The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-18 00:00:00

THE MURDER AT STANLEY, DERBYSHIRE.

(From the Derby Reporter.)
In the account of the capture of Bonsall and Bland it is
stated that a third person connected with the burglary and
murder had absconded to Leek, whither Hawkins, the con-
stable, had pursued him. On arriving at Leek, Hawkins
went to the house of Holmes's parents, and desired to know
where their son was. At first the father denied all know-
ledge of him. Hawkins, however, searched the house, and
found what is called a sweep's budget (or wallet), contain-
ing some articles supposed to have been stolen from Miss
Goddard's, whereupon he took Holmes' father into custody.
The father then became more communicative, and told
Hawkins that his son had gone back to Heage for his brush
and other things ; and after Hawkins had satisfied himself of
the truth of this statement, he left the articles found in the
budget in charge of the Leek constable, and immediately
returned to Heage. Here he learnt that Holmes had indeed
been in the neighbourhood of Heage, but that he had sent
his lad to his lodgings for the articles he wanted. Informa-
tion was conveyed to Hawkins that Holmes had gone i❑ the
direction of Castle Donington, or Loughborough, and on
Friday morning he went in pursuit ; but it turns out, that
as soon as Holmes had secured his brushes, &c., he returned
to the neighbourhood of Leek, and secreted hithself in a
wood about a mile from that town. In the meantime hand-
bills were issued, offering a reward of £5O for his detection.
Some time in the course of Friday a sweep, well acquainted
with Holmes, saw him in this wood, and communicated with
Keetes, the Leek constable. A trap was then set for ,him.
A stranger was sent to Holmes's mother, who told her that
the Heage constables were after her son. The mother, in a
state of great trepidation, immediately posted off to Keetes,
and asked him confidentially, " as a friend," what her son
had better do under the circumstances. Keetes told her that
he had better fetch his budget, and be off out of the country.
The bait took : Holmes left the wood and went to his father's
on Friday night for his budget, and the constable (who was
lying in wait for him) followed him into the house and took
him into custody.

On the follow-ing morning he expressed a wish to be taken
before a magistrate, and when there, after having been cau-
tioned in the usual manner, he made a full confession, licking
himself clean of any participation in the murder. His state-
ment, in brief, was this :—About eight o'clock on the night
of the burglary and murder, Bonsall came to his house and
wished him to accompany him to Stanley, stating there was
plenty of money to be obtained at Miss Goddard's. Holmes
agreed to do so, and Bonsall then went to Bland's, in whose
company he shortly afterwards returned, and all three then
went to Stanley, where they arrived towards 11 or 12 o'clock.
On arriving at the house, they observed a light in the house-
place, and they remained some time before they attempted
an entrance. Between 12 and 1 Bonsall removed the slate
from the roof of the coal-house, and then got through the
aperture, Holmes himself following. Bland they let in at the
back door. As soon as they got into the coal-house, they
saw Miss Sarah Goddard approaching them. Bonsall
" struck her dow-i" and beat and kicked her, but she es-

caped from them and ran up stairs into her own room, the
door of which she bolted. Bonsall followed her, broke open
the door, and again 'beat and kicked her, demanding a £5
note, which, he said, she had. She gave Bonsall two sove-
reigns and some silver. Bonsall lighted a lucifer-match, and
pulled out his knife to cut her throat, but Holmes said,
" Nay, we'll have no murder, however." Bonsall then
.. .

went tO the bedroom of Miss Goddard (the deceased), which,
being fastened, he broke open. Miss Goddard was just in
the act of getting out of bed in great fright, and on seeing
them enter she screamed, whereupon Bonsall struck her over
the head several times with an iron "jemmy," and she fell
as if dead. After ransacking the house they left it. Holmes
had 14s. of the money as his share. This, in substance, is
his confession. He says Bland did not accompany them to
either of the two former robberies at Miss Goddard's, and
that he took no part in the murder, although he was present
as well as himself. One " Phil Donaghan," who resides at
Wirksworth, was, he says, a party in the former robberies,
and has a pair of trousers made out of some cloth they stole
on one of those occasions. He denies striking a blow at all
himself.

