The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-09 00:00:00

THE Si5N, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 9, 1859

subjected to crilel treatment from his father, it was
•
his practice to put both hands in his pockets, and
to submit himself with entire resignation to what-
ever punishment his father might think proper to
inflict upon him, It was a circumstance which
seemed to &inflect the prisoner with the crime that,
when the body of the tieceased was first discovered,
both his hands were in his pookets, and several
witnesses were called with a view to show that at
about the time when death must have taken place

the prisoner was seen to come from the shop where
the deceased wig. It appeared, however, that there
was only one witness who could give direct evi-
dence upon this point. The witness in question
swore that, after taking his dinner, he went out
into his garden to smoke his pipe ; and while he was
sitting upon the rail of his garden he saw the pri-
soner come out of the shop, and pass close by him
towards his own house. The witness, however, was

old and deaf, and made several contradictions to
his own evidence and to that of other witnesses as
to the time and circumstances under which he saw
the prisoner, though he was quite positive that he
saw him come from the shop. Several witnesses
were examined to strengthen the case by showing
that, after the charge of murder had been made
against the prisoner, he had endeavoured to stifle
evidence, and had made admissions which were in-
dicative of guilt; but there was nothing to corrobo-
rate the evidence of the old man that the prisoner
had been in the shop during the fatal hour, beyond
the fact that sounds as if of quarrelling had been
heard, and that when the body was found the
hands of the deceased were in his pockets: The
evidence of the surgeon showed that the stomach
of the deceased was full of undigested food, which
he had taken at his dinner, and that it was not
impossible for the death to have been caused by his
falling down in a state of giddiness from indigestion,
and becoming suffocated by falling with his neck
on the edge of the box.
At the close of the case,
Mr. Justice "Wines said that, as the evidence of
the old man was the only evidence to show that the
prisoner had been at- the shop, and his evidence was
very confused, he did not think there was sufficient
for a conviction.
The jury, upon that suggestion, found the pri-
soner not guilty.
Benjamin Owen, 40, gasfitter, was charged with
the wilful murder of his wife, Jane Owen, at 'Wed-
nesbury, on October 11, 1859.
Mr. Motteram and Mr. A. S. Hill appcared for
the prosecution Mr. Keucaly and Mr. U. Browne
defended the prisoner.
It appeared from the evidence in this case that
the prisoner had lived with his wife seven or eight
years, and until the transaction now in question bad
always treated her with great kindness and affec-
tion. Unfortunately, about six weeks before her
death, the deceased had become addicted to drink-
ing, a practice in which she indulged in her hus-
band's absence from home, in company with two
women of drunken habits who frequented her house.
The prisoner kept a beer-shop called the Cottage
Spring, on the Bilston-road, at Wednesbury. On
the day in question he went out to his work, and on
his return at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon he found
his wife in a state of intoxication, for which lie se-
verely reprimanded her, as well as for allowing the
women, whom he designated " those thieves," to
come to the house. The deceased appeared to have
continued drinking after the prisoner came home,
notwithstanding the entreaties of her daughter, Ow
more than once took the cup from her mouth. The
prisoner was much irritated by her conduct, and
between 8 and 9 o'clock he struck her two blows
with his fist, the second of which knocked her off
the settle on to the floor. As the deceased rose up she
looked at him, and said, " Oh, Ben, you never hit me
before"—a statement which was admitted to be true.
Prisoner subsequently told her to come out of the room
where she was, for he would not allow here to be in
that state where his company was, and he insisted
upon her going to bed. A candle was brought
for this purpose, but the deceased blew it out and
put it on the table. The prisoner then said he
would turn his wife out of doors, and, according to
some of the witnesses, used very horrid language,
and, in the alarm which ensued, the deceased, with
her hair dishevelled, and followed by her little girl
in night clothes, ran down the street to the house
of a neighbour, a Mrs. Cresswell, who hid her in the
pantry. The prisoner, finding that his wife was
gone, followed her to Mrs. Cresswell's, and knocked
three times before he could gain admittance. After
some time he found his wife in the pantry, and as
he entered he said, " I'll give you Moggy," which
was the nickname of one of her drunken com-
panions, and the deceased replied, "Oh, Ben, don't !"
The prisoner then took her by the right hand and
brought her out of the pantry, and as he brought
her out he struck her with his fist and she fell down
on the floor. The prisoner then said, " Take the
drunken b— up," and immediately left the house.
Some persons who were in the room ran to the
woman's assistance, and sent for the prisoner, who
came in about five minutes, but by that time she
was insensible, and died immediately. On finding
the state in which his wife was, that she was dead,
the prisoner showed the greatest concern on her
account, and gave way to an excess of grief and dis-
traction, kissing his wife's lips, and saying, " I've
done it, and I will die for you." The fact of a blow
being struck just before the deceased fell was
proved by two witnesses ; but Mrs. Cresswell said
she did not see any blow, and that the deceased fell
on to some chairs by stumbling up the two steps
which led into the pantry. The evidence of the
surgeons showed that the deceased had died of con-
cussion of the brain and apoplexy from the effects
of a blow under the left ear.
Mr. Kenealy addressed the jury in favour of the
prisoner, and commented upon the evidence to show
that death was caused by apoplexy, brought on by
a fall in the drunken state in which the deceased
woman was ; and he called several witnesses, in-
cluding the mother of the deceased, to prove that
up to the night in question the prisoner had always
been a kind and affectionate husband.
Mr. Justice Willes, in summing up the evidence,
said, he thought the jury would pause before they
would find the prisoner guilty of wilful murder ;
but he left it to them to say, upon the evidence,
whether the death was caused by a blow given by
the prisoner or by an accidental fall.
The jury found the prisoner Guilty of man-
slaughter.
Mr. Kenealy then handed up two documents in
favour of the prisoner, signed by nearly 500 inha-
bitants of Wednesbury.
Mr. Justice Willes said he entirely approved the
verdict, and though, from the character given of
the prisoner, he was sorry to pass any sentence upon
him at all, it was necessary, for the protection of
women, and to put a stop to such brutal assaults by
men on their wives, to pass a severe sentence. His
Lordship then sentenced the prisoner to be kept six
years in penal servitude.

