Star.
London, England, 1820-09-14 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY.

Yesterday morning these Sessions commenced be-
fore Mr. Baron GRAHAM, MI. Justice BEST, and Mr.
Justice RICHARDSON. The number of cases to be
tried this Sessions, as set down in the Calendar, is 402,
and among them are four cases of murder, three of;
forgery, 25 uttering bad notes, and two for stabbing.
Geo+ ge Orford and Peter Tyler, charged with break-
ing into the house of P. Hardwick, and stealing va-
rious articles of the value of 40s. upon being pot to
the bar, pleaded guilty, notwithstanding the admo-
nition of the Judge. The prisoners were taken from
the bar, and the plea of guilty recorded.
if: Fisher was capitally convicted of breaking and
entering the dwelling-house of W. Summersby, and
stealing four gowns, and other articles.
John Bates, a victualler, aged 57, was indicted
for feloniorisly, wilfully, and maliciously setting fire
to his dwelling-house, with intent to defraud the
Treasurer of the Sun Fire-office. In other counts he
was charged with intending to deft aud various other
persons. The ca,e having been opened for the pro-
secution by Mr. HOLLAND, the first witness called was''
Richard Lawley, who stated that he resided in
Love lane, Ratcliffe, and knew the prisoner in June
last. The prisoner was then the owner of a house
called the King's Arms, in High-street, Shadw•ell.
It had been a public--house, but the license having
been taken away, it bad been shut up since the pre-
ceding September. On the evening of the .sth ofJune
last, witness W3S passing the house in question, when
he saw fire issuing from it. He immediately pro•
cured pick-axes, and wrenched the door open. A fire
was discovered burning furiously in• the bar. This
was, with some assistance, extinguished. It was then
perceived that there was also a fire in the cellar un- '
derneath. Au entrance was effected, and a lump of
something burning was found there. This was also
extinguished ; and, on a farther examination, it was
observed that the kitchen was on fire, and that it had
bur nt up through the ceiling and partition in the bar.
Mr. S. Jamieson saw the fire on the night in ques-
tion, and near the partition in the bar he perceived
some staves of wood, which appeared to have be-
longed to casks. On searching the houie, he found
that there were no sheets on the bed, and that the
blankets bad been left. In the cupboard in the back
parlour he found some -pieces of paper, which ap-
peared to have been set fire to, and some sparks were,
when he saw it, still remaining. The bar was so far
distant horn the parlour, as to render it impossible
for fire to have communicated from the one place to
the other. A bundle of candles was found tied up
in the cupboard, and were partly melted. There was
very little furniture in the house, and that not of a
♦aluable kind.

Cross-examihed by Mr. ADOLPH us.—The prisoner's
house had been shut up since September. There had
been a petition, signed by the Churchwardens and
others, to the Magistrates, for the license of the house
to be renewed at the next license-day.

Robert Gwillim, a Police Officer belonging to
Shadwell-office, corroborated the previous testimony.
He believed the prisoner and his family lived at the
house in question, but he did not know whether they
slept there or not.
Randall, a fireman belonging to the Sun
Fire-office, was present on this occasion, and made a
statement similar to the previous witnesses. When
the fire was extinguished, he w eat to a house belong-
ins to a Mr. Jones, at Stepney, and inquired for the
prisoner. Bates was there, and witness told him that
there had been a fire at his house, but that it was now
extinguished. The prisoner said he would go with
him, and they both went together to High-street. On
the way, the prisoner asked him if he had the key of
the house? Witness replied in the negative, and said
the door had been forced open. Wells, another fire-
man, who was present, asked the prisoner if he had
been in the house that night, and he answered in the
affirmative. Wells then observed that the prisoner
must have the key; the prisoner, as if recollecting
himself, said that he thought " Mrs. Bates had it."
Matthews, a watchman, proved, that when the
door was forced open, it was Lund to have been
bolted and barred on the inside. •

Joseph Greenaway, a fiieman belonging to the
Sun Fire-office, proved the production of the policy
of insurance by the pris. nor, on the night in question.
Ilere the policy of insurance was produced, and
being read by the Clerk, it appeared that the whole
amount of insurance effected upon the house, stock
in trade, wearing apparel, plate, &c. was £2lOO.
The candles found in the cupboard were also pro-
duced. They seemed to have been partly melted.
Jame; Toplisc, a surveyor, employed by the Sun
Tire-office, stated, that after the fire he went over the
house to make a valuation of the property, and be
found that the property in the house included in the
item of £lOOO in the policy, was worth £ll5. Under
the item £5OO stock, property amounting to £9:71.8d.
was found ; and under the item £lOO lot plate, pro-
perty amounting to 1.:9:75. was only to be discovered.
The prisoner said he had lost a portmanteau, con-
taining plate of considerable value. The prisoner's
wife also stated the same fact.

