Summer Assizes.
The Times, 1824-08-23T00:00:00

Before M'sr. Baron HfULLOCLC Thom7ag Atchiaor;, a pitman, aiged 22, Was placed at the bar, charged with the willel MUrder of Hlenty Curry on the 12th day of April last. The prisoner p leded "1not guilty. Mir. WIGHTXA-,% read te indictment, and Mir. HOLT ConduCted the case for the prosecution. From theevidlence called on the part of the Crown, it appeared that on the evening of' the 12th of April last, the prisoner at the bar had been dIrinking along with the deceased Henry Curry, and two of his brothers, at a public-houmc near Chesiter.le..Street. George I-eppel, ,he landlord of thie publfc-.house, at first refused to let the prisoner have anv liquor, fromn a knowledlge that wheni he had taken it he wvould becomet a very riotous customer. Subsequently, howecver, he was persuaded by the deceased and hisH brother to let the prisoner takec s.ome liquior along with theim. In the course of thie evening this trio of friendIs drank from 11 to 14 pints of ale. Thie result was, that they, became so noisy and riotous, that the landlord was obliged to )serd fo)r the constable, Rtlph W11aLson, about 10 o'clock, to preserve order. 'The constable tieposed, that on arriving at the puxblic-house about 12 o'clock at niight, lie found the prisoner at the baa' and the deceased wraingling. abouit the reckoning. The deceatscd said that the prisoner hatd half a crowon of his brother's mioney, and that he ought to psy that sumn in discharge of the 'bill. Thie pri- soner refused to do so, and willhout any further provoca- tion hit the decea-sed a slight blow on th face. The deceased immediately took up the poker, and was preparing to take speedy vengeanice on the prisoner with it, when the constable initerfered, and made htim lav it dtown before lie liad inflicted any blows with it upon, hisitdversar~-. As theyconfntined to wrangle up~on the same subjec for some time ,f'terwtirds, the constable thought proper, as it wa's e past onie o'clock on. the Sunday raorning,toinsiat that they should all inimuediatelv qutit the house. The whole party thercuptin went away quietly, except the pris'oner Atchison, wio was at last violen,tl'y turned ,out of it by the landlord anti the constable. On their g-ettinig himn into the street, he turned roundt upon them, and struck alt them bothi with great animosity. As thiey knewv and feared the temper of thie mnan, whio swore At them both w'ithi great warmnth, ;Ind declared chat he would kniock off cuec head of thie landllord,. andI rip up tie b-_v guts of 'he constable, they retroated b:ick into the house, as soon As thiey hadi succeeded in fitreing himn ouit of iL The prisor-er endeavoured to foice his way into it, but did not succeed, in corsRe- quece of th- tmeatsures wizich had beeti taken to secure the doors. Ieig thustoi filetd, he utok up a rai iwo,aidbgnt ms thle landlord's winidows. 'i'lie lanfflordi requested hin) to cdesist, on thie ground that liis continuance in such, -isconduct tiuost ulttnitaely prove quite ruinotis to them bothi. rhe prisoner only persisted the more in fracturing the wind~ws ott account of'this retnonstrance He had broken every square of glass, in one window, and wa, proceedi,g to demnolish) the cross-bar of it, wvhen the landlord again insisted on his forbeatrinig to work suichi ruin upon his property. The prisoner re- pliced, " You h-r, you shall not be alive in five mi;nutes." The landlord, fintli.t g that entreaties, were in vai-n, armed himself with thie loker. The prisonier Ftruck, at, the cross-bar of the window,broke it into shivers, and twas proceeding to get thltasgh the wintlow into she houase,wber ts rieTeeved;. firnn the poker whichi the landlord held, a blow on the forettead, juist above hts left ev'e.which cttvered him witit bloodi, atid made hiti stagtger back immediatelY.. lie then went round to thie ltack door ofetlie hiouse, and camne to it jusgt as thec corn- stable hadi finished sccuring it. Nestruck it violent!iv foa' some timec, but did not speak a