WESTERN CIRCUIT - TAUNTON
Before Mr. Justice Crowder

George Rogers, Henry Dufferty, Charles Hawkins, Thomas Dallmiore, William Oldfield, Joseph Taylor, Mark Fawkes, Wm Belston, and William Ryan were indicted for having, on the 6th of December, burglariously broken and entered the house of Mary Baber, and stealing a spoon, a ring, a pencil-case, three spoons, a watch-guard, and £8 in money, and beating and striking James Veale, otherwise Flower, on the head. It appeared from the evidence of numerous witnesses, that the house of the prosecutrix is situated by itself about 100 yards from the high road, and that the inmates on Thursday, the 6th of December, consisted of Mrs. Baber; her sister, Mrs. Hopkins; a female servant, named Elizabeth Cambridge; Mrs. Baber’s uncle, Mr. Jones; and a man-servant named James Veale. On the evening of the day in question, all the inmates of the house went to bed at the usual time, the servant having previously seen that the fastenings were all secure. About 8 o’clock on the morning of the 7th of December, the house was broken into, and almost simultaneously two men entered the room of Mr. Jones, two that of Mrs. Baber, one that of Mrs. Hopkins, while another held the door of room in which the maid-servant slept. The two men who entered the room of Mr. Jones committed an act of gross outrage. They struck Veale, the man-servant, a violent blow with a life preserver which drew the blood from his head, then rolled him up in the bed-clothes so as to prevent him from observing what was going on.

  The "Life Preserver" is a formidable weapon having a flexible shaft,
  8" long, possibly of whale-bone, and a lead weighted end, bound
  with cord. In use it was intended to be aimed at the arms or legs in
  order to disable the assailant. A blow to the head could easily
  result in fatal injuries.

At this time, Mrs. Baber, hearing the noise in her uncle’s room, sprang out of bed, bolted her door, and was about to give an alarm when two men burst into her room. They did not offer any actual violence to Mrs. Baber, but they threatened her, and said it would be of no use to make any noise as there were twenty of them outside. These men had their faces covered with something black, so that Mrs. Baber was unable to distinguish their features, but one of them kept watch over her for half an hour and she had ample opportunities of observing the other. She spoke positively to Rogers and Duffety being the two men who came into her room. As to the maid-servant, no one broke into her room and, consequently, she saw nothing, but she heard much. She spoke to one of the men who were outside her room having a very peculiar footstep, and the prisoner Hawkins was a person with a malformation in his legs, which caused a strange manner of walking; in addition to which, there was this fact against him, that, his house being searched, a quantity of housebreaking implements were found, among which were a chisel and a turn-screw, which exactly corresponded with the marks on the part of the premises by which access was gained. Mr. Jones was an old gentleman, upwards of 80, and Mrs. Hopkins a highly nervous lady; so that they were not able to identify any of the prisoners.

Independently of money the booty, of the of the burglars was exceedingly small, and none of the stolen property was traced to the possession of the accused. The only direct evidence in the case was that of Mrs. Baber against Rogers and Duffety, and the facts already mentioned respecting Hawkins. As regarded all the other prisoners, the prosecution relied almost entirely on the evidence of an abandoned woman named Emma Bryant, the paramour of Ryan; but her statements were exceedingly contradictory. Rogers, Duffety and Hawkins were Convicted and had sentence of death recorded against them. Ryan and Dallimore, convicted on the previous day of a burglary at Stanton Prior, were sentenced, Ryan to 14 years transportation, and Dallimore to four years’ penal servitude. Mark Faux subsequently pleaded Guilty to a charge of receiving part of the property of another burglary at Marksbury, and was sentenced to four years penal servitude. Oldfield, Rich and Belstone were discharged.