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Leader (1850-1860), 23rd August 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 800, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      THE DOUBLE MURDER NEAR DOVER . tw ~ ,, 4 w ^ nAwiKS . or Bedanius , as formerly stated , was Dkdea B ^ f sSiSay at the Sessions House , Canter-J ^ Soi ie S magistrates . He was supported ? nt 7 court S a chair , propped up with pillows , and attended by medical men : his appearance was extremely Ihastlv The evidence was the same as that given beftaethe coroner , and he was committed for trial , weep"" packet of letters , addressed by Redanies to Caroline Back ( one of the deceased girls ) , has been handed to the authorities . They all express the strongest attachment towards the poor girl , and also to the family . The correspondence commences in Jauuary , and ends in July . The following are copies of three of them : the first is without dateand runs thus : —

      , "My dear Caroline , —I receive your portress ( portrait ) and letter . I am glad happy unto death . I am glad that you me not forgotten , and I beg you rit me every week one letters . I have since that time than I from you to depart must , no happy hour to live to see can , and I thanks you for yours truth love . I hoppe next month , to see you . I do wish God-spead you well . Me complaments on all familie 6000 tousend kisses . Good bie mi dear Caroline , you truth , " Mi not forgotten . " w " Dedea Redanies . " 28 June .

      " Dear Caroline , —I complaments you , and petition you to rite me wherefore you of me letter not answer reply , write to me warm . I you to offend and I do no wherefore you to me grief are . I hoppe that I you in a while _/ ago to see , to be home dear Caroline me portress I Slghd . —yours me send when readi it is dear Caroline . I am you not w ferget you bist me eternal joy . I kis 3 to you and to continue you truly Dedea . I mek me complaments on all familie . Good bie dear Caroline , " Dedea Redanies . " Four tousend kisses for you , my dear Caroline , all sestees and broders and vatter and mutter , and me little broeter Alexander . " The last letter written to the deceased by the prisoner is as under : —• " Aldershott Camp , July 13 , 185 G .

      " Dearest Caroline , —I comj laments you with many kisses , and rite you the I to come to Shorncliffe next week , and will come to Dover on an Sunday to see you . Dear Caroline , rite me no answers to my last letters . I cannot go for walke , I mitst stay in the room and bin syth a little . Me complamenta on every familie , and stay your eternal true-hearted " Dedea Redanies . " I kisses you many tousend . God spead you well . "

      Untitled Article

      MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER . A trial for murder at the Liverpool Assizes on Monday terminated in a most awful and heart-rending scene in court . The charge was preferred against James Bracken , labourer , aged twenty-four , and Andrew Bracken , also a labourer , aged twenty-one , brother of the first-named . William Bates , the man whom they were charged with murdering , was going home in Manchester on the night of the 28 th of June , in company with a man named Taylor . Both had been drinking all day , and were not sober . Passing by a beer-house , they saw the two prisoners ( who were drunk ) fighting a man , and one of the Brackens made a blow at Taylor , who went away to fetch a policeman . While gone , James Bracken , apparently without any provocation , fell on Bates , and knocked him down . Andrew Bracken then kicked him

      Beveral times on the back and head , swearing that he would let hia brains out . A woman who was passing raised the poor man , but ho was again knocked down . On the woman saying he would be killed , Andrew replied to the effect that he was determined to put an end to htm . The people then called out , " Murder , murder ! The man is killed—the man ia killed ! " Bates was taken insensible to the police station , and there died . These facts having been made clear by the evidence , the jury , after an hour ' s deliberation , gave a verdict of Manslaughter against James Bracken , and of Wilful Murder against Andrew Bracken , accompanying the latter with a strong recommendation to mercy .

      The scene that now ensued ( say the reporters ) cnn scarcely bo described . A kind of groan , as of pity , was raised in the densely crowded court , while three women in the gallery , at the back of the court , shrieked in a dreadful manner , and one of them was seized with a fainting fit . They were all taken outside the court , and it-was stated that thoy were the mother of tho prisoners and thfeir two sisters . The prisoner Jamea fell back into the dock 4 nd fainted , but in two minutes revived , when , kneeling » t the bar , he raised his hands , and cried , " Oh , my Lord , hare mercy on my brother I" The prisoner Androw literally-tote hla hair , and , first kneeling and ^ £ ^ 58525 **' " » ™ y Lord ' bo « «* Hln LotdaU ^ rtUMft . aouu g nnd appeared . to bo quite overjpower ^ by tho Bcttie Vroceeding at length to pass amtence , he ~ nd « ttn ^ Jamte ^ trat ^ « \| f SfiSS'T' * * S £ * « ° »* «« cSnldnot holdout tho least hopo that the recommendation to mwcy by the

      jury would be attended with any effect . At the conclusion of the address , the prisoner Andrew again fell down in the dock and begged for mercy ; but , being raised by the turnkey , he was escorted from the dock , ejaculating , " Oh , mother , mother , that I should be hung ! " For a few minutes , the court seemed paralyzed by the shocking scene which it had witnessed ; and his Lordship , having raised his head from his hands , slowly rose and left the court in the midst of a solemn silence . Several women were carried out fainting . It was rumoured about that the prisoner James Bracken , if acquitted , was engaged to be married next morning .