single word. After lie hiad beer. thus engaged fur sonici minutes, the cotistable, who had seeni the deceased dlepart. andi whlo as well as the other witnesses, couldl give nio account of tilt reasons whielt intduced himi to return, hicardl the prisoner address Hlenry Curry in these wordis-" Harry, you got the poker tip tcc inc just now." The constable W &tauntileposed that after chessE words were uttered, he heard a blow which sounded as if it were given by somei othier Iveaplon thian a fit,. atid then a noise like that of a mian faltitig. TlIt constable thien went into the kitchien, and pro. itosed to the lardhtird that thiey, should go out atnd seize the~ prisot.er. The landtlord refusedl at first, alle ging that theli blood was noiw flying, itnd thiat he thought that thety could tiot gzet the pri. tottr itto te (if I"(he Prisotil. Ultimnateli.% h,tawever, lie went out withi the constable On getting into the street, they st-ized the pri. sotter, antl got him diown almonst bef'ore he saw thett. He swore. hotwever, at clietn ve,,r ferociouslY, and struggled withi tliett verrs viyorou.sly, till, by) so)nic( w..e.ns or otlier, lie succee-ded ittgectting all tkis feet. 'I'lte constable intl thelandlord titen thought it ptrudetit EC) retfire, ats they found theMselves niot strong enough to c-ope wieti a person of'suchl miusc-ular powers as the prisoner i'osspssed. Thie roTn. st-able inot d.tring, tuttoeti tte tront door ofthe pubfic-house. tetreated into is by thet halck duour, followed tor some distance in his ret-eat by the prisoner. In going' to it, tie tounti a titan l.ying insensitble itt iltec road, 1 clt rt"et1'enre of this st fi sitbe cimtnaable. '. I rappetf lout1] v at ttite ditor. ttn'r'ng them tti uip'l t,, Its there was a persuti Ivintg sear vt whrit I blteeevcd ttt II dead. A1 tana oem he nam of Femiwick lien camt- 'u'. and helped mec tot carry'v tile person in. I foiund it toube hi ttn'Y nr',ur He was in a most latoenttble state, anti all over coveredl wittis bihitod lie was bleeding at his noas atisd mouith, ttnd had a little blood nmarl' on tlte right side of the head. On get. ting hint into the httue,e I placed ltit hi a sittine tiostti0n, 'A-i0i hi- hecad up, alttd wash1ed Ilti! wounids with war'm water. tehichi was brought to mie by nit (t-iere. A surcee.n Was scrtt foar, btits before his, errival Hienry urtiv wse lead. Tits atrt_eon, why' attendedi pupn that ocirasioti. deoose;., that Curerv's death we' occasionied. by u trac. t'nre of the skAull, and by a qtuaniLity ntl' CoagIula'ted1 blood lvintg Onl thte brait ; that such tuppearainces toiight usaer been prittluced b 'va foil, hue that it iiad utost pirobablv been pG byelu-eh i' blow ONt en byv a blunt hitisritnievut. !i, there was rno wound to eorrepw,nd teittit the vaterstal fraCture. Onli.nkingnearthe place wherer tile contstablemrbune. Ithe biidx. a quattticy of cotagulated bln,d eas discovered, arid also a hedgc-s'stakc, and % thick picCC (it wood about two fe~et long and foutr incites broad, in which titere wax a stain (tf blootl, and also severall fgnetotbroken glass. It was provedl be un-cwi;tmes.c,hiat after the prioerws :preheitded, ttc was ashked .why he had killed the de- ee.sed an cht lite did tiot ldet)vty having! killed hill, though he gave ttamiwer to the questioti. It was itoedveeby anothe'r, that on first ie,'. lgHenry Curry's dead boylehd said thtat hec was very- morry fir itc hailpmtpenedl. bitt thai it couldJ itnt. be ite!)ed then d it was lteheproved by a thiird witnes~s, chat whenl he wavs saked vrhethcr lehdkilled thev deceased "1 wi' t'real art dikestoitr," that is, with tie rail or thie hedgestake, lie had replied " that he did not know whiieh, but it was either with the onie or the tither." To show that the prisoner hore malice~ agaitist the ileccased thne landlordi was called, who proved, thait though ttime pnsotter, on firs: 6eeittg Ctmrr '"s detAd body, had said that it -was4 a bad. job. a-id he was sorry for it. he had afterwards adde6l, that if the detceased