Court Of King's Bench, We...
The Times, 1824-01-13T00:00:00

xmis wvas an actiontor matring a mialicious charge of felonly aain the plaintiff', and also for a libel publisbed against him. connep. 1 vzitbhthesasiecbarge,inplarardsin and about the King'sBiricihpriso..' Mlr. C. PHILLIPS opened the pleadings. 1 Air. ADLPoe.sSrr stated, that the defendant was a- solicitir, an I bs:l beeni coiacerned against thte plaintiff in two indictmen3ts, throne? " which he (the plaintiff) hadI been for somne time past confined in ti-t_ prison before-mientioned. The plaintitf's namne has been repeatedi - called before the public, as the keeper of the gambling-house in thI nieighbourhsood of Pall-mall. The defendant had occasion to g into the vrson on the evening of thh 24th of Sept. last, having bet celled thitllh er wo transact professional business. On coming dow' stairs, he was rudely accosted by a man of the namne Jacobs, who cried out, " An informner!" "etn informer!" upo which, by a lawv that is peculiar to,this favoured region, t'he luckIes ~ql defendant was conveyred bv a whole multitude to the pump, and tnoo' effectually drenched. In the scuffle he lost his pocket-book, with considerab]e sunsof moneyvinit. in the mornin he came with m-agistrate to theprison,anarmade % charge for ass eUlting him with ir tent to murd er, upon several of the prisoners, among whiom the plait tiff, who hadnot approached to) the affrav nearer then 30 or 40 yardit was one. Not content with this mnark o? his partiality, he aelvertlsee his loss in tlheprison and the neighbourhood sn haod.bills, w?&i set forth, "Whereas he (the defendant) had been assaulted, with in tent to commiit murder, and robbed on thie' night in question, by se vera! persons, amrong whom Wvat one Bennet," &c. The' charg against Air. Bennet was subsequently dismnissed, and now he sough ju recompense for the injury and defamation which he had suffered. The Clerlk to the M5agistrates of Union-han was then called, us- ,. spoke to thle application made by Mlr. Roubel at thtat office fot warrant to apKehend Mlr. Benpiet, and also to the p;gn~eedings iih thie prison, the depositions of which, as they hatd been t s?oby~ him he then read. James, Easton is an officer of the prison unider the Dilal; 1st. 'Re membered Mr. Roubel coming to the prison on the n l)?lt of th,i brawl. He camie abouxt the hour of 8, anid hiad an inte?s'icw wit! JTacobs, who spoke to htim on some matter of business; but n' being quite prepared. it was postponed till next dav, at 11 o'clock, He went up stairs to Mrs. Pigott's room. Soon after, at half. nan> 8, thie bell rang, to g.ve notic'e that no more stratngers would hi adinittetd, and that those who were in mrust go out. .Jacobs krockec at Mlr. Pigott's roonyi to inform him that he could not stay longer ~ Soon after DiNr. Roubel calne downi stairs: as he advanced, he heare a noise on the staircase. lHe heard somne persons sav, " Here, he is."* Some one had preceded him down stairs, and was seizedl instead ot II hiim. leievas forced outto the back of the prison. He saidlhe was imimedliately seized by a person namied Rennet. He said he imuie. diately afteirwatd-s missed hia pocket-book, and that Bennet was the~ nerzsorn who took it. I asked him if he knew the person of Benn,et. two or thiree Bennets in the prison. He said lie could not he 0ie- taken, it. was Bennet who was concernedl in the prosecution with OldUleld. I asked if I should send for Bennet into the office. He said he did noit wishl to 'sec Bennet. buit lise wished to have his roomn searched immedc(iately. I went to the clhambers. Bennet. was comning down stairs with a liglht in his hand. I told him T lied something to say to him. I searchedI liis rooll, boxes, anid linen, a-s clostely as I coutld starchi it, antl foundI nothing) tupon huni. Renniet produced tue keys. T searched for a red Mou. rorco pocket-book and six IO]1. notes, which were lost. I found se.I veral notes, but none so low as I 01. Ilcame hack ant! told Air. Rou. bet. I'lhad thie pocket-boDk criea, with a rewvard of 101., in the pri- soni. Beisnet lied no intiiiiation ot thec search I was to Make. U;rn,,ss-xarnincd.