Edinburgh.
The Times, 1824-02-07T00:00:00

. A wsc caiiie on for trial this da)4, which seems unparalleled by the feCefit ttrdeitv in Hertfordshire, and can only be compared to idnlc bf the critties Whleh the busy tongue of ruseour had alleged ahlxs( Th steand his gang. Ii the pre eat instance the accased, Tborast H#izricfled iti a so itarv manner in a house i, X i_gstre'ez, eitli~ ,' llinZeftature cohabitea with himz. Having fitted up his Utteit.v.bo a s hter-house, he set out one rfrflwg in -Iy'lazst, in 'itest df bis btended victin, whorn he decoyed to the placg of sacrilee, and agafist wham he aimed the murderous blow, LidtbiaptLyfailedin the aecontplishmen t of his.diaboRlical purMose. * -The prisoner was ptosecuted tinder the Scotch law (that of Ltord EllenIdor&asgh not extending to Scotland) and stood charged with $auIt og'i stabbioM , aud. wounding, with a lethel weapon, Ai,r. Wdi. Motffat td the.effidioio o'f his biood, and with intent to slay him, on the 111th of Julylvt4: at the ptisoner's own house in King- Street, L-eith.. A:t s-foxser.diet, n conseq4aente of a statement bY the panel's coupsel, that ther considered him in. n unfit state of mind to be put.ON hiS trial, the Court appointed a; cornmiffee of miedical gentle. men to inquirc into the state of the prisoner's mind. The:r report was now delivered in, and it stated that they considered the panel to be of sane mind. The COUtRT then asked the panel's counsel if they infended to persist in their plea of' the prisoner bedng incapable of standing his triaL. They replied in the negative. The indictment havinc been read, the panel pleaded " I am not MtL2 tijy I,ord I but A r. Wilson is guilty of rousing me oat of my bed this morningfad bringirlg me here without my breakfast, a state, I presume, which no wte xesett is in besides myself." The LORD JUSTICE Ltt 1o6d the panel that his manner bore evident signs of being affec'ed and Premnedipated; and he would Jilst caition }inm to look more narrowly aftef hWs own interests, and to remember that awful situation in which he stobv His; plea of " not gumiy 3[1ou0u va reuiurieu. Mr. MEKztgs, for the panel, delivered in a written atqence,which stated thgt the panel pleaded " not guilty," because at the tinle the &rinid was Alleged to ave been committed, his mind wras 5o disteem f*red a-ttrecj et him irtesponsible for anLy of his actions. ur having beser choseri, JolaOW#, Esg;, Baronr faille of`Leith,was called to identify the declaiatlons df thept1'soner. The witneas identifi the I's decisratis, and deposed that m the time o'f their b'eing e'mitted befire hnn, it was only a few minutes aftet the mat had been etbEed - that the panel's hands were ddvered vi}th blood that le appeared ich agitated, and in such a state of tiiitrd as ed tle witness to beliete {hat he was de- ranged; and he thetefefe icipnndcd him untl the evening. when *witness questioned hir, le hentared foF sb;c time, aS thaugh be was making up a story. It was three cIock in the evening when he examined him again: he theu appeared ferfec.ly sane and sen. sible, and answered all his i1uestions in such a tinner as did not induce him to alter his opinion that he was perfectly siane Witness took great pains to ascertain the state of his mind before proceeding to examine him; he saw the prisoner afterwards; he was then rrcre tautiotts, but witness still believed him to be sane. A tciith police.ofllcer deposed, that he waas present when the panel's declarations were emitted; that they wereeemitted freely and voluntarily; and that he was hi a sound state of mind, as far as the witness could sav. MIr. William Moffat, wright in Lecith, knew the prisoner. On the the 28th of July, he happened to take a walk out as far as Lochend, and on returning about eight o'Cloek, when about 50 - ards fromn his owa workshop, which is situate at the Yard-ends, Leith, he saw the prisoner standing alone, who as soon as he saw witness, came towards him; witness asked how he was this mornitig i he replied not very well: for, jumping over a d tch, he had put his foot oe a stone and sprained it; he eaid he had some repairs to make; witness said he was glad of it; he asked witness then to go along with hirut w his house to see what they were; witness said, that baving been out so long that morning4 it would be necessary first to step into his work- shop, and see what was golng on; the panel said he could not so conreniently see him at any, other part of the day, witness seeing him so apxious that he should gowith hiu, said, " Come along then." The panel conducted through a by-lane from the Yard. ends, but told witness td send his two dogs (pointers) back, be- cause he had two cats at home, and