camie abcut. he woulsi itiawl hioth him and his brother. Froin the cross-examatnsoni which time landloed underwent upton this poise from Mr. POILLocx. it apptear- ed most probable that uipon this poir.t le laboured tinder some appre. liension, and that hie had miade some contusioct about the time at whlich thLs dlireat wasi tnacde by the Prisonter. Mr. Baron lAULtOCK, in aildressinlg the jonv, left it to themi to dlccide-.lirst, witether the deceasedl had receivel ithe wound which hiad occasioned his death frtont the prisoner: anti next, whiether thit. wount, ifitiflicted by- him, was inflicteid withi malice af'orethought, or in the beat of bictod occasioned by the striaggle in which lie hiad been engagetd, As to the first point, he thought that there could be little dfoubt:; and as t th le second poiint-narnely. that of inalice-he ad. vised tlieiti to reflect that the parties ippeared to) have been on the beat of terms with each other when they entered the public-house, antl that they were friends w'hetn they left it, thourh they' had pre. viously had a squabble. lfe would not himstelf venture to ~ give any opiniion with regard to the malice, but would leave ttenm to tonrm their owni front the' evidence wliich, he should rcrud to thlem. The learned Judge then read the evitdetnce, and in coknclubion toldI them, !hat if thc' sboel.d be of opinion that the deceased itad died In consequence of any blotws inflicted up0n himn by, the prisoner with maliceaforethougieli, titen they roust fInd hiatt auait of murder ; huc if they ashoulsI tint be of that opinion., but shou'jd chink that the mor- tal blow by which Curry had died had been inflicted by the prisoner in the passion of the teiomne-nt, antI whilst his mind wa_s irritatedI by tite blows lie hasi received fromt time landlord said byv tile inesult which lie Supposeed himself'to hiave received from the deceramd itt thie course of thec evening, thien his off'ence wouldi be niitigaced frorr murder ir,to nianslaughmter, and it would be thjeir duty to retuirn a verdict, bringing the prisoner in guilty of the latter offbene only. The Jury, withiout retiring, 1'eund etei prisoner gui.ty of Maon. .tlaugi'ter. w The leacoecd Judge, in passing seIntence, told the prisotier that the uingovernable passion which thie evidence proved to be the constant inm-ate of his breast, rendered it necessary' that for his own peservct. tion and also for the preservation of thie lives of' thie more peaceable members of the cotumunienv, le should be sent from thiis countrv. hlie should therefore sentence hiim to be transported be-yond the li~a f'or the spare of i4 years. There was amnoth,er case of murder in thie calendar-natnely, thiat of Mar 1-tait, for child-murder ; but a. bill was not founid in 'it by the Grand ,Jury. Thie coiirsel for the prosecuition applied to his Loaid- shlip for the exltetises of his witnesses, wheti i Mr..Justice BAYLEY' expressed Ikis great surprise that any commitment should hiave taken place uttdler the circumstances whtich Appeared sipeun the dep~ositions. 'hrhwosmman i hd been (eteit-ered of a six-months' child ; there was tieo proof' that it had ever exhibited any appearanceL of life ; and yet it had been taken for granted that the c4ild hasd been born wpkith liie, and thiat tihe utihappy mother hadl murdered her owis off- The woman wasim nmediately dischar'ged. Thae magistrates who coniniitted her to prison are stated in the calendar to be W. Grieve, Esq., and J. Bhiimes, clerk. In the case of rape, tto bill was fotund. At the tints that Mr. Baron IIULLOCE was trYing Atchison for murder in one cotirt, Air. Jsustice Bz.YnLEY WaS engaged in trying a wretch calledI Williatr Heron, alia.t William Cousins, for an at- tempt to comin it a crimne against naLture. Tite wretch being found gwiltt,l. was sentenceed mto thiree years' imiprisonment and hard labouir in the house of correction. The Jutdges, imavitig tinished thie business for this courty,proceeded to Newcaatle. SUMMuR ASSIZES. DURHAAf. THnDIIDAY_ Ann- 1Q