-Mr. Rotibel sail! that one Gore hiad trea-ted Iiim ill as he was going out. J toldI the circuinstanrce to Gore, who -aid, hlow couild lie lose six 101. r01cs, when he tolEd me he had host 61) sovereigns ?" Mlr. Roubel saiti, I said 601., and not.sovereigns. Wlilliam Hewitt called.-Remeneikers a wvarrant brouight to the pr'o by MVr. Roubel. Wh'len lmd lndged it, lie asked mie if illr-. Ql',etie was not to be put in the strontg roons. Mr. Allen, Magistrate of Union-Hlall, called.-4 attended thute days at the prison. Air. Roubel wats there ev-ery, lay, if my mne- mor'y is right., attended by Alr. Plate. lvery wvitness was called, whose name: could be suggested as liarties likelv to be implicated. The result was, that five or six persons, having bueen charged either with the felony or theassauilyveredischargcd. The clharge was, fo!ran acssiult wvith iiitent to conimit mutrder. Al v clerk took the exarnsna- tnio in fuill. I took rather a futll memnoranilum. On the examination there were DoSting bills produced with the isuimbers of the lost notesa in tlienii. Cross.examined by Mrls. SCAIILUTT.-MI-. ROUI)CI satisfied ime that one or two of the nuinliers had- beets initrduced by miLstake. I am not qtlitc sure thatth nusake was not broiught to his recollec- lion by, the opposite party. I recollect iiow perfectly that Iiis at- tention was called to it by Mlr. Flarnier, solicitor todlIr. Bennet. Ite-examine.lbv Mr. A3o(.Puuaj.-A11the witncsses werecalled for Mr. Reubel. 'lie stated wqhere hie lad got the 101. notes which were lose. I don't-recollect what was tdie nannie or thte banker. Johin Eccudier, late p)roprijjtnr of the P'ultenev- Hotel, was pre- sent on the niglit. of the turoult..saw Dlr. Be'nnet before it took place-rememibers a scuffle atid noise. Rennet lodged in the stair- cae of iNo. 8; he weas in the grocer's shop tvith- several other per- sons. He camec after that to nie-before the noise-we were togethier. -Ile was standing by the side of mie. He was not very well at the tim-e-the gout had just left Iiis feet. On hear- ing the noise, we wenit togethier opposite the state-house.-that ist user the gale. The noise secined to come from the other side of the benich, near the pumiip which is called the dolphin pumnp, We returned to No. 13, anid never 'vent nearer to the pump than that, uvhich is abheut 30 or 40 yards. It was rather dlark, and we could not see the muinsp. Bennet wvas in my company while the noise was going on at the pum-p. lie wvas rather cluimsy to scalk- at the time; I did not see himi take anv part in the tran~aclion ; the noise lasted less than a quarter of an hiour. Bennet had on a black coat and waistcoat, and white handkerchiief. (This descripetion- of tels dress dliffered fTonii thiat given in the depositoions as to the plaintiff.) Cross-cxarnined.