A SCENE IN A COURT OF JUSTICE.

Thames Star, Volume III, Issue 1677, 19 May 1874, Page 2

A SCENE IN A COURT OF JUSTICE.

At the Central Criminal Court in London, John Lakeman, 29, shoemaker, has ' been convicted on a'charge of receiving the proceeds of a burglary with a guilty knowledge, upon which evidence was given that, besides having been subjected - to short^ terms of imprisonment, he had : twice undergone penal servitude—once for five years—and had only been out of prison nine days when he committedthe offence of which he was how convicted. He was also at that time at liberty on a ticket-of-leaye. The Kecorde.% in passing."' sentence, said, as the prisoner seemod determined to lead the life of a thief, it was : his duty to see that he was restrained for some time. He se^tT- iced him to 10 years? penal servitude. On sentence being pronounced a terrific scene oc« '•¥ curred. The convict, a young powerful man, declared—his eyes gleaming with ; indescribable rage, and his whole frame being fearfully agitated—that sooner than ercdure ten years' penal; servitudef he would die on the scaffold like a dog. This he repeated again and again, each time with more vehemence than before, and was preparing to spring,; over the i front of the dock, when he was seized by theiwarders from behind; but for a few moments he kept them all at bay, and roared like a wild beast. The policemen; in attendance from all parts of the, court ran to their assistance, upon which the prisoner renewed the struggle with still greater determination than before, if possible. He wag at length thrown on the floor' of the dock and held down there by main force,; the audience, meanwhile, becoming much excited.. For a moment or two it seemed as if he would have-mastered the policemen, but he was dragged from the dock into a cell behind, where '! additional assistance was obtained, and where, in his impotent rage, he was still heard asseverating *that he would rather die^nthe, scaffold like a dog than undergo ten years' penal servitude. Gradually his cries became fainter and fainter, and at length died away, altogether, as if he had ; succumbed to superior force and was being dragged to his cell. ■ :.