Star.
London, England, 1810-07-23 00:00:00

At BATII.

AT THORPA RCII.

~ . .
John Gillen was indicted fen/ feloniously stealing, 'charge appeared to he sued a'gross, desperate and
setretiog, and embezzling a sun Of itsl3. ss. Gd. larrocious attempt to swear away the lives of those
which he was en: rested to receive on the Atli -May for I young men, one of whom she suspected to have ad-
account of his employers, Messrs. Rowe, Goad, Reece, : vised the other to discard her, that Sir ALLEN CHAIN-
and Co. brokers, in All-hallows, to whom he was 1 suis: thought it unnecessary, to hear any other evi-
Cierk. I deuce, or to sum up for the Jury, and both prisoners
The case for the prosecution was stated by Mr. i were acquitted.
GARKOW, frsni whose statement, and the tes:imony J. Ellis, a fireman, belonging to the Royal Ex-
of Mr. Reece, one of the partners of the said .firm, it change Fire Company, was indicted for the murder
appeared that the prisoner was a junior clerk in the i of W. Williams, a boy of 10 years of age, on the loth
house, and employed generally in keeping accounts, ,of June.
and paying and receiving money on account of the On the evening of that day the prisoner was driv.
I
Company, in which capacity he had lived about thir- ing a cart along Cursitor-street; at a quick pace, when
teen months. The house bad purchased a quantity the back-board fell off, and he pulled up in order to
of East India leather for account of Goodrick and I rieseer it. While in the act of picking it up, the
Co. and had orders to take it out of the East India horses set off at a smart pace, such as is usual with
Iwarehouses in the Custom-house, and on the Bth of horses hurrying after a fire ; and the deceased, run-
May Mr. Reece gave the prisoner a draft, payable to ning across the street, WAS thrown down, and the
Grieve and CO: on Messrs. Hoare and Co. bankers, wheels passing over him, he was killed on the spot.
in Fleet-street, for ,X. 515. ss. 6(1. in order to pay the Mr. Justice Li BLANC, in summing up the evidence,
duties upon the leather at the Custom-house. observed, that from the nature of this case it was im-
. The. prisoner received payment of this draft, and possible to convict the prisoner of murder, because no
went to the Custom-house for the purpose of getting prerious malice appeared against him. The death
out the leather; It was necessary that the warrant was occasioned by a mere accident, yet if that acci-
for this purpose should be signed by five different offi- dent was attributable eithtr to the carelessness or the
cers in the Custom-house, two of whom might sign negligence of the prisoner, it would become their duty
previously to the payment of the duty, but on paying to find him guilty •of Manslaughter; but if they
the duty it must be signed by the Collector, and at- thought otherwise, they would find their verdict ac-
terwards by the controling signatures of two other • cordiegly.—The Jury retired for near two hours, and
officers. The regular signature!, of the officers, who on their return, found a verdict of acqeittul on both
should sign previously to the payment of the duties, charges. ...
were obtained to the warrant ; but the other signa-
tures of the Collector .and the other officers were for-
ged, and the warrant, thus signed, was presented by
the prisoner to Mr. Thomas Bond, Clerk in the Office
lof East India Imports in the Custom-house, for the I
purpose of procuring the delivery of the leather, and
thereby defrauding the revenue of the amount of the
duty payable. Mr. Bond, however, on examining
the warrant, instantly detected the forged signatures,
and went immediately to acquaint the Commissioners
of Customs. An application was in consequence
inade to the Lord Mayor, and Mr. N ilder, the De-
puty Marshal, proceeded to the counting liaise of the
prisoner's employer, accompanied by Mr. Bond, who
pointed him out, and he was taken into custody ;
when, on searching about his person, Mr. Milder
found in his pockets the whole amount of the draft
he had geceived, and also a paper with a calculation
of the amount of duty on the leather, in the prisoner's
hand-writing.
The officers whose names were forged, namely,
Mr. James Dekin, Mr. Boswell Middleton, and Mr.
R obertThom as, attended and proved that their names .
signed to the warrant, were not of their hani-writing.
There was still, however, a link of the evidence wan-
ting to sustain the indictment : and this was the proof
of the payment for the draft at Messrs. Hoare's. But
this depended upon the testimony of the cashier and
one of the pay clerks in that bank, both named Hoare,
the former a partner in the house ; but both being
quakers, refused to swear, notwithstanding . all the
endeavours of Mr. Gannow to urge them to it, as a
duty' imposed by their situation of bankers, eetausted
with so much-riscoparty, , and in aid of the laws for the
protection of that property ; and although tleee we: e
two indictments upon this part of the case, this defect
was deemed fatal to both, „ad the prisoner nas Ac-
quitted.
i There was another indictment against the prisoner
at the prosecution of the Commissioners o 1 Custemc,
'for a misdemeanour in forging the signatures of per-
sons duly authorised to sign, to a public documi nt,
I with intent to defraud the revenue.
In support of the charge the testimony of the Cus-
tom-house officers before examined,- was again ad-
duced ; but it was objected by Mr. POOLEY and Mr.
ALLEY, on the part of the prisoner, that the principle
of evidence in this case should be the same as in other
hedictments for forgery ; and therefore, unless it could
by proved that the forgery now in question was of the
name and hand-writieig of tile principal officer, or that
of some person duly, i. c. legally appinted, the in-
dictment could not be sestained. This objection was
grounded upon the testimony of Mr. Boswell Middle-
ton, Controuler of Excise, who acted in the place of
the Earl of Guildford, chief of that office, and who
could produce no document nor evidence to prove his
appointment to act as deputy. It was therefore ar-
gued that the signature forged should have been that
, of the Earl of Guildford in order to sustain this indict-
ment. Another objection made was to the testimony
1 of Mr. James Dekin, Collector of Customs, who being
responsible for the sum of money of which his signa-
ture acknowledged the receipt, he was therefore an
interested witness, and his testimony inadmissible.
Slr SIMON LE BLANC however over-ruled these ob-
jections.
The prisoner offered no defence, but adduced a
number of very respectable evidences to his character,
many of whom bad known him from three to nine
years, and spoke of him in the most favourable terms.
Sir Simost LE BLANC, in charging the Jury, said,
that if any doubt remained in their minds,, aster the
evidence they had heard, character should turn the'
scale in the prisoner's favour; but if no such doubt
did rest on their minds, character, however respect-
able, ought not to weigh against the nnimpeached
evidence of facts. However lamentable, therefore,
it was that a man, with so good a character should
be so unfortunate as to place himself in such a
predicament, the Jury were upon their oaths, and
must decide upon the evidence before them and the
i credibility of that evidence. The Jury found the
' prisoner guilty.
William Harding and James Fago, two young men
of respectable appearance, were capitally indicted for
a-highway robbery upon a girl of the town, named
Pickering, about three weeks since, in Greek-street,
Soho.

