The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-12 00:00:00

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`—"-7
' stack of barley) the Property of
settiter Bless t.O a
Had 'loll Cave, at Desborough, oh Sept. 30.
'.Henryf:dnduct '
Mr. Cave ,
-Idea.
goner was Ili:Ade. 'he evidence that one of tiis
ed' the prosecution ; the priz
it appeared from 1.- 1.;„ granddaughter, and
witnesses, an old man,
L_ 'lg from the el-
several others, who were return... _ot where the
lingborough Rower-show, passed &h.. .. a. ctii,
stack in question was situate, and througu . _ '
in the stone fence. of a field adjoining the Aack-
yard saw a: man in dark clothes carrying a light
a,,a going towards the stack, which stood,some 50
distant from the lane in which the witnesseS
stood. When first seen the man was 'about five
yards frail:, them, and both the old man and his
granddaughter, who by glimpses of the light saw
the man who Parried it, believed it to have been the,
prisoner, who was a near neighbour"of theirs, and
whim' they knew well. The old man went to the
house of one of his companions named Stratford,
from which place the light was seen to advance
towards ' the ' stack and disappear behind it.
The granddarghter having - been home went
with her mother to Stratford's, and while
there distinctly saw • the prisoner's fdce look-
ing in at the window, and on seeing them
The old
e out
he ran round a coiner and hid himself,
man, his.grandilaughter, and her mother returned
home, and about an hour after were roused by an
alarm of fire given by- a man who was' returning,
about 2 o'clock, from Wellingborough..
Mr. lienrylreave' who was also roused at that
tim4.‘byithe alarm . of fire; found, on reaching the
spot where his barley stack had stood, that it was
almost entirely consumed, and was burning on
every side but that fronting the lane along which
the witnesses had passed. Some evidence of menaces
by the prisoner was given.
The learned Judge summed up the evidence, and
the.jury, after deliberating an hour, returned a ver-
dict of guilty against the prisoner, who was sen-
tenced to eight years penal servitude

OXFORD CIRCUIT—STAFFORD, Dec. 9.
CRIMINAL COURT.
(Before Mr. Justic&Willes.)
Thomas Wilkes; 17, brick burner, was charged
ti sith the wilful murder of John Reynolds on the
Bth of October, 1859, at Sedgley.
Mr. F. MO.iahon and Mr. S. Hill appeared for
the prosecution ; Mr. Motteram defended the pri-
soner.
It appemsd from the evidence that on Saturday
night, the Bth of October last, the prisoner was
drinking with the deceased and several other men
at a beershop kept by a man named Rudge,
menat
Sedgley. 'At about a quarter to 12 o'clockthe
were all turned out, and the shop was
shut, but as
they had not had drink enoug
four or five clubbed together and
h t
so a
u bs
nt satisfy
subscribed
dt hmoe
d.
each, and gave the money to a man named Cox
to get five quarts_ of ale.. Cox went in company
with the deceased man Reynolds; who had not sub-
scribed, and endeavoured to get the ale, but as he
did not succeed he gave the money to the deceased,
and the latter went back to the party, and returned
,each man his sixpence, with the exception of a man
haired Beck. Beck, who was what the witnesses
called " fresh," demanded his sixpence, but the de-
ceasedsaid he had not got it. The deeeased man then
'began to chaff Beck, and said he would give him 2s.
for eighteenpence, or half-a-crown for 2s. He then
proposed that Beek' should give him a sixpence,
'and he would give him a shilling in exchange, but
as Beek had no money the prisoner, who was pre-
sent,-said he would give the deceased a sixpence
and take the shilling, and make it all right with
Beck. • Upon that, the prisoner took something
from-his pocket which he gave the deceased, and
the latter put it in his waistcoat-pocket ; but, in•
stead of giving the prisoner a shilling, the deceased
give him only a piece of gun-wadding about the
size of a shilling.. The.prisoner then said he would
not be made a fool of, and demanded the shilling
several times, but he got no answer, till at length
the deeeased used an insulting expression towards
him. The prisoner then went away with one of the
men, a distance variously stated by the witnesses
.as from 5 to. 30 yards, and again returned to the de-'
ceased and demanded his sixpence, saying several
times, Toper, will you give me my sixpence ? The
deeeased, who was- leaning against a wall, with his
hands in his pockets, made nhanswer, and the pri-
soner_ stood for some time insisting on having his
money back, till the deceased again nsed the
same expression. The prisoner thereupon lifted
up his right hand and struck the deceased a blow on'
the left breast. :The deceased said, " What have you
struck me with.'" The prisoner said " Nothing.'