—Griffiths, Esq. one of the Magistrates belong-
ing to the ShadwellPolice-office, proved the fact of
the license being taken from the prisoner. It was not
Aso suspended in consequence of the ill-behaviour of
the prisoner, but of his wife.
The case for the prosecution being here closed, the
prisoner was called upon for his defence. He entered
into rather a detailed statement of the facts of the
case, and asserted, that on the evening in question
he was at his house in High-street at about eight
o'clock, that he was called for by appointment by
Mr. Jones, with whom he went away, and did not
return to his house until called upon by the fireman,
at Stepney. He was much surprised at hearing the
fact of his house being on fire, and immediately went
away with the firer.-.an. The following witnesses were
then called for the defence :

Elizabeth Ryder stated that she had been lately
occasional se: rant to the prisoner and his wife.—
Twelve months ago she was a regular servant. Upon
her leaving, another was hired. The fire-wood used
in the house was always kept in the cellar, and can-
dles were put into the cupboard in the back parlour
when intended for immediate use. There was a fa-
vourite cat in the house at the time of the tire, and
after the fire, it was found to have received a burn
on its back.

Cross-ezarnined.—On the day of the fire she came

to the house to see the prisoner, and to agree wit
him whit time she should come to dean out the
house. The prisoner said he and his wife were going.
away for a short time, and witness was in the mean
time to remain in the house to takeocare of it. Wit-
ness, after she left the prisoner's service, went to live
with Mr. Jones, at Stepney-causeway.
Ile-examined—The prisoner and his wife only lived
in the house. The fastening to the front door Was a
bad one, and it was the prisoner's custom when he
left the house empty, to go out at the back door,
leaving the front door bolted and barred on the inside.
Ermined by the Comm—While she was in the
prisoner's service there were always sheets on the beds.
William Biddulf lived next door to the house in
question ; on the evening of the alarm of fire he went
into the house, and saw something burnt in the cup-
board in the back parlour. An hour before people
had been in the house with lights, but in his opinion,
the fire then in the cupboard could not have been
more than a quarter of an hour burning. The paper in
the cupboard he thought must have been set fire to
by some persons after the door bad been forced open.
Cross. examined.—He did not see the candles in the
cupboard ; his attention at the moment was taken off
by a pair-of pistols behind him. He saw the cup-
board at some feet distance. From the appearance,
he thought that the paper had been burning only
about a quarter of an hour.
Examined by the COURT.—He had seen no sparks
in the paper which was burnt in. the cupboard, but
he understood that the fire had been taken up by
Gwillim the Officer. His opinion, as to the time which
the burning of the paper occupied, was formed upon
both what he saw, and what he understood. He saw
no fire on the paper, and from what he saw, he
could. not tell how long the fire had been extin&ish-
ed. The paper was only partially burnt, and he
thought if it had been burning long, it would have
all been burnt.

Robert Jones, a publican, stated, that he was now
landlord of the Sampson and Lion public-house, near
the Tower, but he and his wife then lived in a private
house in Stepney-causeway. He had known the
prisoner for 15 years. On the night of the sth of
June, when the fire happened, he called upon the,
prisoner at about eight o'clock, by appointment, to.
go to the Sampson and Lion, witness being then in
treaty to take that public-house. He went into the
back parlour, where he found the prisoner. They
presently went away. The prisoner let witness Rut
at the front door, barred and bolted it on the inside,
and then came out himself at the back door. The'
witness, the prisoner, and his wife, all went to the
Sampson and Lion, and remained there till about
half-past ten o'clock. They then came out to go
home to Stepney.-causeway, but it rained hard, and
they went into the Cock and Neptune public-house,
and afterwards into the Ship, and stayed there until
about half-past eleven o'clock. From thence they
proceeded to Stepney-causeway. At about half-past
twelve some one knocked at the door. They were
surprised to hear it at that late hour. They then
understood that the prisoner's house was on fire, and
the prisoner immediately went out. From eight
o'clock, until half-past twelve, the prisoner was in
company with witness, and never left him. The
prisoner had always borne an excellent character.
Cross-examined.;—The prisoner and his wife were
to have slept at home on the night in question.—
Mrs. Bates, on hearing that the house was on fire,
went into a fit.

