The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-31 00:00:00

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—Bodmin, .1* 29.

The Commission for treldin:x the assizes for the county of
Cornwall was opened here on Saturday evening by Mr. Justice
Erle, but Mr. Baron Platt did not arrive till Sunday evening,
he having been detained at Exeter by the trial of the pirates.
The business, as regards criminals, is rather heavier than usual.
There are charges of murder, arson, and sacrilege, and there are
twenty prisoners for trial. The cause list for this county is
very light, there being only five causes entered, and not one to
be tried by a special jury. On Sunday morning, Mr. Justice
Erle attended Divine service in the church, and on Monday
morning the business commenced—Mr. Justice Erle presiding
in the Crown Court, and Mr. Baron Platt sitting at Nisi Prius.

The cases tried to-day have been of a most trifling descrip-
tion, the only one at all to be noticed is that of
John Pascoe, who was indicted for assaulting, cutting, and
beating John Cock, with intent to disable him, or to do him
some grievous bodily harm.
It appeared that on the night of the 12th of July, Pert, Cock,
and Edwards, who were gamekeeperr in the service of Lady
Bassett, were out on the watch for poachers. About three
o'clock in the morning they heard two guns fired; they then
separated, and went in two different parties in the direction of
the spot whence the reports had proceeded. On their arrival
at a place called Dry-grounds, adjoining her ladyship's park,
they -satr,ttfirprisoner and a man named Trefoun with guns.
As soon as the poachers saw them they walked towards the
keepers pointing their guns at them. On coming up to them,
finding the keepers did not give way they began beating them
with their guns, and broke one of them upon the breast of one
of the men. Trefoun picked up Pascoe's gun, which he had
dropped, and fired at the keepers but missed them. Pert then
fired his gun at Trefoun's legs, but the shot took effect much
higher, and he was seriously injured. A dead rabbit was found
in the prisoner's pocket.
For the defence it was urged that the men were out
shooting rabbits on the sea shore, and they did not know that
the other men were game-keepers.
The Learned Judge having summed up,
The jury acquitted the prisoner of the felony, but found him
Guilty of a common assault, and he was sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment with hard labour.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.— Shrewsbury, July 29.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Lord DErrmAx.)

The following case occupied the Court for many hntirs yes-
terday evening, and excited considerable interest.
. _ _

