Star.
London, England, 1828-04-12 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY SESSIONS.

Before Lord Thersanen, Mr. Justice Paws,/ Mr. Sam,
Yesterday, John Short, who was pies-to:As. sly • altdai
sentence of death for horse-stealing, was tried eitifin,
and found guilty of stealing money and other articles out
of the dwelling house of William Moores, at Pinner.
Catherine Welch, aged twenty-four years, stood in-
dicted for the wilful murder of her male child John
Welch, on the first of March last. _

Mai), Hickman deposed, that she was passing along
Parson's•green on the 2d of March, about eight o'clock
in the morning, when she observed the body of a male
infant in the ditch. Her husband was with her. She
pointed out to him the body. She gave notice to the
parish constable, who took the child out of the water,

and conveyed it to his house. The child, on being
taken out of the water, appeared to be about six week.
old. This witness's husband corroborated her statement.
John Levatt is a-constable at Fulham ; took the child
out of the ditch, first to his own house, and then re•

moved it to the White Horse public-house, where Mr.
Holmes examined it in the presence of witness; is quite
sure that the child which the surgeon saw in pre-
sence was the same as he took out of the water.

R. Holmes, a surgeon, residing at Fulham, proved
that, on examining the body of the child in question,
there were several bruises on various parts of the body.
which might have been occasioned by blows or by falling
against stones when thrown into the ditch. He should not
consider the wound on the forehead sufficient. to have
caused death; the eyes were suffused with blood, and
the eye-balls nearly destroyed, as if great pressure had
been made on the head; there were na marks on the
thr °etas if the child had been strangled. Considered the
death of the child to hate been occasioned by pressure
with the hand on the trachea ; was quite satisfied that the
wound on the temple was inflicted during the lifetime
of the child ; had seen the prisoner in the workhouse
previous to examining the child; inquired if she hid
been suckling a child; she said she had for two months ;
her child had died, she observed, about two months
back, when it was only a fortnight old; it was born at
Saffron-hill ; the child had been baptized at the Spanish
Chapel, Spanish-place; at first she said that she took it
to be buried, and then said no, the woman with whom
she lodged did ; she said that the person who made the
coffin was a fellow lodger, but she did not know his
name; that he had since left the neighbourhood, and she
did not know whither he had gone; the child did not
appear to have been iq the water for more than 12 or
14 hours; no putrescence had taken place.
The constable said he saw the prisoner walking by the
side of the ditch. He inquired if she was looking for
any thing, because he had found something which he
believed belonged to her; she asked what? he said a
child ; she said she had none ; he followed her, and told
her that she must go with him ; and as they walked
together, she said that she had had a boy named Johnny,
who was buried in Mary-la-bonne church-yard.
William Cooke—Works in the garden of Mrs. Fitch;
the garden is about a quarter of a mile from where the
child was found. (in Monday morning found two little
frocks and a child's flannel petticoat in Mrs. Fitch's
garden; they were rolled up and pinned together; they
were lying in the very spot where he had been standing
to work on the Ist of March, which was on a Saturday.
Those produced in Court are the same as those he gave
to the constable.

The prisoner was now called upon for her defence.
She stated that her child had been buried in the old
burying-ground of Mary-la-bonne parish. She protested
her innocence of the charge in very strong terms ; and
stated that she was without either friends or acquaint.'
antes to speak in her behalf.
Lord TENTERDEN charged the Jury at considerable
length ; after which they consulted together for about
fifteen minutes in the box, but not agreeing, they re.
tired at half•past twelve o'clock to consider of their
verdict. On their return into Court, at half-past three,
they found the prisoner Guilty, but recommended her to
mercy on account of her youth, and as the evidence was
only circumstantial. On hearing this verdict, the pri-
soner was powerfully affected, and vied oat several
times—" My soul will be in heaven, for I am not guilty
of this crime."

The RECORDER then passed the awful sentence of
Death on the unhappy woman. She was ordered for
execution on Monday, and her body to be given to the
surgeons for dissection.
While the sentence was passing on her, she was
dreadfully agitated, and towards the conclusion of the
address fainted away. She was carried out of Court by
two of the officers.

Russell Browns was indicted for assaulting James
Gallowly on the King's highway, and stealing from his
person Ws. his property. The prisoner, in his defence,
said that ke was quite innocent of the crime laid to his
charge. Two witnesses gave him a good character for
general honesty. After which Mr. Justice PARK charged
the Jury.—Verdict, Getilty

NEW COURT.
doneas Hollier was convicted of stealing several sit-
ver spoons and forks, the property of Mrs. St. Leger,
who resides at 22, Baker-street. On the morning of the
31st of March, the prisoner was seen by the footman
going out through the door of the front area. He was
pursued, and on being searched, the property was
found in his coat pocket. It was stated, that the pri-
soner had been for a curuiderable time in the habit of
sneaking down the areas of houses in that neighbour-
hood, under pretence of selling potatoes.
James Bailey, was indicted for stealing three gallons
of sherry, the property of Mr. Lovegrove, the landlord
of the Percy Arms, in Rathbone-place.
Mr. CLARKSON, for the prisoner, submitted, that the
article alleged to have been stolen was not sufficiently
described in the indictment. It was impossible, from
what appeared on the face of the indictment, to say
whether the prisoner was charged with stealing wine,
inasmuch as the liquor stolen was merely designated
" sherry."
The Courcox Ssacieutur was of opinion that the case
ought to go to the Jury ; it would be for them to say
whether the evidence clearly explained what was mean
by the word's sherry."
It appeared that the prisoner was observed sitting in
a cart, in which there were two pipes of wine, the pro-
perty of the prosecutor. The prisoner bad his back to
the horse, and was observed to be working at one of the
pipes, as if in the act of boring with a gimlet. This
induced a beadle, who had for some time bees watching
his motions, to approach the cart, upon which the pri-
soner dashed a nose bag violently against one of the
wheels, and broke a large bottle containing wine. The
bottle was in the nose bag. Daring the confusion the
carman absconded, and the prisoner also attempted
to escape.
It was proved that the pipe of wine which, to use the
phrase of the witness, had been" plundered," contained
107 gallons of wine on delivery t 6 the carman, at the
London Ducks, and that on being paged. at Mr. Love-
, grove's, there was a deficiency of three gallons.
There was some doubt about the ptoof of the quality
of the wine. The beadle who took the prisoner said it

was not white wine—it looked more like sherry ;be sop.
ppsed white wilie VIJII of the colour of gin; be did not
thint 1 t•ws% cl aiet,inithe Wes- not in the habit of drinking
that *situ IN rdiip-- Gefh.y.