men and parted them, and she and her
master had scarcely turned their backs before the fatal en-
counter took place.
Upon the part of the prisoner two women who were pre-
sent at the rooms were called, both of whom testified to the
great provocation the prisoner had experienced, and the
violent blow which he bad received from the deceased upon
his face.
The learned Chief Baron having intimated that the charge
according to the evidence, was clearly that of manslaughter
only, proceeded to sum up the evidence to the jury, who
found the prisoner guilty of the minor charge.
His Lordship having severely admonished the prisoner
upon the use of the knife, in alluding to the provocation he
had experienced, ordered him to be imprisoned for six ca-
lendar months, with hard labour.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—BRISTOL, TCESDAY.
(Before Mr. Baron Channel! and a Common Jury.)
ENGLESTAEF V. 1100 G.

Mr. M. Smith and Mr. Karslake were counsel ftr the
plaintiff, and Mr. Collier and Mr. Coleridge for the de-
fendant. _ . _ _

This was an acticn to recover damages against the de-
fendant for negligently running his barque against the trot
of the plaintiff, whereby serious damage was sustained. The
transaction took place in what was called the Drain, leading
into the Bute Docks, at Cardiff. The only question was as
to which party was in fault.
After a trial which lasted part of yesterday and to-day.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages £lOl.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.-Aug. 17.

OLD COURT.
(Before the Common Sergeant.)

John Shire, 32, was charged with stealing eight sove-
reigns, the property of George James Peers.
Mr:Sleigh conducted the prosecution. The prisoner was
defended by Mr. Pearce.
It appeared that the prosecutor was in the service of Mr.
Lyons, a tailor in Fleet-street, and that the prisoner had
been in the service of a brother of Mr. Lyons, who also
carried on the business of a tailor, and that they had
been acquainted with each other for several years. On
the morning on which the rubbery in question was
alleged to have been committed, it appeared that
the prisoner was passing Mr. Lyons' shop in Fleet-
street, when the prosecutor sent the boy to fetch
him in, and, after some conversation, they went to
a public-house together and had some ale. They
then went back to the shop, and shortly afterwards went to
another public-house, where they had more ale, and also
some gin and bitters ; and they made an arrangement to
dine together at the Bell public-house in Fleet-street, and
the dinner was ordered to be ready at two o'clock. They
then, it appeared, left the public-house to return to the
shop, and as they were crossing the street the prisoner
asked the prosecutor to have a pinch of snuff, and he offered
him some in a paper, and the prisoner then accompanied
him to the door of the shop and left him. According to the
evidence of the prosecutor, the moment he got into the
shop he became insensible, and felt as though some powerful
narcotic had been administered to him, and he remained in
that position for some time. The prisoner, it appeared,
went to the shop to inquire for the prosecutor while he was
insensible, and he went into the counting-house where the
prosecutor had been placed, when it was alleged on the part
of the prosecution that he took this opportunity of rifling the
pockets of the prosecutor of the money mentioned in the in-
dictment. The prisoner went away, and upon the prose-
cutor coming to himself he discovered that his waistcoat
had been unbuttoned, and his cash pocket turned
inside out, and that a!1 the money he had upon him
except Id. had been stolen. It appeared in the course of
the inquiry that the prisoner had been in the service of the
brother of Mr. Lyons nearly to the time of this transaction,
that ke bad brought an action against his mns'er for
wrongfully dismissing him from his service, and that he bad
obtained a verdict with damages against him in July last.
It also appeared that the prosecutor did not give any infor-
mation respecting the robbery until the following morning,
and that he did not then take any steps to have the prisoner
apprehended, but it seemed that the prisoner was given into
custody a day or two after the transaction by the prosecu-
tor's wife.

Mr. l'earce, in his address to the jury for the prisoner,
remarked upon the singular character of the case, and he
called a number of respectable witnesses, who gave ne pri-
soner an excellent character. Ooe of the witnesses also
stated that about the time the charge of robbery was made
against the prisoner be was about entering into partnership
with a person named Brett, to carry on the business of
tailors in Fleet-street, near the shop of Mr. Lyons, and it was
suggested that this had something to do with the present
charge.
The Common Sergeant having summed up the whole of
the evidence very carefully, the jury at once returned a
verdict of not guilty.
There was an attempt at applause when the verdict was
pronounced, which was checked, and the prisoner was
ordered to be immediately discharged.

NEW COURT.
(Before Mr. Prendergast, Q.C.)

Michael Butler, 18, plasterer, and John Godfrey, 27,
smith, were indicted for passing counterfeit coin.
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Poland prosecuted, and Mr. Phil-
lips defended.
The circumstances of this case were somewhat uncommon
owing to the manner in which the prisoners were detected.
It appeared that about half-past 12 upon the morning of
the 8111 of last month, the prisoners were observed loitering
I about near the shop of a grocer named Hall, carrying on
buoiness in Wardour-street, and he not liking their appear-
ance wa'ched them for about a quarter of an hour, when
they went away. About three o'clock upon the same
! afternoon Mr. Hall was in the Strand, near the
j Adelphi Theatre, when, seeing the prisoner God-
frey waiting bout, he watched and soon saw
i the prisoner Butler come up anti join him, and they went
tngether as far as the Exeter Hall Hotel, where the prisoner
Butler went in and Godfrey went up Exeter-street. Mr.
Hall then went into the hotel, and there saw Butler having
soave beer. Mr. Hall then returned to the street, and find-
ing Godfrey still waiting, again went into the hotel, and
having asked the barmaid to show him what money Butler
had given her, found it to be a bad shilling. Mr. Hall then
et Butler, and seeing him join Godfrey and walk up
into Exeter-street, he returned into the Strand, and, meet-
ing a policeman, directed him to go one way, whilst he (Mr.,
Hatl) went the other, and both trisoners were adroitly cc-
cured, after some resistance, in Exeter-street.
They were both convicted and sentenced to nine months'
itnprisonment.