Star.
London, England, 1820-08-12 00:00:00

WARWICK ASSIZES.

CRIMINAL SIDE.
A person Of the name of Bollaad was indicted for
a h*hway ztobbery on a man named Ekins, at a cer-
tain road near the village of o,westry, is this County. t
The robbery was in itself trivial ; but the contrariety
of evidence which was produced on either side ren-
dered it father interesting. The prisoner, a man of
respectable family, and who was very genteelly
dressed, was, it appeared, in the habit of selling
hones at the different fairs in this County ; and, in
the pursuance of his usual avocation, had attended
at the late fair at Oswestry. The prosecutor hap-
pened to be there at the same time; and, on his re-
turn from the fair; was stopped by a person dressed
like the prisoner, and robbed of the property which
he had about him. Many witnesses swore, from the
appearance of the prisoner, that he was the man who
had perpetrated the robbery. in answer to the ease
for the prosecution, no less than ten witnesses were
called, of highly respectable character, who proved
a complete alibi ; and the last of these witnesses
solved the whole mystery of the case. From his evi-
dence it appeared that the dress of the prisoner, which
was a frock-coat with a velvet collar—a thing very
unusual among the peasants and manufacturers of this
County, and which had been particularly remarked'
by several of the witnesses for the prosecution—was
not peculiar to him alone on this-occasion ; for the
witness deposed, that a man who was selling braces
in the fair, and who was about the same height and
shape with the prisoner, was dressed in a similar
way. The evidence of.the alibi being so strong, and
the respectability of the prisoner's character being so
decidedly spoken to, joined with the circumstance of
there being another m in the fair similarly habited,
'induced the Jury to return An immediate verdict of
Not Guilty, which was received with very evident
marks of satisfaction by a very crowded Court.
Joseph Richard: and Johss Shimmy were capitally
indicted for breaking into the dwelling-house of Mr.
John Jarves, of Banbury-street, Birmingham, in the
day-time, and stealing property to a considerable
I amount. The prisoners were seen near the premises
of the prosecutor, with bundles in their possession,
abut the time the robbery was committed ; and
rebut they were apprehended, their shoes were found
to correspond, in form and size With a number of
footamarks in the garden of the prosecutor, which the
prisoners had passed through.
The prisoner Richards said—" My Lard, the offi-
cer says my shoes fitted the foot-marks in the gar
den : I'll be d— if he did not swear that he would
make the shoes fit the masks when he took them off
my feet." •
The officer denied that he had said any such thing.
Sturmey wished the Judge (Gattaow) to ask the
officer if other shoes than his (prisoner's) might not
fit the marks?

The officer replied—" I dare say more shoes were
made off the same list."

Richards.--" My Lord, the shoes the officer (Red-
fern) gave me to wear, when he took mine off, ex-
actly fitted me."
Janos.--" You don't mean to say that Redfern
committed the robbery r
Richards.—" He is as likely to have committed it
as myself; his shoes are the same size as my own.;
and, therefore, the marks are no proofs against rae."
The JUDGE summed up the evidence, and the Jury
found the prisoners Guilty—Death.

DEVON.
Dor, ON DEM. OF WESTLAKE V. WESTLAKE.

This cause which occupied nearly the whole of the
day, was for the purpose of ascertaining the " red
Simon Pure," through the medium of a Jury; or, in
point of fact, to determine to which of two " Simons"
a third " Simon" meant to bequeath a moiety of bis
property, the whole of which was situate at Ex-
bourne, in this County, and was of the value of about
£4,000. The propensity of the Westlake family to
the sponsorial appellation " Simon" was a little re-
markable, for the testator " Simon" Westlake had'
three brothers, each of whom had a son named
" Simon ;" so that there was " Simon" the son of
Matthew ; Simon" the son of Richard ; and " Si-
more," the son of Thomas. • The will of the testator;
" Simon," contained this expression, I give to nay
bi-other Matthew Westlake, and my (here was an'
erasure) brother's son Simon, all, &c. Simon, the
son of Thomas, did not enter the lists ; but the in-
tention of the deceased was strongly contested be-
tween Simon, the son of Matthew, or Matt's Simon,
and Simon, the son of Richard, or Dick's Simon,
.as
the' witnesses emphatically called them. It appeared
thit Matt's Simon was the godson of Simon, the tes-
tator, and, being a likely youth, was bound appren-
tice at Plymouth, and was subsequently established
in London ; whereas Dick's Simon remained sta-
tionary upon the forth of his uncle: Nothing, per-
b:lo, could be more contradictory, in the shape of
evidence, than the account given by the respective'
witnesses of the testator's regard for the respective
Simons ; for, on the part of Mates Simon, it 'was'
said, that the old man had always spoken in terms
of the greatest regard, bestowing upon Dick's Simon,'
who lived with him, the appellation of a " dung-,
blooded black-eared roue." On the part of Dick's
Simon, many declarations were deposed to of the
'testator, in which, so far from branding him with
being a " dungblooded-black-eared rogue," he had
entertained the intention of leaving him a moiety of
his property.
After a most elaborate inquiry, the Learned Judge
(Mr. Baron GlAtasst) left it to the Jury to decide
which was the red " Simon;" and the Jnry, in about
a quarter of an hour, decided in favour of Matt's
Simon, by returning a verdict for the plaintiff.

Monday se'nnight, a number of the Irish labourers,
who are engaged at anew embankment now in progress
at the foot of the river Annan, went to bathe them-
selves nearly opposite Waterfoot ; and after having
done bathing, and when most of them had regained
the beach, one of their number, an expert swimmer,
who,had actually astonished all his companions by
his activity, stink without any visible cause, in about
,twelve feet of water. His companions rushed•to his
assistance, and notwithstanding every endeavont, the
body
,was not found till the tide had nearly receded;
but by. this time the vital spark was extinct. His se
mains were buried the next day, and such was the
respect hewn by his countrymen, that upwards of`-:a
hundr.ed of them attended his fttnaah ,and cyptti•~
hated a ihil4ng each to defray 410 expense&