The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-07 00:00:00

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.-_Yo•k, Dec. 4.

William Pater
.was indicted for arson.
Mr. Wilkins and Mr. I)earsley conducted the prosecu-
tion ; the prisoner was not defended by counsel.
The principal witness against the prisoner was his
brother-in law, Thomas Golten. a lad about nineteen
years of age, whose face, from cancer, presented a fright-
ful spectacle. He'said the prisoner and his wife lived with
witness's father, at Wistow, and that, on the Ist of Oc-
tober last, they scent out together late in the evening.
They walked along the road to the house of a person
named Dixon, and afterwards across the fields to the
house of a person of. the name of Neville. When they
got to Neville's, the prisoner told him to set the house
on fire. Witness said he durst not. The prisoner said
he would kill him if he did not. Witness then lit a
match, by rubbing it on his trousers, and set fire to the
le)use. The prisoner was four or five yards off. The
house was thatched. The thatch came down on the one
side to within four or five feet of the ground. Set fire
to it at the north-corner, at the back. It began smutch-
ing (smouldering). Witness and the prisoner then went
to bed. Some time after there was an alarm of fire. The
prisoner got up and went to the place. Witness's father
and mother, and sisters, were up when witness went out,
and when tie came back.
On cross-examination the witness said that Neville's
was 400 or 500 yards from his father's house. There
had been no talk of setting fire to any house before they
went out. Witness got the matches at house. Had
them in his pocket. The prisoner did not know witness
had them. Asked witnees when they got to Dixon's if
he had got any.
It appeared that shortly after the time mentioned by
this witness Mr. Neville was alarmed by a Smell of fire,
and examining the house, found a portion of the thatch
in the corner apartment 'in a smouldering flame. lie
gave the alarm, and his neighbours being in prompt at-
tendance, the further progress of the fire was stayed. his
wife, his father, and five children were in the house.
Some evidence: was given of the accomplice's state-
ment—such as showing that they were met on the road
to Dixon's about the time specihed. and that there were
traces in the hedges between Dixon's and Neville's show-
ing that some persons had lately passed that way.
The prisoner, on being apprehended, made a statement
to the constable, in which he alleged that he and Golten
had gone to Dixon's, and that Golten lit a match and
threw it into one of the loopholes at the barn. That
they went to Neville's, and that Golten, notwithstanding
his expostulations; set fire to the thatch. He said they
then went home, and that witness told his father and
mother-in-law what had been done, and that they cau-
tioned him not to-.say a word about it to anybody.
This, however,.Mr. Golten denied.
His LORDSHIP having summed up, the jury found the
prisoner Guilty. Sentence deferred.
The case against the prisoner for firing Mr. Dixon's
barn was not gone into. It was stated that the prisoner
had assigned as a motive for the act, that he, being a
bricklayer, expected to get the job of rebuilding the pre-
mises, and that after the fire he actually applies( fur it.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.— Worcester, Dec. 4.
(Before Mr. Justice COLTMAN.)
William Rea, -aged 17, a clownish•lookieg lad, de-
scribed as a nailor, was indicted for having, at Broms-
grove, on the 11th of October, maliciously shot at and
wounded Hannah Whatmore, with intent to do her some
grievous bodily harm.
Mr. H. S. Silfe conducted the prosecution, and Mr.
Huddleston the defence.
It appeared from the evidence, that after dark on the
evening in question, as the prosecutrix was walking in a