On Monday, Holmes was taken to Stanley, and identified
by Miss Sarah Goddard as one of the two persons she saw in
the coal-house. She did not see a third person. She says
Holmes struck her first ; and then Bonsall shook his fists at
her " in a stern savage manner," and knocked her down and

beat her with an iron bar.
Bland's statement, as far as we yet know it, is to the effect
that Holmes struck Miss Sarah Goddard first, and that
Bonsall followed up the blow; and that Holmes was strug-
gling with the deceased when Bonsall struck her over the
head with the jemmy. He says, after Bonsall and Holmes
had been upstairs, they came down again, and threatened to
knock his brains out if he did not "go up with them." He
also states, that after the murder had been committed he re-
fused to assist in packing up the stolen articles ; but they
again threatened, and compelled him.
Bonsall, we understand, gives something like this as his
version :
Between seven and eight o'clock on the night of the mur-
der, Holmes and he were together at his house. Holmes,
he says, proposed to go and rob Miss Goddard's house ; but
he (Bonsall) wished to go and rob a tan-yard at Chesterfield,
there being no house within a hundred yards of it. Holmes
demurred ; and they subsequently agreed to go to Stanley,
whither Band accompanied them. They reached Stanley
between ten and eleven o'clock, and observed a light in the
house. After lingering about, Miss Sarah Goddard suddenly
emerged from • the house, and went into the garden. They
waited until she had returned, and had (as they thought)
sufficient time to go to bed, when they removed the slates,
and Holmes and he got through. Miss Sarah Goddard,
however, met them near the coal-house, and Holmes imme-
diately knocked her down and then drove her up stairs.
They followed her up stairs and demanded money ; and after-
wards went into the bedroom of the deceased Miss Goddard,
who was getting out of bed. She screamed, and exclaimed,
" Men, men, what -do you want?" To this they replied,
" Money." She said she had not any ; and he (Bonsall)
called her a , and told her she had money, and money
they would have. She made a rush towards the door, and
Holmes knocked her back again and then murdered her.
Bonsai' says he made the " jemmy" out of an old poker,
and has hid it, together with most of the articles stolen, in a
garden, but he does not say where.
The prisoners will be finally examined on Saturday.
The two persons named Keeling and Green, who were
taken into custody on suspicion, were set at liberty on Thurs-
day evening.

ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE FROM STAFFORD GAOL.

A deep-laid plan to break out of the gaol here was disco-
vered on Friday morning by the active and intelligent governor
Mr. Brutton. It appeared that a large body of the prisoners
confined in one wing of the building had arranged to secure
the turnkey on entering the day room, and, after securing
him so that he could neither offer any resistance nor cry out,
to possess themselves of the keys, one of which they had
ascertained would open a room immediately adjoining, in
which fifty or sixty stand of arms were deposited. There is
little doubt that had the prisoners succeeded in possessing
themselves of the keys and the arms, they would have ac-
complished their object—getting outside the building. Ellis,
one of the prisoners, who has been convicted at the present
special commission, and several other of the convicts, were
engaged in the plot, and from the desperate character of
many of the party, and the small number of military sta-
tioned at the prison, there was every probability, had the
governor not received timely intimation, the plan would have
completely succeeded. The most efficient arrangements
were immediately made for the security of the prison, the
several doors opening upon their yards and day rooms being
strengthened with iron bolts and bars, and some old iron
doors, which were not in use, having been applied to secure
the various passages. Several intimations, had been pre-
viously received that such a design was in contemplation,
but the reports were believed to be unfounded, and it was
only on the very eve of the outbreak, which was fixed for the
following night, that positive information was forwarded to
the governor. The prisoner who communicated the design
of the gang, was Neale, a man who had been tried at the
present commission, and sentenced to two years' imprison-
ment and hard labour. A report of all the circumstances of
the case was immediately forwarded to the Secretary of
State. The prison is under the surveillance of six turnkeys,
seven wardsmen, all well armed, and a party of the 34th
foot mount guard day and night.
There are 186 prisoners for trial at the October Sessions
for Stafford, most of them being for offences connected with
the late disturbances in the Potteries. Of these, 24 are
females ; 18 can read and write well, 15 imperfectly ; 4 can
read well, 42 imperfectly, and 59 can neither read nor write ;
13 are out upon bail.