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Leader (1850-1860), 20th December 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 7

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      The Great Bullion Robbery. Pierce, Burge...

      me at the carriage . He did so , anl we went dowa in £ Ue same carriage . I have no recollection of seeing the bag after he took it from , my ofK . ce . " According to the statement of Perry , he ( Perry ) lifted up the bag , and remarked to Mr . Russell that it felt " very heavy and lumpy . " The guards , it appears , are placed upon certain trains for a ' month at a time , and then shifted , in order that they may hare relief from night work . It was part of Tester ' s business to assist in drawing out the rota of the guards' duty ; and , in making ; the arrangements for April , 1855 , Tester added the words , " and May , " so that Burgess might be guard of the train which brought the bullion during that month . Upon noticing this ^

      addition , Mr . Knight , the out-door superintendent , said he thought it was irregular ; but Tester replied that it -was of no consequence , and that it had been done before . The superintendent therefore took no further notice of it . In bis cross-examination , lie said h < s was present when the addition was made , and that it -was done -with his sanction . The card in question was produced , and shown to Mr . Kiii ght . A piece was cut off at tlie bottom , and Mr . Knight said he thought it was the signature of one of . the superintendents that was removed . The only reason lie could assign for this was that the rota might fce made to fit into the frame in which such documents are generally placed .

      It was then arranged that the prisoners should be remanded pro forma till Saturday ( this day ) , and from that day till next "Wednesday , -when it La supposed the case will be completed .

      I ^ December 20, 1856.] Th E L E A D E R...

      December 20 , 1856 . ] TH E L E A D E R . 1207

      A Murder¦Foii Love. A Trial For Murder, ...

      A MURDER ¦ FOIi LOVE . A trial for murder , of a more than-usually painful nature , has taken place at York , where Jolm Hannah was charged with the ' . ' wilful murder of Jane Banhani at Armley , near L . eeds . The accused , a tall , fair-haired young man , Who was neatlj' dressed , and by no means ill-lookiug , on being placed at the bar and called on to plead , appeared to be greatly distressed . After a paroxysm of grief , he flung his hands wildly above , his head and cried out , "Oh , God ! Not guilty . " He was accomiiioxlated with a seat , but throughout the trial kept sobbing and heating his forehead with his hands , and seemed to be greatly distressed . , " , ' " ' . 7 ' ' . \ .. ¦ . ¦¦" - . ; . ¦ . .. ¦ ..: ; / : Hannah was a tailor , living at Manchester , and Jane Banliain was the principal dancer in a travelling corps of performers ^ with whom she and her parents went to the chief towns of the West Riding . She had been married to one William Bauhani , ' who some time afterwards left her and proceeded to America . She then formed a connexion with Hannah . They lived together as man and wife , and liad two children . The woman ' s father , John Hope , Svas at this time in India , whence he returned in May , 1855 . About a fortnight before last Christinas , Hanuah separated from Banhani , who with the two children went to live with her father . In June , the company . were performing at Halifax , to which place Hannah had walked over from Manchester , when ,

      after a night exhibition , he followed them home and expressed a desire to speak to Jane . Her father said , " No , " and that if he did not go away he would get a policeman and have him taken uj ) . Hannah declared he must see her , and eventually he was told he might see her at nine theuext morning . They then had an interview , and Hanuah urged the woman to live with him again , adding that , if she did not mind , and would not do as he wished , he should be hung for it . In the course of September , he wrote a letter to Jane Bauham , imploring lier to return , speaking very affectionately of his children , and saying that he could not be withheld from seeing them . This letter was opened by the woman ' s father , Hope , and was

      afterwards destroyed by the woman herself . Hannah frequently talked with Hope iibout his daughter ; and in these conversations he mingled , expressions of affection ¦ w ith threats of violence . lie induced several persons , on the 11 th of September , to take messaged from him to the woman , requesting her to meet him ; and on that day he persuaded her to come to him in the parlour of the White Horse Inn , Armley , which was next door to where Banham and her iatlior were lodging . A little previous to this , Hannah saw a child running past the house . He recognized it as his own , tliough ho had not soon it for a long while ; and , catching it up , ho fondled it , and cried a great . deal . TUc child did not know him , and seemed afraid of him . Jane Bunliam then came in , and lie begged her , for the child ' s sake , to come and live

      with him ; but she refused . He then cntroatcd Hope to use his influence with his daughter ; but the father said lie would have nothing to do with the matter , and left the room . Hope nt this timo observed that there was an unnatural glassiness about Hannah ' s eyea . After a time , Jane Uanhiim was about to leave , saying sho " did not want to have anything more to do ' with her former associate ; but the in an , speaking , ns one of the witnesses stated , in a kiud tone , said , "Come in again fora minute , " and , seizing her by tho arm , ho pulled her in , and ahut tho door "very aharply . A rattling of chairs was then heard , and a comedian , named Ittunshaid , went into' tho room , and saw Hannah on June Bunhmn . Ho said , " What do you moau , you scoundrel ? " to which Hannah , turning round , answered , " l mean

