THE OLD BAILEY SESSIONS Commenced on Thursday. Henry Wright, a
young man of very respectable appearance and connexions, was found guilty of stealing property of the value of 1001., from a house in which he had lodged. Sentence, death.
John Munday, aged eighteen, was indicted for stealing two diamond- rings, value I00/., the property of Mr. Savage, his master. The rings were found concealed in the stable where the prisoner was a helper ; and the pri- soner had, wider a promise of pardon, confessed his guilt. The Jury ac- quitted him. Joseph Tyler, aged sixteen, was found guilty of burglary and theft. Michael Quinlen was found guilty of stealing musical instruments worth 12/., the property of Mr. Welsh, proprietor of the late Argyll Rooms. James Jones and Cornelius Hayes, two little fellows about ten years of age, were indicted for stealing a penny tart, and found guilty. The Jury expressed their disgust at such a case being brought before them,
Thomas Litchfield was found guilty of stealing a mare, the property of William Gilbert, a farmer, at Watford Bridge, Northamptonshire.
Elizabeth Stelly, a girl of seventeen years of age, was found guilty of stealing some money and linen from the house of Mr. Hodges, a bookseller in Portland Place, Portland Square. The prosecutor admitted that he had picked the prisoner up in the street, had kept her in lodgings, and finally taken her home as a servant. Her defence was that she left the prosecit- tor's house, on finding him to be a married man.
EXECUTION.—Thomas Sales was hanged at the Old Bailey on Wed- nesday, for a burglary in the house of Mr. Bowles of Enfield. The Ordi- naries were unceasing in their exhortations to the culprit to repent ; but he baffled all their efforts by calmly assuring them that " he had never com- mitted sin in the course of his life." He was but twenty-seven years of age, and has been connected with housebreakers from infancy. Some time ago, he seduced a servant girl, who continued to live with him, but in utter ignorance of his mode of life. On hearing of his crime and apprehension, she attempted to destroy herself. She is now living with her parents at Kensington.
Do UBTFUL CONDEMNATION von MURDER.—At the Taunton Assizes last week, a man of the name of Russell was sentenced to death for the mur- der of a female. The murder was one of extreme cruelty, but the proof against Russell was entirely circumstantial. In consequence of the want of direct proof, and of the strength of the prisoner's asseverations of his inno- cence, a respite has been granted him ; and two persons against whom there have appeared circumstances of a suspicious nature, have since been ap- prehended.
At the Gloucester Assizes, last week, Elizabeth Fleming, a girl of eighteen, was condemned to be hanged for stealing a 50/. note, and other things, the property of Lady Moore, to whom she was working as a dressmaker.
At the late Warwickshire assizes, sentence of death was passed upon and recorded against no fewer than 69 prisoners.
At the Lancaster Assizes, Sir J. A. Park said, "These are frightful times ! Long as I have been connected with this Circuit as a Barrister and a Judge, I have never seen a calendar stained with crimes of such enormity."
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