The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-06 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COUNT.
AN INSANE PRISONER.—John Griffith Evans, whose
appearance betokened furious madness, and whose long
beard and enormous mustachios added considerably to
the wildness of his appearance, was placed at the bar,
and called on to plead to an indictment, charging him
with an assault. The prisoner, however, instead of
pleading, abused the Recorder and the Court, making
use of the most violent and blasphemous expressions, ac-
cusing them of high treason, and swearing he would
hang the whole of them.
Mr. M`Murdo, the surgeon of Newgate, who while
giving his evidence was frequently interrupted by the
vociferations of the prisoner, deposed that he had
had frequent opportunities of observing the prisoner
since he had been in custody, and that, in his opinion, the
prisoner was insane.
The Jury immediately found that the prisoner was of
unsound mind, and he was removed from the bar.
UTTERING FORGED BANK NOTES.—John Mathews,
aged 23, printer, and John Barber, aged 23, mathe-
matical instrument maker, were indicted for feloniously
uttering a forged 101. Bank note, with intent to defraud
the Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
well knowing the same to have been forged.
The Attorney-General, Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Adolphus,
and Mr. Gurney appeared for the prosecution. Mr. C.
Phillips defended the prisoner Matthews, and Barber
was defended by Mr. Clarkson.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL having stated the case to
the Jury, called several witnesses, from whose evidence
it appeared that the prisoners had gone on the 11th of
December last into the shop of Mr. Harding, jeweller, in
Holles-street, Cavendish-square, and Mathews had there
purchased a wedding-ring and a guard, for which he
tendered what purported to be a lot. note. Mrs.
Harding having sent to her daughter, who liVed
in the neighbourhood, to get the note changed,
the daughter showed the note to two of her friends, who,
not liking its appearance, advised her to send for a po-
liceman. She did so. Gave him the note and went
with him to her mother's shop. On the policeman mak-
ing his appearance at Mrs. Hardirs's, one of the pri-
soners, Barber, endeavoured to snatch the note from the
policeman's hand. In this, however, he was unsuccess-
ful, and the prisoners were both taken into custody.
The Batik Inspector pronounced the note in question,
which was produced by the policeman, to be a forgery.
The prisoners had on the same day, previous to their
visit to Mrs. Harding, made an unsuccessful attempt to
pass a 101 note to Miss Richardson, who keeps a shop
in the Edgware-road. Miss Richardson, of whom the
prisoner had made some purchases, on having the
note tendered to her sent it to Mr. Minton, who
keeps a public-house in the neighbourhood, to get it
changed. Minton changed it, but subsequently enter-
taining doubts as to its ,enuiness, he went to Miss
Richardson's, and found the prisoners had not left, and
obtained his change again. The addresses given by the
prisoners were proved to be false. The prisoner, Bar-
ber, had given his address at 2, Trafalgar-place, Wel-
worth, and in consequence the curious fact was elicited that
there are no less than six houses No. 2, Trafalgar-place,
Wal worth.
From the evidence of Mr. Harris, a watchmaker, re-
siding in East Smithfield, it appeared that on the Bth of
December last, the prisoner Mathews had passed a forged
51. note to him, which note was produced in Court,
having had the word "Forged" stamped on it at the
Bank, when Mr. Harris had taken it there to be cashed.
The Bank Inspector pronounced the 51. note to be a
forgery, as regarded paper, plate, and signature.
Mr. PHILLIPS and Mr. CeanksoN addressed the Jury
fur their respective clients.
Mr. Baron GURNEY summed up, and the Jury found
the prisoners Guilty.
The prisoners were then removed from the bar,
Mathews declaring that he had witnesses to prove an
alibi on the Bth of December.
POST-OFFICE ROBBERY.—Richard Horton, aged 30,
was indicted for stealing one letter, containing one sove-
reign, the property of the Postmaster-General.
Mr. SHEPHERD (with whom was Mr. Adolphus)
stated the case to the Jury. It appeared that on the
22d of Deember, Mrs. Ann Ray, residing at Truro, en-
closed a sovereign in a letter directed to Mr. Alden, 27,
Brewer-street, near the Brill, Somers Town, London,
sealed the letter, and put it into the post-office. The
letter arrived at the Post-office, London, in due course,
on the 24th of December, and was entrusted to the pri-
soner, who is the postman of the Somers Town district,
to deliver, the inspector having, on observinr, that it
was a money-letter, previously made an entry of the di-
rection in a book, unknown to the prisoner. On the
prisoner returning to the office he was asked if he knew
Mr. Alden, 27, Brewer-street, and if he had delivered a
letter there, as inquiry had been made on the subject.
The prisoner replied that he knew Mr. Alden, and 27,
Brewer-street, but that he had had no letter directed to
27 that morning, for if he had- it would have been deli-
vered in the usual course. The prisoner during his
rounds that morning had passed Mr. Alden's house, and
had spoken to Mrs. Alden, who was standing at her
door, but had delivered no letter. The authorities at
the Post-office directed that the prisoner's house
and person should be searched, and in the prisoner's
trowsers-pocket there was found a sovereign, and in his
breast-pocket a memorandum•hook, in which was the
letter in question, the seal of which was broken, and from
which the money had been abstracted. The prisoner at
the Police-office said, that on getting to Brewer-street,
he found the seal of the letter broken, and the sovereign
visible ; that he took it out ; that he did not know whet
to do with it, and had intended, on his return to the
Post-office at five o'clock, to ask what he was to do with
it ; and that he would have stated the fact at the Post-
office when given into custody, if he had not been cau-
tioned by Peake, the policeman, as to what he might
state.

