The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-09 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGt;.NCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—LIVERPOOL, ,[;
• (Before Mr. Justice WightmAn.)

Aaron Mellor. was indicted for the wilful murder
of Alice Mellor, at Belton, on the Ist of October
last.
Mr. Sowler and Mr. Higgin prosecuted, and Mr.
J. Fearnley defended the prisoner.
The learned counsel, in opening the case upon
the part of the prosecution, stated that the prisoner
and the deceased had been married for five years,
but had latterly lived very unhappily together, and
had repeated quarrels. Owing to th, temper of the
prisoner altercations continued,' and finally they
separated on the 28th of September last, the de-
ceased taking with her the youngest of their three
children, au infant in arms, . and going to lodge at
the house•of a Mrs. Cunningham in Bolton. It
appeared that though the deceased lived at Cun-
ningham's, she went daily to take her meals at her
mother's heuse ' • and about 7 o'clock on the even-
ing of the Ist of October, while at supper with her
mother, the prisoner came in and it ke his wife to
go home with him, but she positively refused, and
he went away. In a few minutes he returned and
met deceased and her mother coming out, and
again he inquired if his wife would go house with
him, and asked where they were going.. At last
the deceased acceded to his entreaties, and con-
cented to accompany him, the deceased at that
time having her infant in her arms. The two had
not proceeded far when fresh words took place be-
tween them, and the prisoner gave deceased a push,
and immediately afterwards he was seer, by a plan
name Thompsnat-te,-put his left hand on deceased's
eigllt shoulder and strike her with his rigiit
Ti,e deceased exclaimed, " What are you
and pushed away-the prisoner, who fell into the
channel. They then parted, and the prisoner on
recovering himself rushed after the deceased and
struck her several times, and while she was in the
act of felting he put his left hand round her neck,
and with his right hand took from his side a large
knife, with which he inflicted a frightful wound on
her throat. A struggle ensued and both fell down;
the prisoner then knelt upon his wife, and again.
proceeded to cut her throat. Upon this he was
seized by two men, who found the deceased bleed-
ing and lifeless, and, while endeavouring to get
away from them, the prisoner succeed die cutting
his own throat and fell on his back. The knife was
Lund by his side covered with blood. These facts
being clearly established,
Mr. Fearnley addressed the jury for the prisoner,
urging iu his defence the plea of insanity.
The learned judge then went through the whole
case very carefully, and
The jury, after a short consultation, found the
prisoner guilty.
His lordship, in passing sentence, said that, in
his opinion, there was no ground whatever for the
defence of insanity, and told the prisoner that he
could hold out no hope whatever for him.
Sentence of death was then passed_ in the usual
solemn form. •

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—NOTTINGHAM, DEC. 8.
(Before Mr. Justice Crompton.)
James Wright, 39, farmer, was indicted for the
wilful murder of. William Holland, at Girton, on
the sth Sept. last.
Mr. Boden and Mr. Bristowe conducted the pro-
secution, and Mr. O'Brien defended the prisoner.
The circumstlnces of this remarkable case will he
beat gathered from the following statements of the
Witnesses _ _

