The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-16 00:00:00

soner to penal servitude for 15 years.
John Hart was charged with having, at Leeds,
on the 12th Nov. last, stabbed Edward Reid, with

intent to do him grievous bodily harm.
Mr. Wheelhouse and Mr. Maule prosecuted ; Mr
Middleton defended the prisoner.
It seemed that the prosecutor went to the house
occupied by the prisoner and a woman named'
Mitchell. When he arrived there he found the
prisoner in the act of striking the woman, and on
her appealing for protection to the prosecutor
(whom she knew previously) the prosecutor was
struck by the prisoner on the head with the fire
poker. A scuttle took place, and the woman made
her way up the stairs, the prisoner immediately
following her. The prosecutor, fearing some foul
play towards the woman, instantly followed her
and the prisoner upstairs, and passing the man on
the stairs arrived in the bedroom before the prisoner
got there. On the instant after the prisoner came
into the room he made a blow with his knife at the
prosecutor in the lower part of his body, and
wounded him very seriously. The prisoner's knife
was subsequently found, covered with blood, at the
bottom of the staircase by a policeman.
Mr. Middleton addressed the jury, contending
that the prisoner was justified in using the knife
at the moment in self-defence, and that therefore
there was not even an unlawful wounding.
After a careful summing up the jury found a ver-
dict of Guilty, and the prisoner was sentenced to
be kept in penal servitude for three years.
There remains but one case, the charge of the
murder of Mr. Broughton at Leeds, which is fixed
for to-morrow, and is scarcely expected to be con-
chided in one day.
LIVERPOOL, DEC. 15.
(Before Mr. Justice Willes.)
Mr. Justice Willes has arrived here from Ches-
ter, and this morning assisted Mr. Baron Martin
in the trial of prisoners.
James Hassall was indicted for attempting to
murder Amelia Brown. Other counts charged other
felonious intents.
Mr. Charles Hopwood appeared for the prosecu-
tion ; Mr. Torr defended the prisoner.
It appeared that the accused was a lodger in a
house in Sackville-street, Manchester, where the
prosecutrix and her sister, Mrs. Story, and her sis-
ter's husband lived. He was married, but had se-
parated from his wife, and had for some time past
employed Mrs. Brown to clean up his room for him.
It was suggested for the defence that the two had
been for some time criminally intimate. She had
been a widow for the past three years, but strongly
denied any improper intimacy between herself and
the prisoner.
Amelia Brown—l was taking breakfast with
Hassall. As he was going to leave his lodgings I
asked him if I should clean them that day. He said
I might, as he would not go before Monday. This
happened on Saturday. He asked me if I would
go to clean for him at his new lodgings. I said no.
He said he had heard I was to be married. I said
it was a lie. I then got up to go. He got hold of
me and slammed the door. I said, " Leave me loose,
let me go." He dragged me to the other side of the
room, and got hold of an axe from the shelf. I be-
came insensible from fear, and was ill nearly 12
weeks, and am not well yet. I did not throw the
pots at him. I did not threaten to stab him with
a knife. I did not say I would selald him with the
kettle, or dash out his brains with the axe.
Cross-examined by Mr. Torr—l had not been
drinking. I had not been on improper terms with
the prisoner. I knew he had a wife.
Eliza Story—l am sister to Amelia Brown. I
heard her cry, " Let me go," and ran upstairs. I
found the prisoner beating my sister over the head
with this piece of wood. (The handle of the axe.)
I tried to defend her, but he would not give over. I
ran down to the door, and cried " Murder." Pri-
soner eame down and wanted to get out. I put my-
self in his way, shut the door, and bolted it. He
said, " I will go with you to the police-office."
John Birch—l am a surgeon. I was called to
Amelia Brown. She was insensible. I found many
contusions on the face, seven or eight wounds on
the head, all to the bone, one of them a deep cut
from the baek to the front of the head, eight inches
in length. There was a fracture of the skull. Deep
marks on the arm and wrist showed great violence
--probably in a struggle. The handle of the axe
might have caused the wounds and contusions ; it
is rather sharp. I found the axe-head in the room.
It has a splinter in it which fits the handle. It had
no blood on it when I saw it.
The statement of the prisoner before the magi-
strate was put in and read. In it he stated that
she had thrown the pots at him, threatened to stab
him, and had gone and seized the axe, and swore
she would dash out his brains with it.
Mr. Torr addressed the jury strongly on behalf
of the prisoner, fairly going through the facts, ad-
mitting that he could not resist conviction upon the
counts of the indictment of less enormity, but con-
tending that the evidence would justify the jury in
acquitting of any intent to murder. He called wit-
nesses who proved the quiet character of the pri-