one had kitteried; witness accordingly sent the dogs honte 1 they then proceeded down the lane to St. Andrew-strect; the panel mo-'ed on a little below him oc- casionally, and particularly when in sightof his own hotise-witness 'ollowed him up two stairs to his house. When they got in, he slut the door, and locked it. Witness said there was no fear of the dogs coming in. He said the cats did not appear to be there-pethaps, he observed, they might be in the next room. M-e then asked the witness to go into the other room. Witness said all the business they had to do, might be trarisacted where they were; he pressed, and said, " Mlr. offat, do go in," and he went in; witness ob- served on entering the room, " You are got very tasty now, I see yon have a carpet: but it Is Dot laid down properly." It was a waxed oil-cloth, turned the red side uppermost, and the sides and corners standing up in front of tha chairs and bed, instead of being laid down under them. The panel then invitedl witness to take a glass of spirits, as he had been out that morning; witness at first declined, as he was not used to taking spirits in the morn- ing; but he sa.A he NiaS going to talte some himself; he did so, anti, witness tasted it out of compliment to the panel. The panel then said he had bought some property In Edinburgh, and wdnted some partitions to be put up in it, as it was tao large for him to oc- cupy himself; but that his leg was so painful that he could not go to settle with the person whom he had bought the property of. He repeated this so often that wvitness thought he wishen binm to propose to do it for him, and at last offered his services. Tllhey sat down; the panel took hold of his hands, and said, " You have a strong:erhand than I." He seemed rejoiced that the witness had offered his srrvices, and said, if he would write out a receipt for the money he would inttust it to .,im. Witness, before vriting it out. said he should like to know the amount, and panel sid 2201., and gave him twelve 201. notes. Witness said that was inore than was required. The panel replied, that interest was due on the money, which onlv left a balance of 171.; and if he (witness) wouild write, he (the panel) wculd dictate the receipt to him. The panel turned his back to him, and appeared to be looking out of the win- dow, and repeated what he wvished witness to w-rite in the receipt. *Vitness obJ.cted to the terms, and said he could write a better one ? . * .1 \ 1s * -- - s- i s . _ s } lE.. uU1U5ULL 5 tL: paUct WSAUM C5IIC ll LU WrLUL O le. UUU LAS)' WiA A1SA compare the two. Witness wrote a receipt, wvhici the panel said would do veery well, if witness would add, after the amount receiyed, the words " fronm Ar. Thos. Say. King-street, Leitb." WVitness did so. The panel then asked witness if he could read crampt hand.writings, and witness said he was not inuch accustomed to them, but he would trv. The panel then fetched a letter from a drawer, and witness said it was a crarmpt haud indeed, it would take himn some time. The panel told hini to take his time. Witness, after looking it over some time, said, " Nr. Hlay, you must have read this over before, and are well enough acquainted with its contents. I dare say; I must now go home, and see what the men are doing." Prisoner insisted ont witness readinir it over to him ; witnes,s proceededi with the letter. On tking hi.s eyes off, witness saw prisoner utnfolding something, which witness supposed would be the money, but shortly afterwards witness was surprised to hear a very strong suction oe breath vety near him, and surprised at hearing it so plain, after having seen the prisoner at such a distance, looked up, and saw the Prisoner standig over him, and nmaking a thrutt with a knife, whiiclh, in attempting to ward off the blow, witness received in his right atm. Witness then collared him, and called him a rnurdering scoundrel and, wrestling with him, drore him backagainst the bed, and held him on the door in a tret-nblintg state. Witness, in attempting to take the khife from the prisoner, cut the leader of one of his right hand fyigers, and all the leaders of his left hand. 'Witness, having secured the knife, considered whether it would be beat to cry out murder or to fly to the door ; witness did the latter; and the door being locked and bolted,witness had some difficulty in opening it: this he atlast effected, and then calledforassistatice,and theprisonerwas apprehended.