A case which has greatly interested all travellers by the
Metropolitan Railway was concluded on Wednesday, with a somewhat sensational scene. Clarence Lewis, a lad of eighteen, was habitually employed by a firm of tea-dealers to carry money— on the day in question, about 2105—from Kensington to Aldgate. This was known to Henry Perry, a shopman formerly in their em- ploy, and he introduced himself to Lewis at the Kensington Sta- tion, invited him into a first-class carriage, and gave him some liquid which he called zoedone, but which contained chloro- form. The liquid did not stupefy him, and after passing King's Cross, Perry struck him on the head, rendering him senseless for a moment, and continued beating and kicking him to Far- ringdon Station. Lewis, who fought hard for his trust, was at length compelled to give up the bag, and then Perry made a desperate attempt to throw him out on to the rails. It failed, and at Aldersgate Station Lewis was able to have his assailant arrested, red-handed. At the trial the facts were fully proved, —indeed, were not denied, and Mr. Justice Stephen sentenced the prisoner to thirty lashes with the cat-o'-nine tails, and twenty years' penal servitude. This terrible sentence drew a loud scream from the prisoner, and excited the deepest sensation in court, where, it is stated, many members of the criminal class were watching the trial. Perry, it seems clear, meant murder, and the sentence, dreadful as it is, is in no way unjust; but we hesitate as to its expediency. If it stops such robberies, well ; but if it does not, it tempts every such robber to commit murder, and be rid of the evidence.
Previous page
