The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-25 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

CHELMSFORD, JULY 24.
John Walks and Lucy Bartlett were charged with
having assaulted John Wien on the King's highway,
and taken from his person a purse containing 355.
The Jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Robert Franks, a substantial farmer at Waltham
Abbey, surrendered to take his trial on an indictment
charging him with having riotously assembled, with
divers other persons, and assaulted Philip Taber.
Verdict—Guilty.

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE sentenced him to be
imprisoned for six months, and at the end of that
period to find sureties to keep the peace.

SALISBURY, Jur.y 23.

MURDER OF A SHERIFF'S OFFICER IN TIIE DISCHARGE

OF HIS DUTY.

Robert Brown, aged 45, was put to the bar,
charged upon the verdict of the coroner's inquisition
with the wilful murder of Thomas Sherwood, an as-
sistant of a sheriff's officer, at Littleton Drew, in this
county, on the 11th of April last.
Mr. BINGHAM conducted the case for the prose-
cution, and before he called evidence to support the
charge, stated that the prisoner had, about eleven
years ago, obtained possession of a house and pre-
mises which were the property of a Mr. Lee, but
which the prisoner had refused to surrender to the
owner, although he neither paid rent for the house
nor rendered any service or acknowledgment what-
ever to the landlord. Mr. Lee at last commenced
against the prisoner an action of ejectment, which
ended in the suing out of a writ of possession, which
was addressed to the sheriff of Wiltshire, and by him
consigned to his officers for execution, on the day
when the deceased came by his death.
The first witness called for the prosecution was
Mr. John Bushe; who deposed to the facts above-
mentioned. He said that the declaration in eject-
ment was dated on the I7th of September last year.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant MEREIVETIIER
—Before the commencement of the proceedings in
ejectment, I, as Mr. Lee's attorney, had served the
prisoner with notice to quit, which notice would
have expired on the following (last) Lady-day. On
the 11th of last April I went to the prisoner's house
with a Sheriff's officer named Harding. There were
also at the place Thos. Thompson, Mr. Lee, and some
others. I went to see a writ of possession executed. The
door had been fastened, and we were obliged to break
it with a crow-bar. I saw the prisoner's goods remov-
ed. I then went away, leaving the officer and his
assistants, with Lee, Thompson, and the rest, upon
the premises. Brown, the prisoner, was there imme-
diately before I went away. This was between six
and seven o'clock. During all the time that the
goods were being removed, the prisoner was in and
out through the house, and gave no opposition.
There was nobody belonging to the prisoner in the
house except his wife and three young children.
The warrant under which the Sheriff's officer had
acted was then put in and read, and the officer him-
self, William Harding, was called.—He stated several
facts already mentioned in Mr. Bushe's evidence,
and added, that Thos. Sherwood (the deceased) was
one of his assistants upon the occasion. After the
goods were put out of the house, I, with the assist-
ants, turned the prisoner's wife and children out of
doors. After they were put out the next thing I
saw was Brown aiming a blow at Sherwood, who
immediately after came to me into the house,
and said that be had been stabbed by the prisoner.
He showed me a stab in his breast, which he said
the prisoner had given him. I then gave the prisoner
into custody.

James Clarke was present, and saw the prisoner
take out of his pocket a bayonet, with which he
wounded first a man named Thompson (one of the
witnesses), ar►d then the deceased. Brown had one
of the children in his arms, whilst his wife and the
others were turned out. It was a wet night. 'One
of the children was lying upon the floor, but it was
not trodden under foot.

By the COURT—No violence had been offered by
the prisoner during the time in which the furniture
was moved out, which was about two hours.
Thomas Thompson deposed that he had been on
the premises at the time, and was stabbed two or
three times by Brown before the latter struck at the
deceased. The weapon was about the size of a
butcher's steel.

John Daniel, the constable, who had been upon
the premises at the time of the murder, deposed that
Brown had afterwards confessed that he had done it
with a Spanish bayonet, which he had dropped in
proceeding to the place of confinement.
The surgeon who had examined the deceased de-
posed that the bayonet had penetrated six inches
into the lungs of the deceased. He had no doubt
that the death of Sherwood had been produced by
the wound which Brown had inflicted upon him.
Mr. Justice PARK then summed up the evidence
to the Jury, who found the prisoner Guilty. His
Lordship then, after a very long and affecting ad-
dress, sentenced him to be hanged on Friday next,
at the place of public execution.
Nicholas Baker, aged 71, was then put to the
bar, charged on the verdict of the coroner's inqui-
sition, with the wilful murder of Sarah Baker, his
wife, at Laycock, in this county, on the 3d of July
instant. The prisoner is a most wretched-looking
man, with a slight expression of wildness in his
countenance. He was dressed in a jacket and trou-
sers of the coarsest materials, and was extremely
emaciated.