(A large huckhorn-handled carvcr, stained with blood, was now produced ta Court.) The witness identified the same to have been that which was usedupon the occasion; had seen no such knife in the roonm before the attempt wax made upon his life. When the policc arrived at the door of t le aunel's house, it was fastened withinside. WVitness said he would be responsible for any thing the police would do; they then forced an entrance, and apprehended the prisoner. Had previ- ously been acquainted withi the prisoner for about three years, and had been in the habit of repairing his property. Never had had any quarrel with him ; had not seen him for a fortnight before this event; witness, on that morning, saw nothing different in lis man- ner from what was usual, and fiad not the least conception of his being in a state of derangement Prisoner drank a glass of spirits and water, but was by no means drunk, either before or after taking it. Witness identified the surtout coat which he had on at the time. It bore marks of blood on the sleeve, and there was the mark of its ha'iig been pierced by the knife. It was St. Giles's-Ateet, not St. Andtew&s.sfreet, into which the lane from Yard's-end led them. The wax cloth was turned up in such a manner, that all the blood spilt would havc fallen upon it. Mrs. Lawson, King-street, Leith, saw Mr. Moffat on a day in Jjly. The houst in which the panel lived was just opposite to hers. Recoilects hav ng sern Mr. Nloffat come down the Innanol satmir that nrinninvi he called out " Murder." and " The olice." .Mr Afloffat griped a large knife, and after speak- inz of a conversation with the panel about some property, said, "1 That is what he meant to take my life with." 4Mr. iloffat was cut through his coat and shirt to his arm, which was bleed- ing. (Witness identified the coat and the knife.) lWitness saw his wouods dressed. Mr. MIoffat had not his hat on when he came down the stairs. The panel had lived there, she supposed, about fifteen years, " but you can ask hirn; he can telI." (A laugh.) Never sroke to him in al her days. Ble was a stuprd gang-aboat sort of a person *nevet supposed him to be a crazy person; Metec heard him talked of in theIneighbourhood as 3 mamrnan; he ap- peared a sober man from what she saw of him. ir. Anderson knew the paneld he was formerly a weaver; did not know that he had been any thing lately; had known him a longtime; became acquainted with the panel tbrough being neiglh- bours, and knowing his father and family. After his father sath he save up the business. and he appeared .rather silly like; but saw no other sign of denangement about him than that of giving up the business. sk1 r. 'L11Of5&DSLaCK, grocer Liju, aj = s, at his sho, he always seemed quite inteligent, and in the ful pos- session afhis faculties James Macyv,scrgeant of police atLeith,recollects being called to King.-streeti in July last, in consequence of the assault on MIr. Alof- fat saw a crowsd standing about the pan*ts house; witness was or- dered to enter; he rapped at the door, and it was opened by the panel% convyed-himtothepoliceoffice, he seemed more agitated at hishouse than after he arrived at the police-office. Witness was sentto fetch a knife; received it from the hands of a marn named Johnson, wham he mnet coming with it; witness was sent to search thehouse; observed three corners of the floor-cloth turned up, and some spots of blood upo rit; a piece of paper was stuckon the key- hole; on going away with the pael, he (the panel) asked for the key, which was banging up, that he might lock his door with it; this vwas accordingly done. Rlose Campbell, anothes of the Leith police-officters, who went and apprehended Hay, corroboTated most of the Isst situtses evi- deuce. William Ross, superintendent of the Leith police, stated that the Panelavpeard rather agitated whenfirstbrougb to the police-ogice. He looked rther curio s; he. had a downeast look, but lie seemed to know what he was doing. Did not appear to be deranged; lis downcast looks witness supposed to be his usual expression of coun- teiinence as he hwd seen him before. Witness searelitl tile panel's hotusebet*een 11 ind 12 o'clock that night. The oil-cloth was turned ettisde down; the edte of it rested atgainsst the chairwcand bed, and th-ewerlet of the bed, as well as the floor.cpth, was Kbi4Dbed *ith NO6d^ The key-hle o} the street-doot wals covered with pa. 'per stefnkbwith w4 . st lloody. Fourd 331.14s bl.im the ~hopo2ae,sn*,s edhspc5ee C ^hc el wp A Rittt at the rchs I~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~w?4b ?n leidt5:ltifsr 1 owa The oanel's decarst!o?t wig nw rWea Amoflg.pther. tht*$ it stated that Mr. Alogtt made up -t, the panel in Giilesitere, Gi tbe morning in question, and accompanied him into his house; ftat the woxtnd was occasioned by his foot tr1ppinF, while he had thbttfti in hi hand cuttting bread and cheese with it .