Mr. Pfliwps addressed the Jury for the prisoner, and
contended that the account given by the prisoner at the
Police-office was strongly corroborated by the fact that
he had not either destroyed the letter or changed the
sovereign.
Several witnesses gave the prisoner an excellent cha-
racter.

The deposition of Peake, the policeman, before the
Magistrates, was put in and read, for the purpose of con-
tradicting the testimony he had given in Court. Peake,
in his evidence to-day, stated that when he took the pri-
soner into custody he cautioned him by telling him that
whatever he said would be used either fur or against him,
when, from the depositions, it appeared that lie had
stated when before the Magistrates, that he had cau-
tioned him not to state anything unless he thought pro-
per.
Peake denied that he had made use of the expres-
sions attributed to him when before the Magistrates.
Mr. SHEPHERD replied.
Mr. Justice IVIGHTNAN in summing up said, that it
did not appear to him that the discrepancy in the evi-
dence of Peake, as given in Court to-day, and as given
before the Magistrates, was of any very great import-
ance as regarded the case against the prisoner.
The Jury without hesitation found the prisoner
Guilty, but recommended him to mercy on account of
his good character.
Mr. Baron GURNEY—You should recollect, Gentle-
men, that every person employed in the Post-office must
necessarily have a good character.—The prisoner was
then removed from the dock.
ANOTHER POST-OFFICE CASE.—Henry Warner was
indicted for stealing one letter, containing a bank note.
value 101., the property of the Postmaster-General.
The prisoner pleaded Guilty.
From what transpired, it appeared that the prisoner
was shopman to an oilman, whose shop was a receiving-
house for the Post-office, and that the prisoner had stolen
the letter in question, which had been posted at his
master's. Several witnesses gave him an excellent cha-
racter.—Sentence deferred.

Daniel Ryan, was indicted for assaulting Owen
M'Carthy, NS ith intent to disfigure him.
The occurrence took place on " boxing-day." The
prosecutor was in the Gun public-house, Shoreditch, on
that evening, when a quarrel and fight took place, and,
according to the statement of the prosecutor, as he was
about to leave the house, the prisoner seized him by both
ears, dragged his face towards him, and then bit off the
was completely removed, and
greater part of his nose I The medical gentleman who
was called in described the injury as being most severe,
and he said that a portion of both nostrils, and also of
the cartilage of the nose
the prosecutor, it appeared, would be disfigured for life.
The Jury found the prisoner Guilty.
Mr. Baron GURNEY, after commenting upon the sa-
vage character of the offence of which the prisoner had
been convicted, sentenced him to be kept to hard labour
for eighteen months.
John Roach, 22, and Daniel Sullivan, 21, were in-
dicted for feloniously beating and wounding John
Hartshorne, with intent to do him some bodily harm.
Mr. DOANE conducted the prosecution, and Mr. PHIL-
LIPS defended the prisoners.
It appeared that the prosecutor, a man, eighty-
one years old, was passing along Tooley-street on the
night of the 2d December, when both the prisoners met
him, and Sullivan shoved him, and when he raised his
stick to protect himself, he knocked him down. Sullivan
then picked him up, and told him to go home, and Roach
immediately followed him, snatch his stick from him,
and struck him a tremendous blow on the face with it,
and his face was cut open, and part of his cheek bone
broken off. It also appeared that during the transaction
the prosecutor lost five sovereigns.
The Jury found Roach guilty of the whole offence im-
puted to him, and declared the offence of Sullivan to
amount to an assault only.
A police constable informed the Court that both the
prisoners were desperate characters, add they had been
in custody a great many times for violent assaalts, and
also on charges of felony.
The RECORDER ordered Roach to be imprisoned, and
kept to hard labour for eighteen, and Sullivan for six
calendar months.

The rest of the cases disposed of were of no interest
to the public. The Court adjot2rned at nine o'clock.

IVRIV COURT.
X STRONG PROPENSITY FOR WIIEELI3i rt no ws.—
WM. Saith, a mart Of Kent, 'AV iraioted for steil'