The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-06 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—NoRnucir, AUGUST 4.
Thomas Howlett was indicted for the wilful mur-
der of his wife, by throwing a poker at her, which
penetrated her left side, of which she died.
On the sth of June last, about seven o'clock in
the evening, the prisoner, who is a blacksmith, and
keeps a public-house, was in the kitchen with his
wife and two or three other persons. There had
been some occurrence on the previous evening with
respect to some counterfeit money which one of
them had taken ; and, on the evening in question,
the prisoner said to one of the witnesses, " Did you
ever know such a commence, as for one man to give
another bad money, then to flog him, and after-
wards get a warrant against him ?" The deceased
answered that she considered one as bad as the
other; to which the prisoner, addressing her, re-
plied, " You've been chafing me all day about this,
and, you, if you don't hold your tongue I'll
knock you down." The wife answered, " Before
you can do that, you must cut my tongue out."—
Upon this the prisoner struck her, and carried her in
his arms out of doors. She instantly returned by an-
other door, some scuffle ensued, and she was again
put out. In the course of this scuffle the prisoner
struck his wife again, and she took up a mug, with
which she attempted to hit him, but he wrested it out
of her hand. She returned into the kitchen again, and
said to her husband, " You b—y cowardly rascal,
put me out again, do." This she said in a consi-
derable passion, and in a very provoking manner.
The prisoner instantly went to the fire, took the
poker out of the grate, and threw it with great force
at his wife; it was red hot. The poker entered
her left side, and she was borne into the adjoining
room by one of the witnesses. The prisoner fol-
lowed them, took his wife into his arms, and endea-
voured to stanch the blood which was flowing from
the wound. He was greatly affected, and in the
language of the witness" kissed her twenty times, and
wept very bitterly." The poor woman died in about
five hours, during which time the prisoner attended
her most assiduously. When she was dying, she
took his hand and said she most freely forgave him.
Afterwards, hearing him " take on," she repeated
her forgiveness, said " he was the best of fathers,
and the most affectionate of husbands, and that she
had brought the injury upon herself by her provok-
ing manner."
The character which the dying woman thus gave
him was confirmed by a multitude of witnesses, in-
cluding the curate of the parish. He and his wife
lived on the happiest terms with their family of
seven children, until this fatal occurrence. He was
greatly affected by the favourable manner in which
the witnesses spoke of him in the character of father
and husband, and was in tears during the whole of
the trial.
The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty of Man-
slaughter.
The Learned JUDGE postponed the sentence, in
order to see whether, consistently with public safety,
lie could pass any less judgment than that of trans-
portation.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT, DERBY, Aucwsr 3.
Mr. Justice PARKE, on taking his seat on the
bench this morning, stated that his Learned Brother
Vaughan had passed a bad night, but was then
better. His medical attendants, however, had pro-
nounced him unequal to the fatigue of resuming his
judicial duties, and consequently he (Mr. Justice
Parke) must try the niurdet case in this Court, after
which he would proceed with the Common Jury
cases; on to-morrow he would try three of the Spe-
cial Jury causes, and the other two must be made
remanets.

Nathan Hutton, - Hildebrand, and twelve
other defendants, apparently villagers, were indicted
for a riot alleged to have been committed at New-
mills, in the parish of Glossop, in this county, and
also for a conspiracy to pi event the Rev. Mr. Howe,
vicar of the said parish, from receiving his Easter
dues and oblations.

In May last hand-bills were posted up in the parish
denouncing the exaction of Easter dues as illegal,
and exciting the parishioners to resist payment of
them. The defendant Hulton boasted that he had
caused these hand-bills to be posted, although he
could neither read nor write. Some time afterwards,
when Mr. Howe's collectors attempted to collect the
dues, they were received with shouting, derision,
and defiance by a great mob. They procured the
assistance of constables, but both they and the con-
stables were surrounded by the mob, some stones
and dirt were thrown at them, and they were
threatened with worse treatment. They secured
Hulton and another defendant, and took them be-
fore the Magistrates, when, however, they did not
bring against them the charge now laid at their
door. In their evidence to-day the witnesses failed to
bring home the accusation satisfactorily to any of
the prisoners, except Hulton, who appeared
to have been the ringleader. He was convicted and
sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The other
thirteen defendants were Acquitted.