- thatin fiThnghe upaet the table and cut AIr. Moftht'a arm.- He (deckrasnt) was unabletvp say where he tnrehased the knife, which appeared Vew, and neverto- hive been used for any other purpose; he was unale to account for many other circumstancea, and refused otainwcrserepalperdneat questions. Mr. Coombe, surgeon, ?tated that he was ealled to dres Mr_- Moffat's wounds on the morning in q uestion. Does not conceive it Probable that these wounds could have keen inflicted in thelonanner desribed bsy the panel in his declaration. Supposes that a wvound inflictedt by raising the arm to ward oWtlse inteded blow, would have been exactly of the samne description as that which he sawoss the arm of hfr. AfIo1at? prorided the edge of rite kniie was held do wnrds. Considers it highly proSable that the blow would h3ve been fetid,l if it had not been warded off with the armn. DEFENCE. The following. evidence was then called by the paneo's cons - Mr. John Harvey, a solicitor in Leith, exaninea by lr.JIo 3EUTsot(.x-fd known iMfr. Hay for about four years. Two've= ago he applied to him for professional advice. He said hr h4souse property, and feared some one was going to take it from hin. He said he wished to talk with witness in private; witness took him into a private room, where he opened his story; it was very incon- sistent; ande witness felt convinced' the panel had no property what- ever, and that he was operated on by some delusion. The p anel Vas admitted into the Corporation of Weavers. A member ex- pressed hi-; surprise at the panel being introduced, observing, thatlie was only liFely to be a burden to their funds; witness was of the same opinion. 'itness efterwards discovered that he had propertr, because he conveyed some from him to a clienL Witness thought. him of a sound 'mind, though he considered him a weak iwan, and' that there was a great deal of mental imbecility about him. Mr. Steadman, merchant-tailor, Lelth, had&known the panel for 14 or 15 years past. He frequented hIs house once a week or of tener. His disposition was quite simple and innocent. WVitncss really thought he as not in the full nosSesSiOn of his intellects, sad con- sidered him of so silly a nature as to aftord garnc for his people rather than any thing else. From his infancy upwds be might sometimes have been called " daft HIay." The Loa AnDVOC,TS then addressed the jury en the part of thd f:rown. Mr. P. ROaERTSGNi addressed .he jury for the paneL The LotnD JUSTICE CLERK SUMined up the evidence n a very compendious and distinct manner, and deAlpced from the law and evidence of the case, that the plea of insanity had totally failed, and that the crimes charged had been fully proved asg,inst the paneL Thejury, after about a minute's deliberation, >ithoue retiring, returned a verict, by the mouth of their Cbavce4lor, J. W. Brougham, Esq., unanimously finding thepanel Gtiltyoftile crimes libelled. Lord HERsNtAD, after remarking that it woull be necessary. to apply to the Legilature for an extension of the capital punishment in thle case of maiming to Scotland, if this crime should continue to make any progress here, proposed the same punishment which had recentiy been awarded in a somewhat similar case-namcly, pubb- lic whipping, gnd transportation for 14 years. Lord MVADOW.BAXX said he considered the jury had done a great service to' the cdiiry by their verdict. He could not have nagined any thsing more unfortunate-for the law, or any thing more fatal to the security of the 6ub}ect, Hi-he preseut had been treated as a doubtful question. The LouD JUSTICE CTR.k~ infoirrned the panel, that if his crime had been committed in 3hnglantl, and followed by a similar conviction there, nothing could ha'e releved the Judges from the duty of pronouncing upon him the last sentence of the law; and be fully concurred in what had fallen front? Jord Hermand. as to the expediency of applying to Parliament for thsf extension of Lord El- lenborough's act to Scotland, if this crime shomjd not be arrested by the presentexample. His lordship pronounced ,he sentence of the Court, that on Wednesday, the 18th inst., the pri,.cner be publiecly whipped on his naked back through the streets of &Aith, which he had disgraced by his crimes; and that he be afterward& transported beyond the seas for 14 years from this date. the prison1er, af;er the adnioniion of the LoaD .j)STICE CLERiC at an early part of the proceedings, continued in a real or counterfeit stupor, seldom exhibiting any signs ef animatinon ex- cept when be had recourse to his snuff-box. Hiri appearance was paie and sickly, and he ,valked lamel out f Court. .91DINPOPOSt. Ii I laitli COtURT OF JUSTICIARY, FEB. 2. - ASAULT AMD ATTE)PTED MURDER.