The prosecution was conducted by Mr. AUDREY,
who said that the case would be an extremely short
and simple one, and would entirely rest upon the
confessions of the prisoner himself, made to several
persons immediately after the commission of the
murder. Mr. Audrey then proceeded to intimate
that the prisoner had been excited to the commis-
sion of the murder by some suspicions which he
had formed of the fidelity of his wife. It would
also appear that he had effected his purpose with a
stick, and the Jury would perhaps, upon this point,
hear from the Learned Judge to what extent a hus-
band may legally proceed in chastising his wife. lie
then called—

Sarah 'luck, who deposed as follows :—I know
the prisoner; he lives next door to me, in the parish
of Laycock. On the third of this month I saw the
prisoner about two o'clock at my door : he came to
tell me he had had a bad misfortune; he had been to
beat his wife, and thought she was dead. I saw
blood upon le fore part of his clothes. 1 then
went up to the prisoner's house, and there I saw the
deceased sitting up in a great chair,:ivith nothing on
but a clean chemise and stockings ; her neck was
very much bruised; it looked. litre a piece of liver.
It seemed as if she had been washed, and then a
clean shift put on her. tier hair was very much
pulled about. .She was, I think, about -66 years old.
She was dead when I saw hers

James Boscombe.--On the 3d of July I went to
prisoner's house, and saw a woman lying dead upon
two sacks, with the prisoner having a handkerchief
tying up her jaws. lie asked me to help him. I
said I would not. " How came you to commit this
foul and bloody murder, and want me to .help you.
to draw me into it as well as yourself ?" He sighed
nod said she had been dead an hour and a half. I
then went out to get assistance, and the old man
followed me; and when we had got four or five
steps upon the road, he said, " Jem, thee'll be called
upon. Thee must say the woman was alive when
thee's come into the house." I said, " I won't : you'll
be hanged if you had 100 necks." After I had left the
house, I met Mr. Spencer, the parish doctor, and
brought him into the prisoner's house. Dr. Spencer
took up a stick and asked the prisoner if that was
the stick with which the murder had been commit-
ted. Baker went into the pantry, and brought ario•
Hier stick, and said it was with that stick that he
had done it. I heard him say at another time that
he was jealous of his wife, and that another man
had committed adultery with her.
Edward Spencer—l am a surgeon, living at Lay-
cock. On entering the prisoner's house,on the 3d
of July, I saw his wife lying dead on two sacks, and
the man sitting OR the chair. I asked him why he
had done it. He said it was in a fit of passion;

that he was jealous of her: that he had overheard a
woman say that about twelve months before a far-
mer had lain with his.wife. I asked if she made any
resistance to the beating ? lie said she had not.—
The surgeon then said that this beating had produ-
ced such internal consequences as were the imme-
diate cause of her death.

This was the case for the prosecution. The
prisoner, when called upon for his defence, said that
he was very sorry for what he had done. •
Mr. Justice PARK, in summing up the evidence
to the Jury, told them, that with regard to what had
been stated by the Learned Counsel, as to the power
of a husband to inflict moderate chastisement upon
his wife, he (Mr. Justice Park) must say, that he
knew of no such law; and he recollected well, that.
when he was a yonng man, the Learned Person to
whom such an opinion had been imputed, had told
him (Mr. Justice Park) that he had never expressed,
and did not entertain it:- Hirt Lordship, in conclu-
sion, observed, that although it were the law of
England that a man may chastise his wife (f law,
which his Lordship again declared to be contrary to
his own opinion), yet still such a doctrine must al-
ways be understood as giving no licence for immo-
derate or unreasonable chastisement.
The Jury immediately found the prisoner Guilty,
and the Judge, after a very feeling address, sentenced
him to be executed on Friday next (this day).
The unhappy man did not appear to be at all af-
fected by the terrible situation in which he was
placed.
This terminated the Assizes here. The commis-
sion will be opened at Dorchester on Saturday next.

BEDFORD, JULY 23.
MASH AGAINST PENNING EON.