Elizabeth Jones, wife to the last witness, corro-
borated her husband's testimony.
William Burnett, on the sth of June last belonged
to the Sampson and Lion public-house. The two
last witnesses and prisoner came into the public-house
on that night at half-past eight, and remained till
twenty minutes past ten.
Examined by the COURT.—He was sure it was on
the night of the sth of June last they came in ; and
he was certain they went away at 20 minutes past
ten. He was sure of it, because he accidentally
looked at the clock when they went away.
Mrs. Hamber, mother to the last witness, corro-
borated her son's evidence.

John Austin, landlord of the Cock and Neptune,
and James Dodd, landlord of the Ship, proved that
the three persons mentioned came into their public-
houses on the night in question. •
John Kelly was, in 1819, employed by the pri-
soner to sell his public-house and business. The sum
of £3,200 was to be given for it, but no bargain was
struck. He also purchased a lease of the house in
question for the prisoner on the 24th Dec. 1817, and
paid £340 for it. The house was then shut up.
John Rose, a fireman of the Sun Fire-office, was
at the prisoner's house on the sth of June after the
fire: the fire in the cupboard was discovered before
he arrived. He saw some paper there partly con-
sumed, but from seeing it, he could not form any
opinion whether it had been burning a long or a
Ishort time. It wholly depended upon the quantity
of air which got to the paper whether it was con-
sumed or not. He saw a cat in the house. There
was a small hole burnt in the hair on the back, as if
a spark had fallen upon it.
Several witnesses were then called, who gave the
prisoner a good character for honesty and integrity.
Mr. Jasttce BUT summed up the evidence. The
Jury raked for about a quarter of an hour, and
brought in a verdict—Not Guilty.
The prisOner is a respectable looking man, and
conducted himself with much firmness during the
trial, which lasted four hours.

WORSHIP-rram.—Yesterday, Mr. Sheriff PAR..
KINB was summoned at this Office for refusing ta pay
a penny toll at Shoreditch Turnpike, on the day he
went to preside at the Middlesex Meeting, held at
the Mermaid, at Hackney, to address the QUEEN.
Deputy. PULLEN attended. instead of Mr. PARKINS,
and Mr. WILLIAMS, the Attorney, on the part of the
Lessees, to support the information. The defence
was, that Mr. PARKINS being a public officer, and
on public 'duty, was exempt from paying any toll.
Mr. WILLIAMS maintained the information. It was
laid under the local Act, commonly called the Holy-
well-street Act; and if the KING himself passed
through be was liable. If it had been even laid
under the General Turnpike Act, no one would be
exempt, even the Royal Family, unless they were
going from Palace to Palace. The Magistrate thought
it svai a case of vast importance, and was doubtful
whether the business of Mr. PARKINS was of a public
nature. The decision was postponed to a future day.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

John and Hannah Bunning. stood indicted for an
assault on their sister, Jemima Jenner, on the 19th
of June, in Molyneux-street, Edgware-road. The
case was somewhat extraordinary from the near re-
lation in which the partierstood to each other, and
from the conflicting evidence produced to the Jury.
Mr. ADOLPHUS stated the case on the part of the
prosecution. The prosecutrix, a witfok, in decayed
circumstances, nursed a child of another brother,
W. Bunning, who occupied . the lower part of the
house in which the defendants resided. The prose-
cutrix having been sent fol. by the mother of the
child on the evening of the assault, had no sooner
opened the door than she was violently assaulted by
the female defendant, had one of her teeth beaten
out with a brush, the blood brought from her face,
and was otherwise much bruised. The father of the
child, her other brother, ran to the spot upon bear-
ing the noise, when he %vat thrown down by the de-
fendant, John Bunning, as he endeavoured to *sepa-
rate the parties. These facts were sworn to by the
prosecutrix, her brother William, and her sister-in-
law, Elizabeth Bunning, all of whom deposed to the
wantonness of the assault on the part of the le-
fendants ; although it was admitted that there had
been much ill blood, and of long standing, among
the parties.
Mr. BARRY, for the defence, called Sarah Bun-
ning (niece of the parties), and Jane Brookman, an
elderly female who lodged in the house, who both
swore, in direct contradiction to the other witnesses,
that the first blow had been struck by William Bun-
ning, the brother of the defendants ; and that the
prosecutrix had pulled the female defendant by the•
hair, and tore her cap off.
The CHAIRMAN summed up the evidence, and the
Jury found both the defendants Guilty. The sen-
tence of the Court was, that J. Bunning should pay
a fine of I:5, and be bound to keep the peace for one
year, himself in the sum of £4O, and two securities
in £2O each.