Joseph Holland, son of the late William Holland,
said his father lived at Girton. He was a carpenter.
In September last he was 49 years old. On the sth
of September last I went with him to a clover field
between 7 and 8 o'clock. It was about half a mile
from his house. The clover field was the prisoner's.
We took a fork each. We crossed the Gains-
borough and Newark-road, and then went along
a footpath, and over a stile into the next
field. Then we left the footpath, and went
into a wheat stubble, and then my father went
into the prisoner's clover field. My father and
the prisoner had a dispute about this clover field.
My father went over a gap in the hedge. The
clover had been cut, and some was lying near the
gap. I heard somebody coming. It was the pri-
soner. He was coming over some rails into the
'wheat stubble from the field where we had left the
footpath. The footpath led to North Searle, where
the prisoner lived. He had a gun with him. He
came towards me as I was getting over the gap
into the clover field. When he got to the gap
we were in the clover field. He said, " Come out,
come out I" My father said, "We shan't." Ho
said that if we didn't come out he would blow our
heads off. My father said that he might shoot,
and also that he should take some clover, and then
went further into the field. He then began t.)
gather some clover with a fork, and Wright said,
"D— you ; I'll be near enough on you !" He
ran to some rails, went over them, and to a gate
between the clover field and an adjo,ning field.
That gate was close to the clover which my father
was raking up. Theprisoner came up to that gate.
He did not say anything. He put the gun to his
shoulder and pointed it on my father. He only did
it once then. But at the gap in the other field he
had put it to his shoulder several times. My father
was frightened, and came away from the clover
towards the gate. That was the nearest way out of
that field towards home. My father got up to the
gate and came through it. The prisoner drew back
about five yards, and then said, "D— it, I will
shoot you !" and he shot him. He held the gun ,1
to his shoulder and pointed it to my father. It I
was pointed a little downwards. When he was
shot my father said "0, Lord! 0, Lord! Jem, I
did not think you would have done this." Prisoner
said he had done what he meant to do. He said
also that if he could not have the laws of the
country he would have laws of his own. I then
helped my father towards home. The prisoner
followed us, and Hammond and Hind came up as
we were going home. Whe he was following us
the prisoner said more than once that he had done
what he meant to do. I went to Collingliaml,r the
nearest doctor while Hammond and Hind assisted
my father home. I did not see my father point the
fork at Wright. •
Charles Charlton, policeman, about 2 o'clock on
Sunday morning, September 6, apprehended the
prisoner at his own house, and found there a double
barrelled gun, one of the barrels of which had been
recently discharged. The otber barrel was loaded;
When I took the gun down Wright said, "That's
it." I took out the charge from the other barrel.
It is about a usual charge.
William Webster, policeman, went with last
witness, and told the prisoner he came to appre-
hend him on the charge of shooting Mr. Hollani,
of Girton. He answered " I certainly did it, but I
did it in self-defence ; Holland ran at me with a
fork."
Mr. O'Brien addressed the jury for the prisoner,
and, with a view to reduce the offence to that of
manslaughter, commented upon the evidence that
there was of a quarrel going on between the pri-
soner and the deceased up to the moment of the
gun being fired, and suggested, as the most pro-
bable explanation of the transaction, that though
the prisoner had used some threatening expressions,
and wished to frighten the deceased from taking the
clover, he had no real intention of shooting at him
until,as he supposed at least, the deceased was
about to attack him with the fork,
u

The learned Judge having summed up the evi-
dence, the jury retired to consider their verdict,
and after remaining in consultation a short time
found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter.
The learned Juage, in passing sentence, said,
that thejury had taken a merciful view of the case,
and one which he did not disapprove, though he
should certainly not have felt dissatisfied with a
verdict of murder. Indeed, in this case, so far as
moral guilt at all events was concerned, there was
the very slightest line of distinction between the
prisoner's crime and that of murder ; and as he
would have been left for execution if be bad. been
convicted of murder so now the intere,ts of justice
rveitquudireefdorthlaifte.he shouldbe sentenced to penal ser-

YORK, DEC. 7.
(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)
MANSLAUGHTER ARISING FROM A RAILWAY COL-
LISION AT HTTLL.
COL-
George Tolson, 25, was charged with the man-
slaughter of John Yates, at Hull, on the 24th of
July last.
The prisoner was an engine-driver inthe serviceaof the North-Eastern Railway Company,
ving
occupied that situation for upwards of h
two years
previous to the disaster. It was plainly shown on
the trial that he had not obeyed a signal, and
stopped his train, and that this was the cause of
the collision to which Mr. Yates owed his death.

For the defence it was urged that the prisoner
had conducted hithself with regard to the signals
in a way which was the habitual custom of the
engine-drivers generally, and though the accident
lad happened, he could not be regarded as guilty
'of fitich criminal negligence as would render him