This cause, though, not perhaps, possessing any
very interesting features, seemed to excite great ex-
pectation amongst that large and wealthy body of
men, the owners of stage coaches, and all persons
connected with them, as it was believed that the law
of partnership applicable to stages world be decided.
Mr. Sergeant STORKS (with whom was Mr.
SMITH ) stated the case. The plaintiff and defendant
were both largely concerned in stage-coaches, each
being a proprietor of, he believed, several. The
plaintiff lived at Lutterworth, the defendant was re-
sident in their own county, at Market-street. ' The
present action was brought to recover a balance
amounting to 55/. Bs. 6d., remaining due to the
plaintiff from the defendant, as one of the company
of proprietors of the Paul Pry coach, which formerly
ran between London and Litchfield, and in which
concern the plaintiff was likewise a partner. The
circumstances attending the origin,_ progress, and
final stoppage of the unfortunate Paul Pry were ra-
ther singular ; the concern, notwithstanding the very
taking and popular name it had assumed, havingbeen
a losing one from its commencement till the time of
its final withdrawal from the road. It began to
run on the 10th of October, 1826, and continued till
April, 1827, when it ceased altogether; and during
the period of its brief existence there were seven or
eight partners, amongst whom were the present
plaintiff and,Mr. Pennington, the defendant. In
these concerns, it was the practice for the various
partners to horse the coach for different stages;
each received money on the joint account, and pe-
riodically the whole accounts were balanced; and
the partner who had received a . larger sum than his
share of receipts amounted to, was to pay over
the surplus to him who had received less than his
share. Mr. Horne, the great coach-owner, and who
was a partner in the Paul Pry, kept the accounts in
London, Mr. Mash keeping them at Lichfield, and
by them the payments were all made. On the
stopping of the coach, in April, there was due from
the defendants to the plaintiff under this arrange-
ment 5.51. Bs. 6d., which sum Mr. Pennington, with
his eyes open, and all the accounts before him, ad-
mitted to be due, and promised to pay.
Stephen Mash, examined by Mr. the
brother of the plaintiff. Is an attorney. .On the
Ist of August last, by desiie of the plaintiff, called
on the defendant at Market-street, for 44 the Paul
Pry money" due to the plaintiff. Defendant said
he was sorry plaintiff had been kept out of his money
so long, but there was a mistake in the accounts, he
having been charged for more money than he had re,
ceived ; and he requested to have the IVay-bills
for examination. In October called again on de-
fendant for the way-bills. The plaintiff, witness,
and defendant examined . them with defendant, who
produced his own books. Defendant said the hills
were quite correct, that the money lie had been
charged with was right; he was sorry plaintiff had
been kept out of it, and he would send it in a
few days. The F. um claimed was 55/. Bs. 6d. Plain-
tiff, defendant, two other Mashes, Cherry, Morris,
Horne, and others, were partners in the Paul Pry. .
Cross examined by Mr. KELLY.—Is not the plain-
tiff's attorney, nor liable to the costs. Cannot
say if the writ was issued in his name. May have
bad communications with the attoruies about it.
Knows nothing of the terms on which defendant be-
came a partner. Horne was the active partner in
London, and was in the habit of making out the ac-
counts monthly. The monthly accounts fur-
nished to defendant were on the table at the
October interview. Defendant went through the
way-bills, and said they were correct. None of the
other partners were present. Believes Mr. William
Mash has agreed to the accounts, but that he stopped
some balances due from Horne, on account of the
Paul Pry accounts.
After some further evidence had been adduced,
and Mr. KELLY had replied for the defendant, the
CHIEF BARON summed up, and the Jury, after a
short consultation, found for the defendant.

The Grand Jury have, at a late hour to-day, re-
turned a true bill against Eaststaff, for mtirder;
there are forty witnesses for the prosecution, and the
trial (which excites the most lively interest) is fixed
for to-morrow.

NORTHAMPTON, JULY 23.

Abraham Hobson was indicted for forging, or ut-
tering with a knowledge that it was forged, an ac-
ceptance to a bill of exchange. There not being
sufficient proof to negative the fact that any such
person resided at Chelsea, as the party whose name
appeared as acceptor to the bill, or to prove that it
was in the prisoner's hand-writing, he was acquitted.
There are other similar charges against him, but he
has been admitted to bail.

The Assizes, which only commenced yesterday,
terminated at an early hour to-day. The commis-
sion will be opened at Lincoln on Saturday.

YORK, JULY 23.
Henry Walton, of Halifax, in the West Rid;ng
of York, was charged upon the Coroner's inquisi-
tion with killing and slaying James Turner,
The prisoner was drinking on the 26th of March
last, at a. public-house in Stansfield, called the New
Inn, when the deceased, who was intoxicated at the
time, entered the room, and declared that he did not
care for any man ,in it. The prisoner said, "Do
you not care for me ?" Deceased then challenged
the prisoner to fight. Prisoner at first refused, but
deceased kept repeating the 'challenge until prisoner
consented to fight. A fight then took place, in the
course of which prisoner knocked the deceased down,
and whilst he was in that position prisoner jumped
upon him twice, and puihed his knees upon his
breast. The deceased was then taken
up by the
bystanders
rooaniod
.re!nAov.seurdgt
surgeon.
.
settle
was which was stand-
ings
but
be-
fore he arrived the deceased became insensible, and
soon afterwards expired. Verdiet—uilty.
The sentence of the Court upon the prisoner was,
othat
Correction
osehtoi
ouilidfobr t
he confined in
of them calendarW ak
Wakefield l d blouse
months,
and be there kept to hard labour.

STAFFORD, JULY 24.

Mr"lllStiCe GASELEE opened the commission here
this day. The business is heavy, and there is one
case of the utmost importance in which a gentleman
standing very high in the county is charged with,
forging a deed of importance which was produced on'
the trial of a cause at a former Assize.