Cornelius 'Evans, aged 26, and Richard Purcell, aged 21,
young men •of decent exterior and deportment, and up to this
occasion bearing excellent characters, were placed in the dock,
charged with having, on the 23d of June last, feloniously made
an assault upon one Ellen Gough, and stolen from her person
a pocket of small value, and with having at the time of such
robbery inflicted blows upon the said Ellen Gough.
The prosecutrix, with some effort, informed the jury that
she was in the employ of a firm of dressmakers in Shrews-
bury, that her hours in the shop were from eight o'clock in
the morning till nine o'clock in the evening. That for
same time past she had suffered much from ill health;
that the medical gentleman who attended her had
stated. that it was absolutely necessary she should take
exercise in the open air; that this she had been in the habit
of doing every evening, after work, for some weeks past,
her companion and guardian upon those occasions being her
mother. Upon the day in question, however, it happened,
from some unexplained reason, that on her return home her
mother was absent. She left her father sitting in the house
and proceeded for her walk alone. When just outside the old
walls she observed two men, one in a smockfreck, the other
dressed in black. One of them appeared intoxicated, and tot-
tered towards the side of the footpath. Feeling alarmed she
turned back in the direction of the town ; the two men fol-
lowed. These men were the prisoners. One of them (Pur-
cell) she had known by sight before; Evans she had never
seen to her knowledge before that day. Purcell caught hold
of her by the shoulder, saying, "We want some money." The
prosecutrix answered, " Indeed, but I have none for you."
Upon which the same prisoner remarked, " Oh, d— you, we
will see." The other prisoner (Evans) then seized hold of her
pocket and tore it from her side. Purcell, too, searched, it but
found nothing. The prosecutrix gave an alarm. Purcell said
to his companion, " D— her, let us kill her ;" to which the
other answered, " No; she will not know us if she sees us
again." Then Purcell began to take indecent liberties with
her person, and upon resisting struck her a severe blow
with his fist upon the left side of the forehead, which
felled her, without sense or motion, to the earth. After a
lapse of time, she could not say how long, she found herself
alone, cold and stiff, lying upon the path, the torn pocket by
her side. She crept to her father's house, relieved the anxiety
of her parents by her arrival, and then related to them the
cruel usage she had received, described the persons and dresses
of the assailants, and on the day followi' g she observed the
prisoner Purcell, at six o'clock in the morning, in New-street,
nearly opposite her father's door. The other prisoner (Evans)
she subsequently identified.
A great number of witnesses were called to show the pro-
secutrix was mistaken in the identity of the prisoners, and
several respectable people gave them both a good character.
Lord DENMAN summed up, and the jury, after a long con-
sultation, acquitted the prisoners.
His Lordship then disposed of two other trifling cases, which
finished the criminal business at about a quarter past nine.
Mr. Justice PATTESON had previously retired from the Nisi
Prius Court, having brought the civil business to a close at
half-past seven.
The Commission will be opened this evening at Hereford.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.--Ipswich, July 29.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Baron ALDERSON.)
Frederick Holmes, aged 21, and William Wright, aged 29,
were charged with having; burglariously entered the dwelling-
house of Joseph Gibbs, at Bilderton, and stolen therein a
quantity of sugar, tobacco, and currants.
Mr. Prendergast appeared for the prosecutor, and Mr.
Power defended Holmes.
The prosecutor is a grocer, carrying on a large business at
Bilderton, about six miles from Hadleigh, where both the
prisoners live. For some time past Mr. Gibbs' premises have
been robbed to a considerable extent, and yet no clue has been
gained to the thief, whoever he might be ; while the ser.
vants and family of the prosecutor were each and all beyond
suspicion, he was utterly unable to divine how access was gained
to his property, as his premises never presented any marks of
violence. Being bent on doing his best to clear up the mystery,
Mr. Gibbs on each night made particular note of his shop and
its contents, and at last, en the morning of the 20th of April,
he was aroused at six o'clock by two policemen, who asked
whether his house had been robbed in the night. On getting
up he found that a quantity of sugar, currants, and tobacco
had been removed in the night time, but he was for some time
utterly at a loss to divine how the burglars had effected an
entrance to his house, till a searching examination havir6y been
made on the premises, it was ascertained that the back house
door might very easily be opened by the introduction of a bent
wire through a hole which happened to lie most conveniently
under a wooden bar, its only safeguard. By turning the in-
strument round, any one from the outside could lift up the bar
from its socket, and on retreating from the house with his
plunder, he could as easily replace the bar, and so cut off all
traces of his proceedings. In order to connect the two pri-
soners at the bar with the commission of this offence it ap-
peared, on the testimony of a po iceman and a constable be-
longing to ...Hadleigh, that as they were on the look out on
Hadleigh-heath on ,the night in question, they saw the two
prisoners cross it at one o'clock in a cart, and go four miles
along the road to Bilderton, after which they lost sight of them.
Towards three o'clock, however, they saw the same cart and
men returning, and deeming that the time for their intervention
had arrived, they ordered the driver Holmes to pull up and
let them see what he had got in the cart. As he refused to
comply with
.this request, the constable laid hold of the horse's
head, while his companion proceeded to examine his cart.
This, as might have been expected, led to a skirmish, which
resulted in the escape of Holmes, while the other prisoner and
the cart, with its contents, fell into the hands of the assail-
ants, who, finding among the litter a sack of sugar, and several
pounds weight of currants and tobacco, drove ou to Bilderton,
and alighted on the true owner before he was aware of his toss.

Both. the prisoners, ha,,ing been found Guilty, were trans-
ported for ten years..

A RSO N.—Elward Alban, aged 25, was charged with setting
fire to a barn in the occupation of John Snell, at Lawehall, on
the 28th November, 1842.

Mr. Gunning conducted the eve for the prosecution ; Mr.
Prendergast defended the prisoner.
It appeared from the evidence of Mr. Snell, that his barn
had undoubtedly been maliciouly fired on the day in question,
and the evi lence'mainly relied on for the purpose of affixing its
guilt on the prisoner arose from the testimony of one Lad-
broke and others, to whom he was alleged to have made certain
statements admitting of but that interpretation. According to
Ladbroke it seemed that he and the prisoner, who had been
charged in 1640 with some offence by Mr. Snell's son, a farmer,