The Sun. — 1854-06-14 (London, England)

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 14, 1854.  CRIMINAL COURT.-(THIS DAY).  OLD COURT, (Before Mr. Justice Coleridge.)  Mary Anne Alice Seago, 30, was indicted for the wil:ul murder of her son, William Seago.  The prisoner appeared in a very weak and pitiable condition, and was hardly able to stand when she was placed at the bar.  Mr. Parry applied to his lordship to postpone tha trial to the next session. He said that the woman who stood at the bar was in a very destitute condition, and he was only instructed on her behalf through the humanity of the Sheriffs. He had only received the depositions on Monday, and consequently there had not been sufficient time for the necessary inquiries tope made on behalf of the prisoner. _ .  Mr. Payne, who appeared for the prosecution, said he did not think he ought to oppose •the application, and the trial was consequently postponed. Edward Benjamin Vidler pleaded guilty to a charge of uttering a forged order.  This prisoner, it will be recollected, had upon a former occasion been convicted of the offence of forgery, and sentenced to 10 years' transportation, but was released a short time back under the newly established ticket-ofleave system, and it appeared that almost the first use he made of his liberty was to commit the offence to which he had now pleaded guilty. Sentence deferred.  In the case of a person named Spooner, who had been held to bail to answer a charge of secreting post letters, Mr. Bodkin said that the matter had been referred to the Attorney-General, and he considered that the defenndant had been sufficiently punished, and he was therefore instructed not to offer any evidence in support of the charge. _ _ _  John Charlton, 35, a respectable looking man, was indicted for uttering a forged 51. Bank of England note. Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Bodkin conducted the prose cution.  The guilt of the prisoner was clearly established, and his nefarious proceedings appeared to have been carried on with a good deal of ingenuity. It seemed that be represented himself as the steward of a vessel, and that it was his custom to frequent public•houses by the river side,' until he had established a sort of acquaintance with the persons about the establishments, and by this means he succeeded in getting rid of no less than five forged notes within a very short period.  The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, declared he was not aware that the notes were forgeries at the time he uttered them.  The jury found the prisoner guilty. The prisoner, who had pleaded guilty to another charge of the same kind, was sentenced to be kept to hard labour for one month upon one indictment, and to be transported for 14 years upon the second. Charlotte Charlton, 29, was indicted for having unlawfully in her possession three forged 51. Bank of England notes, without a lawful excuse.  The prisoner, it appeared, was the wife of the man who had just been convicted, and it seemed that upon his being taken into custody the officers proceeded to the lodging he occupied with the prisoner, who was his wife. She was informed that her husband was in custody upon a charge of uttering a forged 101. note, and it was observed that she at the time had something in her hand, and she was about to place this on the fire when her hand was seized, and it was found to contain three forged five-pound notes. The prisoner upon this offered the officers a genuine 51. note, and asked them to throw the forged ones into the fire.  The prisoner, in her defence, declared that she was quite ignorant of her husband's proceedings, and that on the day in question she found the forged notes accidentally between two boxes. The Jury acquitted the prisoner.