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

..... 5amp.........m... _
setting fire to a stack of barley, the property of
Henry Haddon Cave, at Desborough, on Sept. 30.
Mr. Cave conducted the, prosecution ; the pri-
soner was undefended.
It appeared from the evidence that one of the
witnesses, an old man, his granddaughter, and
several others, who were returning from the Wel-
lingborough flower-shoW, passed the spot where the
stack in question was situate, and through a gap
in the stone fence of a field adjoining the stack-
yard saw a man in dark clothes carrying a light
and going towards the stack, which stood some 50
yards distant from the lane in which the witnesses
stood. When first seen the man was about five
yards from them, and both the old man and his
granddaughter, who by glimpses of the light saw
the man who carried it, believed it to have been the
prisoner, who was a near neighbour of theirs, and
whom 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 granddaughter having been home went
I with her mother to Stratford's, and while
there distinctly saw the prisoner's face leok-
ing in at the window, and on seeing them come;out
he ran round a corner and hid himself. The old
man, his granddaughter, and her mother return-ed.
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. Henry H. Cave, who was also roused at that
time by the. 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—SemonD, Dec. 9.
CRIMINAL COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Willes.)
Thomas Wilkes, 17, brick burner, was charged
with the wilful murder of John Reynolds on the
Bth of October, 1859, at Sedgley.
Mr. F. M'Mahon and Mr. S. Hill appeared for
the prosecution ; Mr. Motteram defended the pri-
soner.
It appeared 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 heershop kept by a man named Rudge, at
Sedgley. At about a quarter to 12 o'clock the men
were all turned out, and the shop was shut, but as
they had not had drink enough to satisfy them
four or five clubbed together and subscribed 6d.
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 endeavodred to get the ale, but as he
did not succeed ie 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
named Beck. Beck, who was what the witnesses
called " fresh," demanded his sixpence, but the de-
ceased said he had not got it. The deceased 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 Beck' should give him a sixpence,
and he would give him a shilling in exchange, but
as Beck 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 ratter 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 deeeaged 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
deceased, who was leaning against a wall, with his
hands in his pockets, made no answer, 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 2" The prisoner said " Nothing.'
The deceased said he was a liar, and stepped
forward as if to strike the prisoner, but he fell'
down, on some gas pipes, and . was taken up
dead. One of the witnesses named Ilarpur said
the prisoner attempted to strike another blow as the
deceased was falling; and as he was adveucing he
knocked the prisoner down. The deceased wag then
taken home, 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 tho third and fourth ribs, had pcne-
tratcd 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 lie had only struck
the deceased with a cinder, and denied that he had
used any knife ; though he 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 of 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
that Reck was "lot knocked down till after the de-
ceased 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. Motteram addressed the jury 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 )od 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
enorinity 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.
Eliza Palmer, 43, was charged with wilful and
corrupt perjury on the 25th of November, 1859, at
Wolverhampton.
Mr. G. Browne appeared for the prosecution ;
Mr. Claydon defended the prisoner.
The prisoner was a married woman, and was
charged with wilful and corrupt 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 Brett,
who had had.some keys to mend for her husband,
brought them home about half-past five in the
afternoon of Nov. 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 hor
husband what she had. seen, and he followed the
man, and had him taken
,into custody, and carried
before the magistrate. As the prisoner swore she
had seen Brett 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 this charge was made. In
order to prove the falsehood of the prisoner's evi-
dence the man Brett was called, and swore that he
did not take the watch ; but on cross-examination
he admitted that he had suffered for poaching and
aesault, and about 12 years ago he had been charged
with felony.
A little boy, named Charles Rigby, was called,
and stated that he lived near the prisoner's house,
and that a little before six o'clock on the night in
question he went into Palmer's shop and stole the
watch, and put it into the pigsty in the yard. The
next day he fetched the watch and threw the case
into the fire, and gave the inside to his mother.
After this witness was examined it transpired
that he had been brought up from prison to give
evidence, having been committed upon the charge
of stealing the watch, to take his trial at the next
sessions.
Mr. Justice Wines said that if he had been aware
of this circumstance he would not have allowed the
boy to be examined.. Ills Lordship gave directions
that the boy should. be lb
that he ought not to he
v
epuenr ifistiel.ed on bail, and said
d.
pme further evriidensoner
was,Ta s Given, and it appeared
that c larFed. with perjury
she said she was So
so confused she did not know what
she said.
Mr. Claydon, for tho prisoner, contended that
there was nothing t • show that the prisoer'sevi-
dence was false, and that the case now set up by
the prosecution was trumped up in order to free
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