Assault By A Gamekeeper.
The Times, 1824-10-27T00:00:00

(From the Shrewsbury Chronicle, Friday, Oct. 22.) At our county sessions this week, the foUowing case excited con. siderable interest : Rebert Herbert, gamekeeper to Thomas Whitmore, Esq., of ASIey, (a magistrate and one of the meRibers for Bridgnoreh), was indicted for an assault on Joseph Jones, an old man aged 66. Mr. B.%THER appeared for the prosecution and described the as. sault as one of the most ferocious, brutal, ad aggravated, that ever was brought before acourt of justice. He then called Joseph Jones, who gave the following account of the transaction:__" I live in St. lary's parish, Bridgnorth; on the 14th of June last. about six o'clock in the evening, I was rcturning from the Stepping Stones- hill by a footpath which leads directly from that place to my house; a littue whelp, nine months old, accompanied me, and whilst we were quietly proceeding homewards, and neither of au straggEng from the footpath, wse met the 'priconer, who was charging his gun in the company fof thdree odthbetcr IdividitualOs Hebr (t gzonahe prioer- cdlved us, hie cried out.... D...h.. your eyes; Jonts, 1'l1 shoot your aio'1 d. i If yOU hrve a lt t3 shoot hini on th foot. path, yomay.' Htrbert then set bin large lNewfoundlandbitch on the wheelf,li,asthepooa whel was sworie&terribly. Itried torescue the whelp from the bltclt, wYhen Heebeti meized eby thi collar, and threw me backwardr on the bauk. I no ooner got up than he took hold of me again, anid threw me down, where I must have tumbled over the rock, had t not caulgh hold of a tree. All thlis while the bitch was worrying the little cit in the coppice, .ad Her. bert crying out, ' Seize him, .Jip.' When I got up, I saw my little whelp quaking by the hedge; 1 took it In my arms, and was conveying it towards the road, when Herbert agait called out ' Seize him, Jip, kill him, Jip, and the large bitch seized me by the arm in an instant, whilst Herbert took hold of the lIttle whelp by the legs, and teating both mr coat and my arm In the strugge, forced the whelp from me, and dashed it to the ground I Finding the poor brute not yet dead, the prieoner seized him by the two hind i1 s, and dashed his head against the upper bar of a gtile; and wlilst the bitch was worrying Iton the ground, the prisoner took a knifc from his pocket and cat itc throat r I came away Alrectly, and the prisoner gathered up the rema.inS of quy thelp and threw thenm after me, crying ' l4owv, takre yoar dog. I was so muich hitrt in the scufle, that I had to employ lhr. Hall, then,urgcon, of bridgnorth, whose assistant attended me for several days, all of which I was off work from the wound In my arm." On his cross-examination for the prboner by Mr. SLANgY, he said, there is a cover on each side of the footvay, but mj dog never was hunting in it. The prisoner did not tell mq te keep my dog at home; neither did I say I would keep him in.sp'd' of him. I knov the prisoner is gamekeeper to the gentlemen at'Iirge in the neigh. bourhood, bat I do not Cnow that he acb lxi thgt cipaclty for Mr. Whitmore. Two of the three lndlvidaals wko iere In the ptlione'a company when the assault took pIsc, ave evidence vcry stmilar to the above; adding, that the Ne.=oun=andUdo was sone usd ior picking utp game; and that after Jones was rtt thtowtd downi a boniderable altercation took place between idm and the pdisanet. AM r. Vickers deposed, that the strgeon could not attend, having gone into Norfolk some time ago. Mr. SLANgY, for the defencee combated the various statements made by AMr. Bather in his opening speecb; and ealled F.B. Harries, Esq., who gaTe the pri.oner an excellent character, adding, 1I do not believe he would injutre a creature which was not interfering with the game.t Mr. BATHER.-Then Sir, you believe he awouldinjure a creature, if that creature ewar meddZing with the game ? AMr. Harriest- don't think yoa have any right to put Ruch a question; my character is before the Court, which will decide on my evidence. ir. BAiTrExT._Sir, I have a right to put any question to a wit- ness who steps forward to give evidence in this Court. I have nei- ther the vill nor the impudence to doubt the e5pectability of your character, but the natural inference to be drawn from your answpr was, that he would injure any one who wasmneddling with the game. flr, Harries.-I don'E believe he would. The CH1ATR3iA2f, in addressing thejary, i,tAhel f1rat point, he conceived, which was for their consideration was, 'hetker the pri- toner set the dog upon the whelp or upon the man, if they were of opinion that the words "Seizc him, Jip; kill him, Jip," were rmeant to encourage the dog to seize the whelp and not the mani theni the prisoner could not be found guilty of the aggrav asmamnt; but if they thought otherwise,-that is, that the dog wa directed to seize and kill the man then,-they must find a verdict of guilty of the ag- [ gravated assault. 1IMr. BATIHER-Sir, I beg to make a einple remark on the ob- servation you have just made. I conceive, if It is proved that the priconer was guilty of setting a furious animal on something in the possession of a-t individual, and that this brute seized on the man =nstead of on that to which the prisoner directed it, still the pri- soner was answersable for everyconBeeqence arising from such conduct. |Mr. SLrANEY rose to argue on the other side, when the C}A7R-. MAN interposed, saying he could not allow any further argument at this stage of the proceedings i if he was wrong, he was answerable; but he eonceived that the opinion he had given was correct. With respect to the other parts of the evidence, they clearly went to esta. blish the common assaults, and the only poirit for the Jury's consi- deration was the one he formerly stated, The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty both of the assault aad its aggravation. The CHAIRMsLA4,in passingsentence,said, addretssing the prisoner -It is necessary to show you that the situation you occupy as a gamekeeper can give you no right wrhatever to abuse or assault an indtvldual; still less to set a frious dot on a person who wa in to F ways disturbing you. You seemned to have no reasoa whatever for [your conduct; and it is neces ary that you should be made an e. a trin similar situaions, that they may be careful of what they are about. I should have been inclined to pass a much more savere sentence upon you had not thegood character you hare received induced my brother maistrates to mitigate the severity of the law. The sentence of the tourt is, that you be imprisened for six months, and be kept to hard laboar the whole of that period. At these sessions, Humphrey Smith, for stealing pick-ares at Wellingtan, was eentenced to hard labour six months; Bdwtin Godr:vitt, for stealing monley, the propery of Miessr. Macmichael, of Jlridgaorth, 14 days' imprisonmenti - f Bell, for staling appare1, the property oflfr. Roberts, efShifiiial, 6 months' hardlbour; 4 were found not guilty; 7 discharged; 2 not proeted. AS.9AULT BY A GAMEKEEPAYR.