-I beard the people cry out " Informner." I did not hear them say that the poison they wvere pumipinig upon had in- fornsedl against Biennet and Oldfield. Tohin Fitzgeraldl was pri-otier in the Benchi in Septe-mber last: reuseusibers, the inighit of thie tuimiiult : wvas thlen on No. 8 staircase; thlere was a person nanued Brown in the shop with )Ile; I hleard the crvy of " Ptul up," several times; Brown and I camec out, andi Mopped at the bottoun of No. 8 staircase; Air. Benniet lived oi the sass-ie staircase, andl lie came up to us. W1e heard the handle of the pumnp going very fasit. Bonnet came from towards the tap. We crensained there: te pump is from 20 to 30 yaes-i fViui the staircase. The tap is,stillfur'thepr from the 1pump. AlJr. Rennet I niever lnst s~ght of fromi that time till the gatewa clinlt. lie weist a few yards towvards the punipi, but seeing M1r. Ronthel cousing hack, fie returned to the staircase: he was not our t myni sigrht the whbole timei. Cross-exanmined by IVr. ~3CtRla5TTr-I becatis-e acqeiainted with Air. Rennet, it nmiglit be a week nra tbrtmiiglit after he camne into the prison, whichl wvas 12 mionths ago. I have never 1iad the pleasure of hiis company since. I did not know that M1r. Rloube was to he hurouight into the prison. I found it ont afterwards. I heard the cries in the roonsi : themii I caine. omit eii the staircase : the cries were !1.Iohmn Bro.wn, prioler in the Benclh on the 24thl of &Sptemnber last.-bai Mlr. Rernnet at thec timne of the riot, who ronnained close to the witness thje whole of the timne, anid took no pArt in the trans- actionl. Crosq-exarnired.-Bennet bought nothing of me. I dion't keep a shop. Ii domm't sell oysters. I diti at the beginnin~g of the season. I don's- know- that he ever boutght oysters of mec. - I have noparti. cular acquaintance with Mrl. Bennet. 1 can't say whben I saw him last. I saw Ohdticld at breakfiast th-is mtornin3g. I had sn particular acq iitanec with eitlier of them. I do not move in Air. Oldfield's c11~ass of life ; there are dlifferenit classes in the Beach. Charles Hlanfieldis i cousin to the defeadant, and printed the bills proclaimiing the-loss ssnd,reward-.( Bill tint in and read.) A clerk in the Bank, of England called.-Produ ced four of the lost notes, whiceh had beenllaid into the Bankr' Twooithe 4th and limbi of 0obewr, -And edco on the 25th of Suelitember. . ir. Shiuttlewortri, collector, of the Kitig's t-xes inI MarvIebrine, received ltuvo of dliecnotes produiced from Air. Rouibel cis'the 19th of September. A succession of' witnes~ses was then cdlced to prove that tnoal of the notes mentioned in the plosting-hill had been paid away i:s sWe de fondanit previouslY to the night in question . the ,object OfT'a evidence being to siiow the malice with which the charge was mlade. The Cisig i ,it1 s-srtiEa was of opinion, that there, was no case to, support the chiarge of mialicious accusation, which mutst be wvithout reasonable calico or probability, otherwise no one would ever under.. take to prosecuite in a riotouis assault. Mir. ADOLerSttts sbmnitted, thlat the cas3 must go tAL the jury, oil the libel in publishinig the planintff!s'name, forWsbich there w,13 nei- ther reason norpobilt from tie previous proce-edings. AIX. S (Ai LEr addresed tIme jury for (le lse ynce, is-ut refused to call cvwtnlesses. The=LrCiUrmnw Jusriex diregteel the J&yry ot to give any, verdict upon the niatter of tualicious'accus'_thin for the plainitiff, as there a, ,&ino evidence us-hates-crto sup ..s-Ct. Hebelleverl; in point of law, that. they miust give hints aveidict upon due libellus inser- tion of llisa name, as the chiief, person concernedl in assaulting and robbing the tieflentlane This, to iiay the least-of it, was imprumdent. The quantity of dtmages to vwhieh the plaintiff', snider all thecir- ,camrnances nowv before them, wyould be entitled, was for their deter.. muination. 1Verdlict for-thc plaintifl'oipon the libel only-parragmse 101. | COURT OF KING'S BENCH. ErsrTyrF- .TA: 1.E l BSNNET V. <OUB3EL;