Leonard Lam')ert, 23, William Hurrell, 20, Elisha lane ',War 13romsgrOve with a young man named James,
Burrell, 24, and William 'Taylor, 25, all described. as the-prisoner, who was on the other side of the hedge,
labourers, were iridieted for feloniously writing and discharged a gun, the contents of which lodeed in the
delivering a letter to James Miles, threatening to left leg of the prosecutrix. The light from the flash of
burn and destroy his property. . the gun and from an:a•ijoining cottage enabled the pru-
Mr. Marsh conducted the prosecution, and Mr. secutrix to identify the prisoner. who was seen linine-
Hawlcins defended the Hurrells and Taylor. diately after the discharge running from the spot to-
It appeared from the testimony of 'several witnesses wards a place where the gun was subsequently found,
and where the footmarks of the person depositing such
that the prosecutor is a farmer at Aldham, near Col- gun were clearly established to have been made by the
chester, and' the prisoner, W. Hurrell, was in his ser- shoes of the prisoner. The gun in question had-been
vice in August last, at the time the letter in question borrowed on the morning by the prisoner for the pur-
was delivered. On the 28th of last month the pri- pose of shooting sparrows, and was charged only with
saner, Taylor, went to the wife of the prosecutor and a pellet of paper, which had penetrated the leg of the
gave her a letter, which he said he had found stuck prosecutrix andibecome hidden in the flesh, requiring an
on a gate-post upon the farm, and which was addressed incision by the surgeon for the purpose of extraction.
to her husband. The letter in question was to the No motive, either of jealousy or otherwise, was sug-
folloWing effect :—" To Mr. James Miles, farmer, gested for the act ; indeed, the parties appeared to have
Aldham—We are very glad to hear that you have such been comparatively strangers to each other. For the
a plentiful crop, . and are also very glad to hear that ddeefnetnalce it was contended thatithhefredaiskchtaurg;eri whatsenaccii-
y
ou have made use of a thrashing-machine, but
,we prosecutorirx atant
and he uhertmslovsatizal hwolbth.out an intengon of 1111 L-.
warn you it will be a bad job for you if you do it flitting any bodily. harm on either. y
again, for we warn you as men alive that if you do it I The jury found the prisoner Guilty of an assault, and
again, you shalt have a light, and we will burn you he was sentenced to three months' hard labour.
dawn. There is another thing against you, which is, Thomas Wridgway, aged 24, joiner, an4William Kent,
that you employ other parish men to do your bar- , bricklayer, were charged with stealing f.,:om the person
vesting, when there are men in your ewn parish who
of Richard I.e sovereigns, a 5/. Bank of Englund note,
loltham, at. Upton-on Severn, on the 13th of
0 t.ob n
are out-of worl:„ and you will do well to employ', and se p r,ursem. ....„
them ; and if you employ a single stanger again,
Mr. W. H. Cooke conducted the prosecution ; Wridg-
you shall not do so more than one day; for you shall
way was defended by Mr. Beadon, and Kent by Mr.
have a light. All we want is, to have the work done Huddleston.
by the flail. We do not care for the police, as we are The prosecutor, an elderly and frugal labourer, came
too strong.—Signed A. A. and Co. Take this as to Upton at an early hour on Sunday, the 13th of Oc-
you like." It would appear that upon the prose- tober, to purchase a stock of provisions for the ensuing
tutor receiving possession of the letter, he applied week, and had with over-caution brought with him 14/.,
to the police, and the prisoner Taylor was taken
.into the amount of his, savings, from an apprehensionof
custody. Ile then declared that he was in company losing it during his absence if left behind at his lodgings.
,
his
with. the Hurrells on the prosecutor's farm, and as As he proceeded down the street w
they were going through a gate he saw the letter insep of Kent, whore its
in a handkerchief, the prisoner NiVth
ridgway seized groceries, ec
the'
question sticking on the gate-post, and he took it out bundle and carried itdinuttLtilh e hthe rosecutor had stood
ou
anci asked W. Hurrell who it was addressed to, and rtreesatotrifiutrion
suw refusemeasbeer
a gallon of which beverage was or-
he replied that lie could nut tell him, but be ad-
dered from an adjoining public-house, and paid for by
vised him' to ask another !person -employed old Iloltham, who incautiously exposed his wealth to the
upofl the farm, and on his telling him that it was ad- gaze of his compaiiions. The liquor very soon had the
dressel to Mr. Miles, he took the letter to him, and effect of confusing the simple-minded countryman, and
he declared lie knew nothing whatever of the 'con- Kent undertook to count the money, and pretended to
tents of it. Suspicion afterwards fell upon the place it safely in the breeches-pocket of the prosecutor,
other prisoners, and they were taken into (mist )dv, who, suspecting no fraud, made no•effort to ascertain the
When Lambert at fiest denied all knowledge of the truth of the assertion. On the supposition that his cash
transaction, but while he was under remand he ex- was safe, lloltham proceeded homess ards, accompanied
pressed a desire to make a communication to a magis- by Kent during a portion of the walk, and, on emptying
the pockets of his smallclothes previous to retiring. to
trate, and he then wrote a statement in which he de-
-Oared that the letter and also another of a similar rest, discovered his purse and money to be missing.
character, which was sent to a entleman named g The Si. note, part of the plunder, had been in
.the
Weston, were 'written by the. llurrells, and that he! old man's possession for two years, and was the only
, note of that amount he had ever been the owner of. Its
had purchased the paper tar them, but not at all number had been taken down for him soon after its re-
aware to what purpose
en
it
was to be employed until ceipt by a neighbouring farmer, whose written memo-
the letters were show to him by the policeman. He ' also stated that Igtaxtnulrandom was fortuhately in existence. This note, thus
rell's'father char presentwit when William Hur- ' clearly identified, was passed by Wridgway at an early
he admitted 'the
ening letters, and threat- I hour on Monday morning, and in the course of the same
that .it could not be belPed it'
and said 1 day he was proved to be exhibiting many sovereigns in
union to these facts, it was then.alo In
the',
ad.. the public-houses at Upton.
that _ The counsel. for -
paper of a similar description to that upon which the prisoners severally urged the in-
nocence of their respective.elients, who both received ex-
I bothn Learned Junes. left the jury to decide whether
or either hail committed the offence.ied by a
threatening letter wai written was found in the pc,, egl.?;eet characters up the period of thisoffenee, and
session of one of the Harrell 's ; and that the father of
i A verdict of Guilty,recommend a. - the prisoner Lambert, who is a schoolmaster at