The Sun. — 1851-06-24 (London, England)

WORSHIP-STREET. Michad Butler, a powerful fellow, of notorious Character, was placed at the bar for final examination, betore Mr. Tyrwhitt, charged with having broken into the dwelling-house of Mr. Henry Bateman, a wheelwright, in Holy well-lane, Shoreditch, and with having also assaulted and wounded the prosecutor, with intent to murder him. The offence was committed on the 10th of February last, when the prosecutor, on returning home from an evening party at a late hour, discovered the prisoner and another man secreted at the rear of the. premises, both of whom instantly set upon him, and after beating him unmercifully with the butt-end of a horse-pistol and life-preserv. r, with which they were respectively atrasd, and inflicting numerous severe wounds about hie head and other parts of hie person, succeeded in eff-ctiog their escape over the rrs fs of some adjoining out-houses, and had ever since eluded pursuit until about tea days since, when the prisoner was traced by the police and taken into custody. The depositions of the several witnesses having been completed and read over, The prisoner was next charged with having been concerned, with another man not in custody, in the following murderous assault and robbery upon an egad widow, named Elizabeth Hussey, living in Mulberry-court, Whitechapel. The prosecutrix stated that at about five o'clock in the evening of the 19th April last, the prisoner, who was accompanied by another man, called at her house, and stated that they required the attendance of her son, who is an itinerant musician, with his violin at a rage which was to come off that evening, and that he would receive ss. for his services. She invited them into the parlour to receive their directions, as her son was not at home, and one of the men having insisted upon providing some liquor, another woman who was with her was sent for it, and as soon as she had left the prisoner inquired if there was any other person in the house, which she answered in the negative, and then asked her ,her age, which she told him was 65. The instant the words were uttereci the prisoner sprang upon her and grasping her by the throat, flung her down upon the floor, where he held her fast while the other man forced his hand down the bosom of her dress, from which he abstracted a bag containing two sovereigns and a quantity of silver, with which he escaped into the street; but the prisoner continued holding her down, and compressed her throat with such violence that she entirely lost her senses. She did not recover Consciousness till nine o'clock in the evening, when she felt herself in a state of extreme suffering and experienced all the effects of strangulation, which conflued her to her bed, where she remained for a considerable period under medical attendance. A married woman named Rosina Flaherty, who was present at the time referred to by the last witness, was also examined, and gave similar positive evidence to the prisoner being one of the men who had perpetrated the outrage. Formal evidence of former convictions was then given by a retired police sergeant of the G division, named Cross, who was present at the prisoner'a trial and conviction for highway robbery in October, 1846, at the Central Criminal Court, when he was sentenced to seven years' transportation, which was afterwards commuted to twelve months' imprisonment; and also of a second conviction tor felony, and inestenced to a similar period of incarceration in the month of January, 1949. Tne prisoner, who reserved his defence, was fully elmmitted tor trial upon the first charge, but was ordered to be again brought up in a week for the completion of the depositions.in the second case.