sonar.
The learned Judge summed up the case, calling
attention to the fact of the axe-head not being wet
when found, and the medical evidence that the in-
juries might have been inflicted with the handle.
He read the material parts of the evidence, and
pointed out to the jury that, if not satisfied either
of the prisoner's intent to murder or the grievous
bodily harm, it was open to them to find a verdict
of unlawful wounding.
Verdict—Not guilty of intent to murder ; guilty
of intent to do grievous bodily harm.
The prisoner made again a long statement, re-
peating what he had said before the magistrates.
The Judge characterised the act as a wrong,
cruel, and savage one—not a single blow, and alto-
gether without adequate provocation, and sentenced
the prisoner to four years' penal servitude.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—WORCESTER, Dec. 15.
Criminal Court.—(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)
James Lowe, 30, labourer, was charged with com-
mitting wilful and corrupt perjury, on the 28th of
November, 1859, at Dudley.
Mr. Kenealy appeared for the prosecution ; Mr.
Best and Mr. Byrne defended the prisoner.
This was an indictment for perjury, assigned upon
evidence given by the prisoner before two justices
of Worcestershire, upon the 28th of Nov. last. It
appeared that on the day in question an informa-
tion came on to be heard before the justices, in
which the overseers of Tipton charged one Robert
Lakin with deserting his wife and family, and leav-
ing them chargeable to the parish. Lakin appeared
to defend himself against the charge, and called the
prisoner as a witness, to prove that his wife had
committed adultery with a man named James Att-
wood, and so justifying his withdrawal of an allow-
ance of £1 a-week, which he had for some time
made her. The prisoner then swore that one Satur-
day night he saw the woman and Attwood drinking
together at a publichouse called the Violin ; that
ke saw them go together to the house of a Mrs.
Bagley ; and that he then watched them go toge-
ther to Mrs. Lakin's house, heard the door locked,
saw a light go upstairs, and then, looking through
the keyhole of the door, saw the parties commit the
adultery in the house-place. The magistrates dis-
believed the prisoner's evidence, and this indictment
being preferred, Mrs. Lakin and her two daughters,
who were in the room at the time alleged, gave a
distinct contradiction to the prisoner's statement.
Mrs. Lakin said she was the mother of eight chil-
dren, and that about a twelvemonth ago she sepa-
rated from her husband, in consequence of his ill-
usage, but that he had regularly allowed her £1 a-
week until the occasion now in question. She ad-
mitted she was in the Violin publichouse where
Attwood was, but she was in company with Mr.
and Mrs. Bagley, to whose house she afterwards
went. Attwood was of the party, and left Bagley's
house in her company, and, as she was informed
that her husband was watching her about, and she
was afraid of him, she got Attwood to see her safe
home. As soon as she and Attwood entered her
house, she heard her husband's and the prisoner's
voices outside the door, whereupon she bolted the
door for safety. She said she then sat down and
took her youngest child, who was three years old,
and held it in her lap till. Attwood left, and that
both her daughters, who were 14 and 16 years
of age, remained in the room all the time Attwood
was there. She denied that any impropriety what-
ever had taken place between them, a statement
which was confirmed by Attwood, as well as by the
two daughters, who were examined as witnesses.
Four other witnesses were examined who spoke to
statements made by the prisoner which were incon-
sistent with his sworn testimony, and it was sug-
gested that the prisoner had lent himself to the
husband (Lakin) in order to assist in getting rid of
the burden of supporting his wife and children.
On the other hand,
Mr. Best contended that the prisoner was sought