The deceased . said he v,'as a liar, and stepped
forward as if-to strike the prisOner, but he fell
down, on some gas pipe's; and. was taken up
dead. One of the witnesses '.named Harpur said
the prisoner attempted to strike another blow as the
deceased was falling ; and as he was advancing he
knocked the prisoner down. The deceased was then
taken hoine,and it was discovered that his death had
been caused by a stab in the heart. The instrument
had pierced the clothes of the deceased, and, pass-
ing.between the thirdmnd fourth ribs, had pene-
trated the pericardium of the heart, and entered
three-quarters of an inch into the heart, and so
caused immediate death. The prisoner, when
charged with the murder, said he had only struck
the deceased with a cinder, and denied that he had
used any knife ; though ho admitted that he
had a clasp knife, which he throw on to the top
of a cupboard in his mother's house just before
he went to bed. The knife was found on the top
of the cupboard under some herbs, and, according
to the evidence of the policeman who found it, it
had marks of blood upon the haft. It appeared
that_both the prisoner and the deceased were sober,
though one witness said he was betwixt and be•
tween, but several of the party were " fresh,", and,
-according to one witness, just before the fatal blow
was struck the man Beck had been knocked doWn
by Harpur. Several ate the party were fighting
men, and, as they had been drinking together for
several hours, their account of the transaction was'
not very consistent, one of the witnesses stating
‘:tlaat•Reck was not knocked down till after the de-
Ceaead-fell. It alSo appeared that some of the party
had robbed an old woman's shop of some pig pud-
dings, which-they had eaten together.
Mr. Motteiaria addressed theaiiry'for the prisoner,.
and contended that, considering the 'provocation he
had received, the prisoner could only be found
guilty of manslaughter.
Several' witnesses were called; who gave the pri-
soner a very g sad character.
-Mr. Justice Willes, in summing up, explained to
the jury the 'difference between murder and man-
slaughter, and left it to them to say whether the
prisoner--was guilty of the one or the other.
The jury found the prisoner -Guilty of man-
slaughter, and
Mr. Justice Willes; after some observations on the
enormity of the crime, said that, taking into Con-
sideration the prisoner's youth and the character he
•had receiVed, the sentence Would' be 10 years' penal
''servitude. •1
Eliza Palmer, 43, was charged with wilful and
corrupt perjury on the 25th of November, 1859, at
Wolverhainpton.
Mr. G. Browne appeared for the prosecution;
Mr. Claydon defended the prisoner.
The prisoner was a married woman, and was
charged with wilful and cerrupt.perjury, alleged to
have been committed before Mr. Leigh, the stipen-
diary magistrate --at Wolverhampon, on Oct. 25
last. She stated that a man named William Bratt,
who had had some keys to mend for her husband,
brought, them home about half-past five in the
afternoon of 23;and that as he went Away
she saw him take her husband's watch off a nail
in his shop, put it 'into his right hand trousers
,pocket, and walk away. She immediately told her.
husband what she had seen, and he followed the
.ma:n, and, had him taken into custody, and carried
before the magistrate. As the prisoner swore she
had seen Bratt take the watch, he was committed,
but in consequence of information which afterwards
came to the knowledge of the magistrate, he was
liberated on bail, and thi.3 charge was made. In
order to prove the falsehood of the prisoner's evi-
dence the man Bratt was called, and swore that he
did not take the watch; but on cross-examination
he admitted that he had suffered for poaching and
assault, and- about 12 years ago he had been charged
with felony.
A little boy, named Charles- Rigby', was called,.
and stated that holived near the prisoner's house;
and that a little before six o'clock on the night in
question he went into Palmer's shop Mid stole the
watch, and put it into the pigsty in the yard. The
nexb day hefetched the watch and threw the case
into the fire, and gavotheinside to IC.s mother.
After this witness was examined it transpired
that he -had been •breught-- -up •from prison to give
evidence, having been committed upon the charge
of stealing the watch, to take his thal at the next
Sessions.
Mr. Justice Wines said that if he had been aware ,
of this circumstance he would not hare allowed the '
boy to be examined. His Lord Ship gave directions
that the boy-Should be liberated on bail, and said
t.hastohmeecrniargthhterneetvitaco. °
wasbe polished.
and
it
appeared when the Prisoner vas.
she said she was so con'
given,
with perjury
confused she did not know what
esr. said:
Mr. for the prisoner,
the prisoner's
that
that ,thate e
a%leenion-owi s_er to free.o
snecti. 'us
peNbiy-
dtlei enic-oe, was
.n
false,i andt • showshowi
rd
the prosecution was trumped up in
Bratt from-the charge.
Several' witnesses gave the prisoner a good
character.
The jury found' the prisoner guilty.
Mr. Justice Willes said-he had. no doubt the pri-
soner suspected the man, but not having evidence to