      nuir-^ > iH ^ wa . ammmmmm d : r . " Blanshard caught hold of his arm , saw an instrument in bis hand ( which was , in fact , a razor ) , and exclaimed , "Oh , God ! murder ! here ' s a knife ! " The other , however , made two cuts at the woman ' s throat , " one up and o : ne down , " and then walked out of the room . He was followed by Blanshard , to whom he said , "I have doiie what I intended . What are you going to do ? " At that moment , the murdered woman came staggering out of the room , with one hand on her throat , and looked wildly about for assistance . JUunshard ran off for a surgeon , and , when the latter arrived , Banham was . unable to speak . She died in about , two hours from the time the wounds were inflicted , and in lier bosom was found the miniature of a man . That man was not Hannah . :

      Immediately after the departure of Blanshard for the surgeon , Hope and several other persons ran up to the place , and raised an outcry of " Murder ! " and " Police !" At this , Hannah exclaimed , " Bring the policeman ; I ' m ready for him I" He also said , "I liave had my revenge : they may do what they will , and 1 don ' t care " bow soon I am dead . " This he was muttering to himself as he walked down the street , ollowed by several persons , who shouted " Stop him ! " Two men , who were coming along chased liim , and he was secured , when his shirtfront and one hand were found to be bloody . On his -way back to the inn , he was very talkative , and seemed to be speaking more to himself than to his captors ,

      observing , among other things , " What I have done I don ' t care for ; she should not have vexed me to do it . " He also rambled a good deal , and talked about having taken the Alma ; and he staggered in his gait , as if he was intoxicated . After lie was in the custodv of a policeman , he said to Blanshard , " That ' s a clean trick for a madman—a lunatic just come out of an asylum . " To tLe policeman he stated that lie was drunk , or he should not have done as he had ; and subsequently , when in gaol , lie said that lie only meant to frighten the woman , not to hurt her . lie cried when he made this statement , and " was agitated all over his body , " according to the account given by the igaoler at the trial .

      The defence only took the fonn of an endeavour to prove that the crime was manslaughter , not murder , and that Hannah had received great provocation . However , he wasfound Guilty of murder , and condemned to death . He was carried , out apparently fainting , and the dense crowd in court dispersed in silence .

      •- .- . .I-; Asslze Cases. Four Persons ...

      • - .- . . i- ; ASSLZE CASES . Four persons have been tried at the Exeter Assizes for uttering forged notes . Two of these were women , one of whom was the mistress of a man named Gulliver ,, living at Bodmin , Cornwall , who appears to have been the manufacturer of the notes , wliile the two women and the two men now tried for uttering seem to have been the agents for putting them in circulation . Culliver was convicted at tlie last Bodmin Assizes ; and his mistress , Elizabeth Clarke , who was now put on her trial , gave

      information to the police which led to the apprehension of Robert Reed and Sarah Davis , wJio were found in the possession of illicit notes . Clarke herself was shortly afterwards arrested for endeavouring to pass bad notes professing to be issued by the Bank of England . All three were found Guilty , and sentenced to two yettrti ' hard labour . The fourth person charged with forgerya man named Joseph Watson , ivlio seems to have been connected with the others—was also convicted , and condemned to four years ' penal servitude .

      George Woodcock wasfound Guilty of escaping from Dartmoor in August , 1855 . He was in custody for a simple larceny , but since his escape he has committed a burglary in Yorkshire . He was seutenced to six mouths ' imprisonment . Thomas Burrow , a boy of fifteen , pleaded Guilty to a charge of setting live to the reformatory school at Bampton Speke , of which he was an inmate . He was sentenced to fourteen years' transportation . John Godson , a youtli of nineteen , has been tried at

      lork for a rape on Elizabeth Sissons , a girl of thirteen , but looking older . Tlie offence was committed with great violence ; aud the screams of tho pour child , coming from u gravel pit into which she-iiad been dragged , nntl being gradually stifled , apparently by a hand pluced across her mouth , attracted the attention of some labourers , who , however , only arrived too late . The case was so clear ugainst ( Jodson that his counsel felt compelled to retire ; aud tho aocusetl , having been fund Guilty , wus sentenced to fourteen years' transportation .

