The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-04 00:00:00

tape at Bridgmere. He was In gr eat danger. I
remained two hours with him, wic7. attended him till
his death. There was no hope or his recovery.
The deceased was informed of hi .s state. He was
shot in the lower part of his boN vels on the right
side. He died on the Monday fol. lowing.
Peter Edward Farrars, clerk to _Messrs. Brough-
ton and Speakwell, went to Berr ington's farm on
the morning of the 28th of Nov, amber, and found
the body of Geach, and Maddocl Ls wounded. He
seemed very ill, and said he was afraid he should
never get better. Witness sent l!'cir Mr. Akroyd, a
magistrate, and the deceased's stai;e: ment was taken.
The words were deceased's own, it was read over
to him, and he swore to the truth o: fit.
The man's dying declaration wan then put in. It
ran thus :
" Last night, the 27th of November, I and others went
out to watch. About two o'clock James was with me, we
saw four men running through the wcK they went to-
wards the pit, but could not get any further. We ad-
vanced to them, one of them fired at na e when five yards
off, the other fired at Beach, who fell dt !ad. I could not
see the men distinctly. They were dressed in velveteen
coats ; one was rather taller than the otht r. They gave us
no warning at all."
Charles Laxton, superintendent Df police for the
Nantwich district, went to Danks ?s house on the
Sunday morning. He searched t, and found a
gun. Had directed search to be m ade for both the
prisoners, but failed in discovering them. He gave
the gun to Lovett, the gunsmith.
John Lovett, a gunsmith at Nan Ltwich, received
the gun from Laxton. He examined it. It had
been recently discharged. [Some shot was placed
in the witness's hands.] It is very -much deformed,
but looks about No. 4. [Some more shot, taken
from Geach's body, was produced .1 It appears a
larger size, No. 3 I should think . The one shot
found in Geach's heart is smaller than either of the
others.
The proof of the gun being in the same state as
when it was found closed the case .for the prosecu-
tion.
His Lordship then adjourned the. Court until the
next morning.

SATURDAY, APRIL :2.
The trial was resumed this n 'inning at nine
o'clock.
Mr. Morgan Lloyd addressed th e jury in defence
of the prisoners, and contended th at the fact relied
upon by the prosecution, that Bo ]ton's gun being
loaded with No. 1 shot conclusi• vely proved his
guilt, had failed, inasmuch as the shot found in
Maddocks' body was shown to be No. 3. The
learned gentleman animadverted severely on the
testimony of Malkin and Lear, the approvers, who
were on their own showing mena pers of the party
who killed the unfortunate man, . and who, instead
of being put on their trial for a n offence which
would have subjected them to ten years' penal ser-
vitude, had been summarily convii 3ted by the magi-
strates in order that they might give evidence in
the case. As to Oakes, the main -Rillar of the pro.
secution, a man continually in pr i.son from fifteen
years of age, Mr. Lloyd designate d him " as a com-
pound of human depravity, era wling along the
ground, ready to betray his comrad es," and strongly
urged that he was utterly unwortl iy of belief.
The learned judge summed up w ith great minute-
ness and at considerable length, at id
The jury, having retired, returi ied after an ab-
sence of 40 minutes with a verdict of guilty against
both prisoners.
His lordship put on the black et el), and speaking
almost inaudibly from the excite] vent of his feel-
ings, said,—Richard Bolton and J( )hn Danks, after
a long, pains-taking and careful ti ial, the jury who
have considered your case have found you both
guilty of wilful murder, a verdict • fully warranted
by the evidence in the case and leaving no doubt
on my mind, nor can it leave on t he minds of any
one who heard it, any doubt that ; each of you are
guilty. I do not wish to enlarge upon the enormity
of the crime. Wilfully and deliberately you sent
two of your fellow-creatures before their God, giv-
ing them no notice of the act you v vere about to per-
petrate, but you shot them wilful] y and knowingly
murdered them both, and for the murder of one of
them I have now to pass sentence up( m you. Your days
are numbered, and you have now ly at a short time to
live, the rest of your time in this: world you will
count by hours, and shortly by minutes. Think
seriously, then, of the position you stand in : reflect
that you will be speedily called on. to appear before
that God whom you have so grievously offended. I
entreat you to indulge no hope that mercy will be
extended to you in this world, an I. I entreat you to
humble yourselves in penitence be afore God, to con-
fess your sins to him, and to seek his pardon by the
only atonement you can make. Attend to the
instruction you will receive ere th e sentence of the
law shall be finally carried out. It is now my
painful duty to conclude by passing ; sentence on you
that you be severally taken hence to—
Danks at this moment fell forward with his face

upon the front of the dock. 'Me turnkeys sup-
ported him, and when he had rceovercd his con-
sciousness the learned Judge pa ssed sentence of
death in the usual terms.
Danks was removed in a fainting state, but Bolton,
who exhibited great firmness throughout the trial,
walked from the dock with a comloosed step.
In the course of the day, in sentencing a man for
passing bad halfcrowns at Birkenhead, Mr. Justice
Hill stated that the judges had unanimously come
to the conclusion that on a second conviction for
uttering false coin they would invariably inflict the
punishment of penal servitude.