The Sun. — 1851-07-17 (London, England)

MARTIN.) Thomas Ash, described is the calendar as a smith by trade, twenty-six years of age, was charged with having broken and entered a dwelling-house of William Tucker, and with having wounded him, and one Anne Whittaker, with intent to murder them. Mr. Skinner and Mr. Lawrence conductel the prosecution; the prisoner was defended by Mr. Carrington. The prosecutor (who is a very old man, ie the ninetysecond year of his age) is cue of the vergers of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and resides et Clarencecrescent, in that town. On the night of Tuesday, the 18th of February, he had retired to rest, as usual, at nine o'clock. • In the apartment in which he slept his housekeeper (Mrs. Whittaker, an old woman of seventy' Cvo) occupied a bed, in order that she might be able to render assistance to the old man in case of sudden indisposition. About half past one o'clock Mrs. Whittaker was awakened by the entrance of a man, and on jumping out of bed she perceived there was a light in the passage leading to the room. Before she could speak to the intruder, or call for assistance, she was struck several times over the head with a blunt iron instrument; her eyes were aufrused with blood, and the felt great pain in one of her arms, which afterwards proved to be broken. The old men Tacker was awakened by this dis urbance, and, hastening to the assistance of his housekeeper, was attacked by the burglar, and struck violently over the head. Notwithstanding the repeated blows and ill-usage which he received, ho managed to push the assailant out of the room. All this time a man was standing at the door with a lighted candle. Tn old man was positive that the prisseer, Thomas Ada (who was well known to him from having been repeatedly at his house, and on one occasion employed in fitting up a grate there), was the man who struck him, and denied that he had ever, PO far as he knew, given a different account of the transaction. Whilst Tucker was struggling with the robber, his housekeeper made her way to the window, and shouted " Murder" and " Police," upon which both the men made off. In addition to the direct evidence of the old man, who spoke positively to the identity of the prisoner, the following facts also appeared in evidence :—On the morning atter the robbery a bricklayers' chisel was found about 100 yards from Mr. Tucker's house, in an adjoining garden. This chisel, which belonged to a bricklayer named Poilbey, had been borrowed by the prisoner of a man named Prince, with whom he lodged, a short time before the robbery. In Mr. Tucker's house a wine-bin had been broken open, and the marks on the wooden fastening of the door appeared to have been made by this chisel, and on comparison corresponded with it. On the night of the robbery the prisoner came home about two o'clock, and was let in by his landlord, Prince. In addition to these facts it was  found that the prisoner's shoes corresponded exactly with footmarks in some fresh dug ground under the window of Mr. Tucker's house, which had been entered  the old gentleman to bed, and, bidding him good night locked Lis outer door, as was her habit, and took aWay, the key. On the following morning, early, her husband found that the door was ajar, and on going to the old man's bedside, learned from him that in the middle of the night three men entered his bad-room, one of whom went through the idle precaution of lying down on the invalid to keep him quiet after giving nun a black eye, while the two others, who had cabbage nets over their faces, took his watch from his pillow and ransacked his drawers, which done, they all decamped, threatening the frightened octogenarian with violence if he dared to got up and follow them or alarm his neighbours. The other witnesses in the case showed that the prisoners and another man since convicted for horse stealing, had disposed of the shawls at a house at St. Ives, on the day after the robbary, while they both, on the occasion of their recent capture at Northampton fair, made statements tending to implicate themselves in the affair. Eventually the prisoners wore both found Guilty, whereupon his Lordship sentenced them to be severally transported for ten years.