PETERSFIELD.
PETTY SESSIONS, Tuesday.—Present: the Hon. J. J. Carnegie (Chairman), Major Briggs, and John Waddington, Esq.
TAKING PHEASANT’S EGGS.—Harriet Newman and Maria Ansell were charged with taking six pheasant’s eggs from a nest, in the parish of Buriton, on Thursday, April 25th.—Newman was convicted and adjudged to pay a fine of 5s. each egg, with costs 11s. 6d. Ansell was acquitted.
AN ASSAULT CASE FROM LISS.—Woodbourne v. Harrison was an assault case adjourned from last bench day. The parties live at Liss, and owing to the respectable social position they held, complainant being described in the information as a ‟wheelwright” and defendant as a ‟gentleman,” the case excited a good deal of interest, and the Court was crowded during the hearing.—Mr. Champ (Guildford) appeared for complainant and Mr. Harvey (Portsmouth) for defendant.—Witnesses on either side were ordered to leave the Court at the opening of the case.—Samuel Thomas Woodbourne deposed: I am a wheelwright and live at Liss. On Saturday, April 20th, I went to the Bell Inn, at Liss, a little after two in the afternoon. Defendant was there, and I told him he ought to be ashamed of himself going on as he did making mischief between man and wife. I got very angry and used bad language; I told him he made me so mad I could kill him. John Glaisher was there, and he said ‟Come, better words, and be friendly.” I turned to speak to Glaisher, and as I was speaking to him, defendant struck me a violent back-handed blow on the mouth with the knobbed end of his walking stick; the blow knocked out two of my teeth and loosened another, so that I was obliged to prop it up with my tingue; one tooth cut right through my lip. I consulted Mr. Bulbeck, a surgeon, and got no rest for several days and nights.—Cross-examined by Mr. Harvey: Defendant was sitting in the Bell parlor when I went in; I did not see him go in and follow him. I don’t know whether I had, but I wont say positively one way or the other. The first words I said to him were that he ought to be ashamed of himself, and that I was mad so I could kill him. I had a stick in my hand. I did not say ‟Here’s the old —― again.” Defendant did not say to me ‟Surely we can settle this matter in a better way than this: come up to my house and let us talk it over.” I had been to Rake that morning: I called at the Flying Bull, where I had three pennyworth of brandy and some cold water. I afterwards called at the Railway Hotel and had two pennyworth of gin. I then went to the Station Hotel, and from thence to the Bell, and after the assault I went to the Eagle Inn and then back to the Bell again. I went to defendant’s house and got over the wall; my object in doing so was to return his stick, as I thought he would County Court me if I kept it. I did not tell his wife that I would kill him. The assault took place on Saturday, and I went to the doctor on the following Tuesday.—Re-examined: I went to the doctor on Tuesday because I had continued in so much pain that I could not put up with it any longer.—John Glaisher deposed: On Saturday, April 20th, I was at the Bell, at Liss, about two o’clock in the afternoon. Complainant and defendant were both there. Woodbourne was very angry, and I heard him say twice ‟You old ――, I could kill you.” I said to him ‟use better language.” He stepped back three or four feet and was speaking to me, when the stick came across his mouth. Harrison struck the blow, blood flowed freely and ran down upon his breast. Woodbourne had a stick in his left hand, and was using bad language. Harrison was quiet; they both had hold of the two sticks. I seized the middle of the stick and begged Harrison to leave the room, which he did. I have known Harrison for five or six years, and he never assaulted me; he generally walks with a stick.—Re-examined: I interfered because the landlady asked me to do so. Woodbourne had not struck Harrison when he received the blow from the stick.—Mr. John Bulbeck deposed to complainant coming to him on Tuesday, 23rd og April, about eight o’clock in the morning: he had one tooth excessively loose and a severe laceration of the under lip.—This being the case for the prosecution, Mr. Harvey addressed the Bench at some length, and called the following witnesses:John Longhurst deposed:I am landlord of the Bell Inn, at Liss. On Saturday, April 20th, between one and two in the afternoon, I was in the bar and saw defendant in the parlor at the farther end of the room, sitting down. Complainant came in; he had a grog at the bar, and followed me into the room where Harrison was. Harrison said nothing, but Woodbourne said ‟Here’s the old ――. You ought to be ashamed, I mean to kill you.” Harrison said ‟Can’t we settle matters better than this?” Woodbourne said again ‟You old ――, I mean to kill you.” Glaisher was not there then. Woodbourne was standing on one side of the table, and Harrison was sitting on the other side. I had occasion to leave the room to go into my butcher’s shop, and when I came back I found Glaisher standing between them, holding both sticks; they were all standing up. I put my hand on woodbourne and had some difficulty in keeping him back; he said ‟He would kill the ――.” I asked Harrison to leave the room and he did so.—Sarah Longhurst, wife of the last witness, deposed that on the 20th April defendant came to the Bell to pay for a gallon of ale. He sat down at the farther end of the room, and while he was sitting there Mr. Woodbourne came in and said ‟Here’s the old ―― again.‟ She went into the room and saw blood running down, and thinking murder would be done, she told Glaisher, and went for her husband. She further deposed that Harrison was quite sober, and had nothing to drink while in the house.—The magistrates having consulted, the Chairman, addressing the defendant, said there could be no doubt whatever that the assault complained of had been committed, and it was of so serious a nature that, but for the provocation which defendant had received, the magistrates would have felt bound to send him to prison without the option of a fine. They were, however, willing to make due allowance for the provocation under which the assault had been committed, and they adjudged him to pay a fine of £2 10s., together with the costs, 19s.—As soon as the case had been disposed of, both parties were bound over in their own recognizance of £100 each to keep the peace for 12 months.
MORE PHEASANT’S EGGS.—Robert Newman was convicted of taking two pheasant’s eggs from a nest, at Buriton, on Sunday, April 21st, and was fined 10s. and costs 9s. 6d.—Frank Underwood pleaded guilty to a charge of having unlawfully in his possession five pheasant’s eggs on Monday, April 19th, and was fined 50s., with costs 9s. 6d.
RATES.—Poor rates were signed for the following parishes in the Catherington Union: Blendworth, 2s. 6d. in the £; Catherington, 1s. 6d; Chalton, 1s. 10d.; Clanfield, 2s.; and Idsworth, 2s. 4d.