The Sun. — 1850-03-07 (London, England)

POLICE INTELLIGENCE. WESTMINSTER. William Jones, Thomas Belton, John Belton, and James Griffiths, four young men, the first of whom bore marks of having been engaged in some severe conflie, were charged 'with the following desperate attack upon the police : It appeared, from the evidence of several witnes:es, that a man named Garwood entered the house of Mr. Sewell, the White Swan, Vauxhall-bridge-road, on Tuesday evening, and, having refused to pay for the liquor he had drunk, created a disturbance and assaulted the landlord ; upon which he was given into the custody of Police-constable Joseph Butcher, 109 13. The latter had only proceeded a few yards with his prisoner towards the station, when the defendant Jones suddenly came up, armed with a large black stick, and told him to let Garwood go, and upon his refusing to comply Jones attacked the constable, striking bun repeatedly on both sides of the neck with the weapon he had in his hand, and then cud • denly seizing him bythe legs threw him heavily upon his back. In consequence of this Garwood got away, and Jones endeavoured to make his escape by running into the midst of some unfinished buildings near the Penitentiary._ The constable, however, pursued and caught him, when he and Garwood—the latter of whom again made his appearance when he found his friend engaged with the officer—made a second attack upon the constable, Jones biting him severely on the band, and.also endeavouring to inflict an injury of a most dreadful description. A formidable mob, as it was stated-by the police, of thieves and other persons of bad character, had by this time assembled, and discharged a volley of brickbats at the constable, one of which; however, struck Jones upon the back of the head, and but for the assistance of Mr. Sewell, together with a gentleman residing in Lupus-street, and a licensed victualler residing in Ponsonby-terrace, fatal consequences might have ensued. The outrageous conduct of the mob continued until the arrival of a sufficient body of the police, who succeeded in apprehending the four defendants, but were followed by a crowd of some hundreds of persons to the door of the police- station in Ro• chester-row. In consequence of the violent resistance offered by the prisoners Butcher was compelled to use his truncheon, and struck the defendant Jones a blow on the back of his head, and Garwood, finding that he was overpowered, effected his escape. The evidence went clearly to prove that the two Beltons (brothers) and Griffiths were implicated in the outrageous attack upon the police. Thomas Belton was sworn to have been the leader of the mob, to have repeatedly incited the others to attack the constable, and with his brother John to have thrown several bricks which struck Butcher about the loins and legs, and when Marshall, 60 B, seized hold of one of the Beltons, Griffiths, who is the youngest of the party, with a filthy expression, urged those near him to split the officer's head open with a brick, and when himself captured kicked the dicer apprehending bim several times. Butcher complained of the severe injuries he had received from defendants and others, which had rendered him unfit for duty. The whole of the defendants contradicted the statements made against them, and denied their guilt. Mr. BRODERIP having inquired of Mr. Symons, the inspector on duty, whether the Commissioners wished him to dispose of the case, and having received in answer that they left the matter in the hands of the magistrate, observed that the evidence against the whole of the defendants was of the clearest possible description, and he took that opportunity of informing them that had any fatal result attended their violent attack upon the constable they would all have been liable to be tried for murder. The offence they had committed called for the severest penalty of the law, ind he therefore committed the whole of them for the full period—one month in the House of Correction.