THURSDAY, Dec. 8.

The Court has been engaged all day in the trial
of cases the particulars of which aro unfit for publi-
cation.

HOME CIRCUIT.—MAIDSTONE, Dec. 8.
(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)
George Howells, 18, and Charles Thomas Willis,
28, the two soldiers who were convicted of arson
under very peculiar circumstances, and whose
judgment was respited, were brought up to receive
the sentence of the Court.

The learned judge said there was no doubt that
the prisoners had committed the offences of which
they had been convicted, in order that they might
no longer continue in the military service, and that
they appeared to prefer the condition of convicts to
that of soldiers. The offence they had committed
was a very serious one, and as a warning to others
he felt it his duty to sentence them to six years'
penal servitude;
John Townsend, 26, and John Crawley. 18, two
private soldiers, were charged, the former with a
felonious assault on a woman, and the latter with
aiding and assisting him to commit the offence.
Mr. Addison prosecuted.

The prosecuerix in this case was a respectable
married woman, and it appeared that as she was on
her way home in the neighbourhood of Deal, she
was assailed by the prisoners, who committed the
offence imputed to them.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
Thomas Smith, 25, another private soldier, was
convicted of a similar offence.

The jury in this case also returned a verdict of
guilty.
The learned judge, in passing sentence, com-
mented, in indignant terms, upon the atrocious
character of the offence of which the prisoners had
been convicted, and he ordered them to be kept in
penal servitude for the term of twenty years.
James Williamson, 29, a private soldier in the
Royal Artillery, stationed at Sliorneliffe, who ap-
peared at; the bar, wearing two Crimean medals and
two good conduct stripes, was chaged with a similar
offence.

Mr. Addison conducted the prosecution.
It appeared that the prosecutrix in this case
was a respectable young woman, named Susannah
Turner, and that on Sunday evening, the
2d October, she was on her way • home, in
the neighbourhood of Shorncliffe, when she
was accosted by a man in the uniform of the Royal
Artillery, who inquired of her what time it was,
and sh.: told him as well as she could. She then
walked on, and the man followed her and wished
her to have some drink, but she refused ; and when
they had gone a short distance he seized hold of
her and dragged her into the field and assaulted
her in a most brutal manner. • She struggled vio-
lently and screamed " Murder," and the man twisted
her head back and hurt her very much, but she con:
timed to resist him and scratched his face severely.