The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-24 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

On Saturday evening an inquisition was taken
before Mr. STIRLING and a highly respectable jury,
at the sign of the Three Jolly Gardeners, at Ham-
mersmith, on the body of Joseph Levens,Esq. aged
74, a gentleman of independent fortune, of No. 27,
Leicester-square, who came by his death in the fol-
lowing dreadful manner :
Mr. Charles Porter, a maltster at Hammersmith,
stated, that on Tuesday evening, between seven and
eight o'clock, he was standing near the Red Cow at
Hammersmith, when he saw the deceased walking
on the footpath towards London. A Windsor stage
coach was coming along the road in the same d.rec-
tion, and the deceased stepped from the footpath
into the road, for the purpose of stopping the coach.
He had scarcely got into the road when a gentle-
man and a lady in a gig drove past the stage-coach
on the wrong side of the road, and knocked the de-
ceased down, and the wheel went over him. Wit-
ness called out to the gentleman to stop, but lie did
not attend to it, and drove on. 'Witness went up:
to the deceased, and, having got assistance, they
conveyed him on a shutter to the workhouse, in
order that lie might have every attention paid to him.
By the Jury—The gentleman in the gig appeared
to be sober. The deceased was perfectly sober.
cannot say whether it was done by accident or not.
I do not think that the gentleman in the gig had
time to pull up It was rather dark at the time, and
I cannot say whether the gentleman tried to pull up
the horse or not. The gentleman was afterwards
stopped by some persons.
CORONER—At what rate did the gentleman ap-
pear to be driving ? Witness—l should think at
the rate of between 8 and 9 miles an hour.
CORONER—Do you think there was sufficient room
for the gentleman to have passed without injuring
the deceased ? Witness—There was plenty of room,
the road is very wide where the accident happened.
The stage-coach was in the centre of the. road, and
there was room for him to have passed on either side.
CORONER—Do you think the gentleman saw the
deceased ? Witness—Yes, he did, and I heard him
call out to him, but not in time for him to get out
of the way.
Richard Wood, a police constable, of the G divi-
sion, No. 122, stated that he was on duty on Tues-
day evening. About 10 minutes past 7 o'clock, he
heard a shouting, and went to the place,' and found
that several gentlemen had stopped a gig, and were
persuading a gentleman to get out of his gig and go
and see wliat injury he had done, but he refused and
said it was of no consequence. Witness insisted
upon his going or giving him his address. He then
gave his address, Mr. Mullins, No. 13, Hadlow-
street, Brunswick-square. He did not appear to be
at all sorry for what had occurred, and was quite
unconcerned.

CORONER—Did he make any remarks to you ?
\Viness—He said that if it had been the King and
Queen he would have gone over them in the same
manner.
Juror—How fur could you see before you P
Witness—About 60 yards. The sergeant of police
desired me to go to town with Mr. Mullins, to see
that the address was correct, and I found it right.
Lergeant Lang of the T division, No. 17, stated

that he went up after the gig bad stopped, and
heard him say, " I should like to lay hold of the
fellow that collared me, and I would twist his nose
off." A gentleman who was present gave witness
his address, and said that if death occurred he would
attend the inquest, as all such persons ought to be
punished.
CORoNER—Did you hear Mr. Mullins say any
thing else ? Witness—Yes; I heard him say that if
it had been WilliamlV. he would have gone over him.
George Hadge, Esq., of No. 36, Devonshire-
street, Portland-place, stated, that he was on the
ourside.of the Windsor coach on Tuesday evening.
He called out to the gentleman in the gig that he
had run over a person, but he took no notice, and
drove on. Witness got off the coach and ran after
him, and with some difficulty he was stopped. He
requested him to get out of the gig and go back, for
he hal run over a gentleman. He refused, and said
he did not care, and that if he had been William IV.
he would have run over him. Witness told a po-
liceman either to get his address or take care of him.
Witness then went to assist the deceased, and after
seeing him taken care of, he went back to the gig,
and heard the gentleman making use of language re-
specting, the Kng and Queen.
CORONER—Doyou not think you are mistaken as
to the words used by the gentleman ? Witness—l
am positive I am not.

CORONER—I can hardly think that any man
would make use of such language towards a fellow-
creature. Do you not think his words were, "If
it had been William IV., I could not have helped
running over him ?" Witness—Certainly not.
Juror—Will you have the kindness to repeat the
words again relating to the King ? Witness—lf
King William IV. had been there, 'I would have run
over him under the same circumstances.

Juror—What was the impression on your mind
when you heard such words made use of Witness—
I must confess that those words caused me to tell the
police to take care of him, as I thought it very
strange language.
Juror—Was there room for the gig to pass with-
out touching the deceased ? Witness—Yes, plenty
of room.

Mr. Thomas Robinson Bowling, surgeon, stated
he was called in on Tuesday evening to attend the
deceased. He had a bruise on the forehead and
nose, and a severe wound on the inside of the left
knee; the right foot was also fractured, and there
was also concussion of the brain, and he had several
injuries about his body. He bled him, and did
every thing possible fer him, but he got worse,
and died on Friday evening from the injuries he had
received.

The CORONER inquired if Mr. Mullins was pre-
sent ? The beadle said he was not; Mr. Mullins
had not sent to Hammersmith to inquire after the
deceased.

A son of the deceased was present, and appeared
greatly affected; he said that Mr. Mullins had not
made any inquiries at his father's residence.

.
The CORONER now recapitulated the evidence,
and observed, that if the Jury were of opinion that
the unfortunate occurrence had been through neg-
lect, they would return a verdict of manslaughter ;
on the contrary, if they were of opinion that it was
done by accident, they would return a verdict sc.
eordingly ; and it would be for them to consider
what deodand they would affix upon the horse and
gig._
_ . .

- A long consultation now took place; some of the
Jury were of opinion that a verdict of manslauhgter
ought to be recorded, the majority, however, could
not agree to it; after considerable discussion, the
following verdict was recorded :—" Accidental
death, and a deodand of 101. levied upon the horse
and gig, for the neglect of the driver in trying to
pass a four-horse stage coach, in so populous a
neighbourhood, on the wrong side of the road in
the dark."

The deceased was a gentleman universally re-
spected, and a man of considerable literary attain-
ments. He was master of eight different languages,
and had travelled a great deal abroad. He has left
a widow and one son to lament his melancholy death.
He was a man of unbounded charity, and his loss
will be severely felt by the poor.