      Untitled Article

      An Escaped Convict . —Alfred Richard Bennett , a young man , is now under remand at Guildhall , charged with being a convict unlawfully at large . He had been to the Fleet-street station-house , and given himself up . Sir Peter Laurie asked him how he managed to escape ; and the man replied , " I put on a workman ' s coat and a pair of trousers made of a towel . " He added that he had made these trousers himself , having learnt the art of tailoring during eighteen months of his sentence . It was stated to the Alderman these escapes are of frequent occurrence now that the former practice of chaining the men together has been done away with .

      John Cole , a gardener , has been committed for trial , after several remands , on a charge of shooting at Emily Luker , a servant . The young woman was at length enabled to appear . She is completely blinded in one eye , and her face is greatly injured . The particulars of the case have already appeared in the Leader . Open-air Preaching and Open-air Thieving . — John Nicholls was condemned at Lambeth to four months ' hard labour for picking a pocket at the Obelisk near the Surrey Theatre on Monday evening , during the delivery of an open-air sermon . It was stated that three or four persons often preach at once at the Obelisk , and that it is not at all unusual for the partisans of one preacher to

      cheer him on when in controversy with an opponent , with the expressions , " Go it , old fellow , give it him !" " Serve him out ! " " Stick to him ! " &c , and altogether the proceedings are of the most unseemly character . Mr . Norton , the magistrate , nevertheless , repeated an opinion he had expressed on a previous occasion , that open-air preaching in proper places is productive of much good ; but he added that such scenes must of course be injurious , and should be suppressed by the police . A Reckless Profligate . —A boarded young man , who gave his name Anthony Vanbevon , and who said he was an artist at the Royal Academy , was charged at Clerkenwell with assaulting Mrs . Amelia Stevens , a married lady . She was going home about twelve o ' clock

      at night , when the man Vanbevon accosted her in the Ilampstead Road , saying , " Where are you going , my dear ? What brings you out at this time of night ?" She walked on , but he followed , and again spoke to her . She told him to go away , and , continuing her -walk , was surprised to find that he had tracked her to the place where she lived , which was about a mile and a half from the spot where he first addressed her . Again he spoke , but she ran from him . When close to her home , he seized her by the waist , and wanted her to kiss him ; on which she screamed out , and a policeman came up , and

      took the scoundrel into custody . In answer to the charge , the man said that he accosted the lady civilly , obtained permission of her to see her home , and asked if she would sit as a model to him , and have her portrait taken , to which she assented . This was solemnly denied by Mrs . Stevens ; and the magistrate fined Vanbevon 5 / ., or , in default , two months' imprisonment and hard labour . The prisoner , in a whining tone , and placing his hands together , called upon the magistrate to be merciful- He was very ill , and if he was sent to prison he should most certainly go mad . This appeal , however , was disregarded , and he was removed .

      A Would-be Suicide . —Catherine Thompson , a woman who has been frequently remanded at Guildhall for attempting to commit suicide , and who has obstinately refused to bring forward any of her friends to take charge of her , was again placed at the bar last Saturday , when Alderman Challis said , " Do you still refuse to give any account of who your friends are ? " The woman said aho did . The Alderman rejoined that he was very sorry for it , but that , having done the beat he could to find out those who would take care of her , and having failed , aho must be discharged . She accordingly left tho court in great triumph . Seizure of UnwholesomWheat Tho

      e . —Messrs . - OlSIZUKK OF UNWIIOLI 5 NOMI 5 W HI 5 AT . WlCSSrS . JLI 1 Oiiias England and Co ., corn-merchants at Leeds , have been summoned at the Court-house on n charge of exposing for sale a large quantity of Egyptian wheat in a state unfit for food . It was shown that tho wheat was in a filthy , decomposed , and offensive stato ; but the firm contended that it was only warehoused , and not " oxposed for sale ; " and on this ground the summons was dismissed . The magistrates , however , tbonght that tho inspector acted very rightly in seizing thu wheat , and that the owners ought to state at once , under such circumstances , that it is not intended for food .