The female defendant was fined 6s. Bd. and her
own recognizance taken to keep the peace for one year.
Mary Potts was convicted of an assault upon K.
S. Young, a collector of rates ; and a second indict-
ment, for a similar offence, was preferred'apinst
the prisoner by Bright, a headborough, both in the
parish of St. Matthew, Bethnal-Green. It, appeared
that the defendant was in arrear for taxes, and that
the plaintiffs had been employed in their office to
distrain for 12s. 6d. due. They stated that the de-
fendant at first refused payment, but had afterwards
given them the money.
11 Mr. BARRY, for the defendant, stated that the
plaintiffs had exceeded their instructions; and a wit-
ness, Mary Japp, was called to prove that the plain-
tiffs' endeavoured to carry from the premises h- bed
in which the defendant's children slept; and that
Young put his arm very indelicately round the waist
of the defendant.

The Jury, after a short deliberation, found the pri-
soner Guilty. Sentence—For the assault on K. S.
Young, a fine of £lO ; and for the assault on
Bright, a fine of 40s.

DARING OUTRAGE AND ROBBERY.--Yesterday,
while a number of seamen entered Piccadilly, on
their route to Brandenburgh House with the Address
to her MA.MTY, a most respectable young man was
surrounded by a daring gang of thieves, one of whom
instantly snatched his watch and seals and ran off.
He was directly secured, and the property was found
in his possession; but the gang again came up, and
most wantonly assaulted the young man, and rescued
the thief. The whole of them then rushed off into
the crowd, with the intention, no doubt, of perpe-
trating similar outrages.—A great many persons were
robbed of their seals, watches, and handkerchiefs.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENTS.—Tuesday evening, a
young Lady, of the name of RITCHETT, on a visit to
Mrs. BLOOMFIELD, of-Hatch-place, Lambeth, accom-
panied that Lady and a party of friends to the Co-
burg Theatre ; and, on their return, Miss RITCHETT
being left in the parlour alone, her shrieks alarmed
the houses and on the servant going in, her clothes
were on fire, and her hair was literally burnt off her
head. The servant promptly threw a table-cloth she
had in her hand around her, but the sufferer, who is
seventeen years old, is not expected to survive. The
fire must have caught her muslin frock in front, as the
lower part was not burnt.

Thursday, an inquest was held "at Cottenham,
Cheshire, before JOHN INGLE, Esq. on the body of
W. Wilson, a shepherd's boy, who, having missed,
one of the sheep he was keeping, ascended to the top
of a windmill, in order to look over the fields for it.
The Miller returned shortly afterwards, and not being
aware of the boy's situation, set the sails in motion,
which crushed him in several places, and caused his
death before he could be got home.

A Coroner's Inquest was held on Tuesday se'n-
night, at Newton St. Cyres, Exeter, on the body of a
child that had been killed by a pig. It appeared in
evidence, that the mother, a poor woman, went to
Exeter market, leaving her three children (the eldest
about five years old, and the youngest, the unfortu-
nate sufferer, about a year and a half) in a field at
play. During her absence a pig was seen mangling
the child in the hedge-trough ; and when it was re-
scued from its dreadful situation, the voracious ani-
mal had eaten off the ears, and horribly disfigured
the arms and vne of the sides, but life was not ex-
tinct ; the poor child survived but a few hours.—
The Jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death.

Tuesday se'nnight, as John Davis, bricklayer, a
sober, industrious man, was working at the top of a
chimney, at Christchurch, Hants, the round of the
ladder gave way, which precipitated him backwards
to the ground, by which fall he was so much injured,
as to occasion his death on Thursday morning, leav-
ing a wife and six children to lament his loss.

- .
Thursday, a man, who with others, was looking
at the bear called Martin, in the King's Garden, at
Paris, availed himself of a moment when the keeper
turned his back and jumped into the den. He was
instantly torn in pieces, and almost wholly devoured
by the ferocious animal.

Mr. R. LIGHT, of Fletchwood, being Rut shooting
with a party of friends on the Ist instant, his gun,
which was an old one, burst in the upper part of
.the
barrel, and his hand having been extended too far,
the top of his thumb was carried away.