The Warwickshire Herald. — 1893-11-16 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE MURDER OF POLICE  SERGEANT EVES.  RAMSEY OEM FOURTEEN TEARS' PENAL SERV' PUDE.  James Ramsey, aged 38, an engine driver, was tried on Friday. before Lord Cluet.lie-tice Coleridge, at the Chelmsford Assizes, for having broken into, on April 15th, a barn adjacent to the dwelling-hrepe of Mr. E. A. Fitch. at Hazehigh, and stolen 134 bushels of wheat —Mr. Crump, Q.C.,who prosecuted on behalf of the Treasury, said on the night of the robbery • police • sergeant, named Eves, was murdered. Jtin and Richard Davies, who lived near the prison, r's I' use at Purleigh, were as-ociated wi,ii the pri,oner in all that transpired, and they, to., titer with Ramsey, were in August in deted for th, inurd r Ramsey was acquitted, wed John D,vis self, red he penalty of death. -.nil his brother Richar,, was sentenced to penal o rvrtude for lit. What the jury had to di cide was whether Raursey, silt was acquitted some ti is since of the ay tai eft rice of murder, was guilty of the theft of the coin. No eve saw the robbery no eye saw the mur or. v had made statement- to • warder, which, althuogh adhering te his declaration that he was nut guilty if the murder, shewed that he was potent at the time of t.,e murder rano knew what took place —Selina DeiVi,. widow of John Davis, deposed that on Saturday, April 15th, Ramsey came to their house, and observed to her husband that he had sonie bap She went to bed shortly afterwards and fell asleep, and or. waki-e she heard Ramsey say, "Put out :h. lamp." Ran set must have been in the house &hew an hour.—Pri.oner: Did not your husband ask m• to speak for him in the e,ent of him bi ing taken for anything ?—Witness: I did not hear him ink such a remark. —Prisoner Did you not say that you had heard the thoodlioueds were coming to ert the villains up 7—Witness . No. Richard Davis the convict, deposed to accompanying his brother and Ramsey to the barn arid filline six sacks with wheat, which they carried to a gap in Pound Field. At the gateway leading to Little Spurbill his brother called him. He head a scuffle going on behind, and on retracing his foots- he saw his brother, liamsey, and Sergeant Eves en the ground together. He believe., fir sergeant was then quite dead. Ram.ey said, “You are a nice sort of a mate, Dirk," and his brother then told him he hail knocked the sergeant down and that Ramsey had cut his throat. rolled the body into the ditch and went home Prisoner, You are a notorious false man. Th m r,:ered man lay in the ditch in agony for half at, hour. Se was going to speak the truth, for tuaw was the time for the truth to come out.—WitnesYou did it, Ramsey.—The prisoner, contiouing said: That ma (meaning the deceased) was ri killed MI you, hi hard Davis, described. After the 8.-rgeant was knocked down, you went and got a spade with which to bury him.. Sergeant Eves wa.,alive then,and he was knucked about the head with the spade uutil his head must have been almost smashed to pieces. His throat was cut in order to make sere that he was dead. The prisoner, addrcssing the jory,ssid that after he heard of the murder. ii went to John Davis and asked him if lie w s connected with it. At tirst Davis denied it, but on he (Ramsey) promising not to say a word about the matter, Davis described in every detail  what had taken place. Ile (Ramsey) was not a guilty man, but if he had to suit r for what he had never done, its hoped God would bless Wm.— The jury, alter delibmatiug for a few minutes. returned a verdict of guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice, in passing sentence, said he would he ill doing his duty if he shortened by one single Jour the punishment he was allowed to inflict by ac• t( l'aruanienr. lie sent,nced the prisoner to penal servitude for 1.4 years.