      Railway Station Robberies . — Pocket-picking at railway stations has become recently quite a aeparato branch of tho groat art of thieving , and Waterloo station has been ono of the most notorious haunts of tho ingenious practitioners . Ladies are generally the victims ,

      and women are for the most part the offenders . Two pleaded Guilty at the Lambeth police court on Saturday to a charge of this nature , and were sentenced to six months' hard labour each . —A lad , ten years of age , ia under remand at Southwark on a similar charge , the scene on this occasion being the London Bridge station of the South-Eastern line . A Wholesale Swindler . —¦ "William Kaberry , a genteel-looking young man , has been apprehended in the neighbourhood of Leeds , on a charge of having several hotel and tradesmen

      swindled -keepers of that town to a considerable extent . One evening he went to an inn in Briggate , where he had tea , and afterwards indulged himself with a large quantity of cigars and . brandy . As the house was full , he was obliged to sleep at another hotel , but he returned to the first on the following day , and then to ' . d the landlord that he was the son of an extensive linen manufacturer at Pateleybridge , and that his father had sent him to Leeds to collect some accounts . At the same time he produced several invoices on some of the highest commercial firms

      in Leeds , whom Kaberry said owed his father altogether 220 / . This giving every appearance of truth to his statement about his occupation , the landlord permitted him to board at his house for two days . One morning he went out for the ostensible purpose of collecting accounts , when , instead of going back . to his old quarters , he went to the Stamford Arms Inn at Leeds , and , after introducing himself to the landlord , he told him that he was going to begin business in the drapery trade , and desired to look at a shop which Mr . Baliffe ( the landlord ) had to let , and which Kaberry thought would suit him .

      He then took up his residence at the Stamford Arms for a couple of days , on one of which he received the key of the shop , and went out , as he stated , to look at it . He did not return however , and , being seen in Briggate the same afternoon by his former landlord , he was given into custody . It afterwards appeared that Kaberry had also swindled a great many shopkeepers of Leeds , from one of whom he had received , under false pretences , a quantity of collars , shirt-fronts , &c . Kaberry ' s statement as to his father ' s business was found to be quite false , his father being merely the owner of a small farm in the neighbourhood of Pateley-bridge .

      Bigamy . —A case of bigamy has been heard before Alderman Cubitt at Guildhall , where a respectable-looking woman , named Ann Burr , was charged with the offence . Her first husband stated that he married the prisoner about twenty-four years ago , but that they were separated six j-ears afterwards , since which time he ( Burr ) had travelled a good deal abroad , and had oalj seen his wife twice , the second time being about two months ago . She might have supposed him to be dead , as he had a brother drowned some years since . John Gleeson , the second husband , said that he was married

      to Mrs . Burr about six years ago , and they lived together on perfectly amicable terms until the woman heard that her first husband , George Burr , was living , in consequence of which news ( as Gleeson believed ) sha absconded from him . As he had always felt a great regard for her , he did not wish to press the charge ; but he desired to be relieved of all future liabilities on her account . Alderman Cubitt having told him that it was impossible that this could be done unless the charge was proceeded with , so as to convict the woman of bigamy , Gleeaon finally decided on adopting that course ; The accused was then remanded .

      A Treacherous Fiuend . —Ayoung man , twenty yeara of age , named John Green , was tried at the Liverpool Assizes fora crim inal assault on Ann Higginson , a girl of sixteen . The girl ' s father had married again , and he and the new wife treated her with the utmost cruelty , turning her out of the house , and telling her to get her living liow she could . For some time , she resided with her aunt , and got some work in a factory ; but the aunt being unable to continue this aid , the girl returned to herfather ' a house , only to bo driven out into the streets . For two nights , she slept in the lobby of a house-door . On tho night of the 14 th of July , she spoke to a policeman , who said he would send tho policeman on tho beat to her . AVhilo away on this errand ,-Green camo up , and , seeing

      the girl crying , and being informed by her , on making inquiries , what wns the cause of hor distress , ho offered to tuke her home to his " missus , " who would give her a supper and a bed . She gladly accompanied him to a house in a court , and , after partaking of some refreshment , was shown to a bedroom which tho young man said was next to that occupied by him and his wife . Left to herself , she undressed and went to bed ; but Green speedily reappeared , and twice committed the offence with which lie was charged . At length a knock was heard at tho outer door , and Green got out of beii when

      nnd went to tho window to see who was there , a policeman snid to him , " Let the girl out ; what are you doing with her ? " Green denied that any girl was > o tho house , but Hiyginson cried out that thoro was . A » tho prisoner refused to open the door , the policeman went to got assistance , and on his return he found the girl crying outside the door , where ehe had been put by Green . Tho defence , as usual in these cases , wos thut the girl was a person of bad character , and had been a consenting . party to tho alleged offence ; but tho mun wip found Guilty , and sentenced to two yeara' imprisonment -with hard labour .

      Untitled Article

      OUR CIVILIZATION . a —¦

      Untitled Article

      THE LEADER . [ No . 335 , Saturday , 800 , . ¦ — . --. . == — - __ .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 23, 1856, page 800, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2155/page/8/