      Henry Gollond and George Gollond wcro tried at Nottingham for night poaching . The offence having been proved , they wore found guilty , and sentenced , Henry to four years' penal servitude , and George to eighteen months' imprisonment . —Four other men were then indieted for tho same offence . They had formed part of a gang of thirteen or fourteen ¦ who , on the Ctli of last September , encountered some of Lord Chesterfield's watchmen , -whom they handled very roughly , wot , however , until cue of their number had been tievoicly used by tlio tfumdioepora . Two of the men wore now convicted , and sentenced to five year ' s penal servitudo ; tho other two were acquitted . Joseph Ilunnoy , a labourer , has been tried on a charge of setting lire to fivo stacks of wheat , one- of

      barley , and one of beans , the property of Mr . Baker of Colvvick , near Nottingham . A suspicious circumstance against the man was that he had been turned out of » cottage vhicli he had rented of Mr . Baker ; but he appears to have been on very good terms with that gentleman after he had quitted , and some of the witnesses called for the prosecution actually proved an alibi ha favour of the accused . Some equivocating expressions on the part of Bunney were adduced as evidence against him ; but only one witness , a little boy , testified to seeing him in the neighbourhood of the stacks at the time of the fire , the others merely stating that they had seen a man similarly dressed . He was therefore Acquitted .

      George Wilson , a private in the 1 st Dragoons , was charged at Exeter with killing John Shaw , also a private in the same regiment , at the Cavalry Barracks , Exeter . They had been excellent friends , and had volunteered together from another regiment into the 1 st Dragoous . One night , Shaw who had been drinking 1 , quarrelled with Wilson , and struck him . Wilson said that if he did that again he would strike him with a poker . Shaw advanced for the purpose , as it appeared , of striking him , when Wilson felled him to the ground with a looker , and the next day he died from the effects of the blow . Thejury were locked up all day , when , there being no chance of their agreeing , the Judge discharged them , and tlie prisoner , having entered into his own recognizance to come up when called on , was also discharged .

      A tujket-of-leave man pleaded Guilty at Derby to three charges of housebreaking . He had been convicted , of the same oflence in August , 1853 , and was sentenced to seven years' transportation . In tlie August of the present year , he was set at liberty on ticket-of-leav ' e , and twelve daysaftenvards he committed one of the robberies to whjeli he now pleaded Guilty . He was sentenced to twenty years' transportation . Some strangely disproportioned sentences are generall y observable among the Assize cases . An instance has recently occurred at Derby . Two men in a drunken frolic fell upon a woodman who was carrying a loaded gun , and , asserting that he had no right to the weapon , succeeded , after a struggle , in wresting it from him and carrying it away . It does not appear that the -woodman was ill-used in the course of the scuffle ; but the two men who took the gun were sentenced to Jour years' penal

      servitude . This case was followed by a charge against four young men of cutting and wounding one Matthew Hardy . One night , Hardy was passing- by the accused , and , hearing them use some very disgusting language , he reproved them . They then , attacked him , threw him down , and stabbed him in the side so . seriously that he was confined to the liouse for several weeks , and Was now obliged to sit down while he gave his evidence . The Judge stopped the case , as there was no evidence as to which of the young men gave the wound , nor any evidence of a common intent that the Wound should be inflicted ; and a verdict of Not Guilty was taken . The prisoners were then arraigned upon an indictment charging a common assault only , and pleaded Guilty . Evidence- having been given of their good character up to the present time , tliey were sentenced to c » ie week ' s imprisonment .

      The Derby grand jury , before they were discharged , made a presentment , alluding to th « great increase of crime , nnd reprobating the ticket-of-leave system . The Judge promised to forward this to the proper quarter . William Reaney and James Reddish wore tried at Derby i ' o ' r the manslaughter of a man bearing the same names as the first-mentioned prisoner , but who was no relation . The three wore going through a wood at night , when , as it would seem , the deceased was attached by his two companions , and terribly injured . He got

      home ns well as he could , and next day , when in a public-house , he met the prisoner lteaney , who -was much scratched and bruised , and who said he had been attacked in the wood by some men , and that they had bitten his thumb . The deceased said ho bad bitten a man ' s thumb in the wood . The prisoner Heaney thon accused bis namesake of robbing him ; but tho latter was not given into custody , and some days afterwards lie died . There is nothing to show that ho really had made an attempt at robbery . Both the accused were found Guilty ; but sentenco was postponed .

      Thomas Mansell , a soldier of the-4 : 9 th Regiment , has been found Guilty at Maulstono of the murder of Alexander BI'Burnie , lance-corporal in tho same regiment :, whom he shot one morning nt Dover , the only motive appearing to bo that he suspected ( though it would scum without cause ) that M'JLJurnie had stolen a pair of boots belonging to him , and wished to make it appuur that Mansell had stolen some belonging to M'Burnie . Tlie defence was that tho uccuaed waa insane . He was sentenced to death . Previous to tho trial of this case , a singular scene took place , uriuing out of the objection entertained by many jurymen to capital punishment . When the jury w « 8 about to be einpiuinolled , tho counsel for tho prisonor challenged every juryniftii who vyaB summoned out of Maidstone , to thq extent allowed by law , the uvowed object being to obtain a majority of jurymen from the town of Maidstone , whoro it in understood that an opinionadvorao

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 20, 1856, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20121856/page/7/