Friday last ended the General Quarter Sessions of
the Pt:.ce for the Western Division of Kent, when

John Brown, charged with uttering a note,putportu c to be of
the value of £2, with intent to defraud Wm. Eagles. WI. toed
Iti.,and sentenced to be imprisoned in the House of Correction, I
Maidstoae, calendar months.
e Roberts, for uttering in St. ratirs,Deptford, a piece of
fahGeela counterfeit money ; and John Manning, for stealing In
Dartford divers boards, the property of Thomas Caltiecot, Esq.
were sentenced each to be imprisoned sic calendar nnwths.
Wm. Bassam, for feloniously stealing in St. Nicholas, Dept-
ford, five pew:er pint pots, the property of James 'Turner; Aim
Bassett, o:herwi.e liasam, for stealing also at St. Nicholas, Dept-
ford, one pewter pint jet, from tke said James Turner, were sen-
t, need, each t 9 be inyrisoned three months, the former in the
House of Correction, Maidstone, the latter ;n the County eaol.
Wm. Reevcs, Mary Smith, Wm. Bellehambers, Sarah Stick-
ling, and Catherine Hone, charged of different petty offences,
were discharged by proclamation.
The Fair of Montpelier (O'Brien's Bridge) near
Limerick, exhibited on Monday, the 9th, a scene truly
terrific : two parties, distinguished as the Shehane's
and Lynch's families, opposed to each other, notwith-
standing a continued rain, fought the whole day, in
a manner best suited to savages, and only terminated
their dispute, after much bloodshed, by the latter fac-
tion driving many of their opponentt across the Shan-
non ; chasing the lesser evil of being drowned, rather
than having their brains beat out by the clubs and cud-'
gels of their conquerors. Two or three Magistrates
were at the lair, but not having the assistance either
of the civil or military power, they were obliged to
be silent spectators of what so frequently occurs to
disgrace that country.
No less than eleven pick-pockets were apprehended
in Deptford Dock-yard, during the launch of the
Royal Charlotte, on Tuesday, and taken before Mr.
Goonmew, the Magistrate of Deptford, who sent seven
of them on board the Tender. Bill Soames was seen
in the Yard, but iif the crowd escaped the vigilance
of the oilers. On the opposite short, there were
weeral numerous gangs, who openly turned, the
pockets inside out of a number of people, without
the least interruption.

NEWCASTLE COAL.
Adair's Main
Beckworth
Benton Long
Bewick Main
Coxlodge
Denton
F ighton Moos
Edison
Fielding
I loaton Main
Holywell Main
Killingworth
Collingwood
Montague Main
Percy
Pontop Simpson's
Pontsip Windsor's
South H-bburn
Tanfield Moor
East Tanfield
Tyndale
Townley Main
Walker
Wall's End
Temple's Wall's End
Wortley
Willi.gt.n
Wylam
Bewick's Wall's-End
Bell's Walls• End
Manor Wall's End
Charlotte Main
Blyth
Cowpen Main
Hartley

The prcrsecutrix appeared to be the daughter of a
Bow-street runner—and had, for six years, cohabited
with Harding ; who was at last induced by the ad-
vice of his friends to dismiss her. She swore, that
between twelve and one in the night stated in the in-
dictment, she went into a public-house, the George,
in Greek-street, to get change of a one pound Bank
note. She saw the prisoners there, and immediately
Lame ent again. Bat they instantly followed her into
the street ; Harding knocked her down, without say-
ing a word ; Fago took her by the arm, and twisted
the note out of liter hand ; and they both ran away.
She called no watchmen ; she saw none in the street,
nor did she tell any one else until she went home to
her lather's residence in Tottenham-place. But on
her cross.eiamination, by Mr. Alum, the whole