He endeavoured to put on a look of humility and dejection, hoping thereby to excite sympathy.
He glanced at the jury to see if they looked mercifully disposed or otherwise. One or two jurors struck him as being hard-featured men, who were bent upon doing their duty fearlessly.
It was on the morning of Tuesday the 19th of November, 1878, on which this trial took place. It was of course an eventful day in the history of our hero.
The case was tried at the Central Criminal Court, before Mr. Justice Hawkins, John Ward alias Charles Peace aged sixty (he was so put down, although he had not reached that age by three years) who was described as a sailor, was indicted for a burglary in the dwelling-house of James Alexander Burness, and stealing therefrom a quantity of plate, the property of the aforesaid James Alexander Burness.
He was charged also with feloniously shooting at Edward Robinson, a police constable, with intent to murder him.
Mr. Poland and Mr. Douglas Straight conducted the prosecution for the Treasury.
The prisoner was defended by Mr. Montagu Williams and Mr. Austin Metcalfe.
There was a dead silence when the case came on, and a number of persons from Greenwich, Blackheath, and elsewhere, who had been suffering from the depredations of burglars, were present at the trial; and, in addition to these, in an obscure corner sat, unobserved by Peace, Aveline’s husband and Lady Marvlynn.
The indictment proceeded with was the charge of shooting at the constable.
Edward Robinson was then examined. He said: On the morning of the 10th of October I was on duty at Blackheath in the avenue leading from St. John’s-park, the back of the residence of Mr. Burness. I noticed the flickering of a light in Mr. Burness’s drawing-room, and this excited my suspicion, and I procured the assistance of another constable named Girling. The light continued to move about the house, and I was assisted by Girling on to the wall. At this time a sergeant named Brown came up, and he went to the front of the house and I heard the bell ring, when the light was extinguished immediately, and the prisoner jumped out of the drawing-room window to the lawn. When I saw him in the act of running away I followed him, and he turned round and pointed a revolver at my head, and said, “Keep back; keep off, or by —— I will shoot you.” I said to him, “you had better not,” and he immediately fired three chambers of a revolver at my head. Two shots passed over my head and the third by the side of my head. I made a rush at him and he fired a fourth shot, when I closed with him and struck him on the face with my left hand. The prisoner then said, “You ——, I will settle you this time!” and then fired a fifth shot, which wounded me in the right arm. I seized the prisoner then, and threw him down, when the prisoner exclaimed, “You ——, I will give you something else!” and tried to put his hand in his pocket. I struggled with him and got the revolver from him, and struck him several blows with it. I held him down till Sergeant Brown came up and he was then secured. The revolver was strapped round his wrist. I began to feel faint from loss of blood at this time, and handed the prisoner over to Sergeant Brown and Girling.