liciously cut, break, throw down, or in anywise destroy any fence of any de- wall, stile, or scription whatsoever, or any wall, stile, or gate, or any part thereof respec- gate. tively, every such offender, being convicted before a justice of the peace, See post. s. 32 shall for the first offence forfeit and pay, over and above the amount of the & 33. injury done, such sum of money, not exceeding five pounds, as to the justice shall seem meet; and if any person so convicted shall afterwards be guilty of any of the said offences, and shall be convicted thereof in like manner, every such offender shall be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for such term, not exceeding twelve calendar months, as the convicting justice shall think fit; and if such subsequent conviction shall take place before two justices, they may further order the offender, if a male, to be once or twice publicly or privately whipped, after the expiration of four days from the time of such conviction. XXIV. And be it enacted, That if any person shall wilfully or maliciously Persons comcommit any damage, injury, or spoil to or upon any real or personal pro- mitting daperty whatsoever, either of a public or private nature, for which no remedy mage to any or punishment is herein before provided, every such person, being convicted property, in thereof before a justice of the peace, shall forfeit and pay such sum of mo- any case not ney as shall appear to the justice to be a reasonable compensation for the da- previously mage, injury, or spoil so committed, not exceeding the sum of five pounds; provided for, which sum of money shall, in the case of private property, be paid to the may be compelled by a party aggrieved, except where such party shall have been examined in proof justice to pay of the offence; and in such case, or in the case of property of a public nacompensation ture, or wherein any public right is concerned, the money shall be applied in not exceeding such manner as every penalty imposed by a justice of the peace under this 57. act is hereinafter directed to be applied; and if such sum of money, together Application of with costs (if ordered), shall not be paid either immediately after the convic- the money tion, or within such period as the justice shall at the time of the conviction awarded. appoint, the justice may commit the offender to the common gaol or house See post. s. 32. of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, as the justice shall think fit, for any term not exceeding two ca lendar months, unless such sum and costs be sooner paid: Provided always, Proviso. XXV. And be it enacted, That every punishment and forfeiture by this act Malice against imposed on any person maliciously committing any offence, whether the same the owner not be punishable upon indictment or upon summary conviction, shall equally essential to apply and be enforced, whether the offence shall be committed from malice any offence conceived against the owner of the property in respect of which it shall be under this act. committed, or otherwise. cessories. XXVI. And be it enacted, That in the case of every felony punishable Principals in under this act, every principal in the second degree, and every accessory be- the second defore the fact, shall be punishable with death or otherwise, in the same man- gree, and acner as the principal in the first degree is by this act punishable; and every accessory after the fact to any felony punishable under this act shall, on conviction, be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and every person who shall aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of any Abettors in misdemeanor punishable under this act, shall be liable to be indicted and pu- misdemeannished as a principal offender. ors. XXVII. And be it enacted, That where any person shall be convicted of The Court any indictable offence punishable under this act, for which imprisonment may may, for all be awarded, it shall be lawful for the Court to sentence the offender to be im- offences withprisoned, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, in the common gaol in this act, oror house of correction, and also to direct that the offender shall be kept in der hard lasolitary confinement for the whole or any portion or portions of such impri- bour or solisonment, or of such imprisonment with hard labour, as to the Court in its dis- tary confinecretion shall seem meet. ment. XXVIII. And, for the more effectual apprehension of all offenders against Persons in the this act, be it enacted, That any person found committing any offence against act of committhis act, whether the same be punishable upon indictment or upon summary fence may be ting any ofconviction, may be immediately apprehended without a warrant, by any peace apprehended without a war- officer, or the owner of the property injured, or his servant, or any person authorized by him, and forthwith taken before some neighbouring justice of the peace, to be dealt with according to law. rant. Limitation as to summary proceedings. Competency of witnesses. Mode of compelling the appearance of persons punishable on summary conviction. Abettors in offences punishable on XXIX. And be it enacted, That the prosecution for every offence punish able on summary conviction under this act shall be commenced within three calendar months after the commission of the offence, and not otherwise; and the evidence of the party aggrieved shall be admitted in proof of the offence, and also the evidence of any inhabitant of the county, riding, or division in which the offence shall have been committed, notwithstanding any forfeiture or penalty incurred by the offence may be payable to the general rate of such county, riding, or division. XXX. And for the more effectual prosecution of all offences punishable on summary conviction under this act, be it enacted, That where any person shall be charged on the oath of a credible witness before any justice of the peace with any such offence, the justice may summon the person charged to appear at a time and place to be named in such summons; and if he shall not appear accordingly, then (upon proof of the due service of the summons upon such person, by delivering the same to him personally, or by leaving the same at his usual place of abode,) the justice may either proceed to hear and determine the case ex parte, or issue his warrant for apprehending such person and bringing him before himself or some other justice of the peace; or the justice before whom the charge shall be made may (if he shall so think fit), without any previous summons (unless where otherwise specially directed), issue such warrant; and the justice, before whom the person charged shall appear or be brought, shall proceed to hear and determine the case. XXXI. And be it enacted, That where any offence is by this act punishable on summary conviction, either for every time of its commission, or for the first and second time only, or for the first time only, any person who shall aid, summary con- abet, counsel, or procure the commission of such offence, shall, on conviction before a justice of the peace, be liable, for every first, second, or subsequent offence of aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring, to the same forfeiture and punishment to which a person guilty of a first, second, or subsequent offence as a principal offender is by this act made liable. viction. Application of XXXII. And with regard to the application of all forfeitures and penalties forfeitures and upon summary convictions under this act, be it enacted, That every sum of penalties upon money which shall be forfeited for the amount of any injury done (such summary con- amount to be assessed in each case by the convicting justice) shall be paid to victions. the party aggrieved, if known, except where such party shall have been examined in proof of the offence, and in that case, or where the party aggrieved is unknown, such sum shall be applied in the same manner as a penalty; and every sum which shall be imposed as a penalty by any justice of the peace, whether in addition to such amount or otherwise, shall be paid to some one of the overseers of the poor, or to some other officer (as the justice may direct) of the parish, township, or place in which the offence shall have been committed, to be by such overseer or officer paid over to the use of the general rate of the county, riding, or division in which such parish, township, or place shall be situate, whether the same shall or shall not contribute to such general rate provided always, that where several persons shall join in the commission of the same offence, and shall, upon conviction thereof, each be adjudged to forfeit a sum equivalent to the amount of the injury done, in every such case no further sum shall be paid to the party aggrieved than that which shall be forfeited by one of such offenders only; and the corresponding sum or sums forfeited by the other offender or offenders shall be applied in the same manner as any penalty imposed by a justice of the peace is herein-before directed to be applied. Proviso. If a person summarily convicted shall not pay, &c. the justice may commit him. Scale of imprisonment. : XXXIII. And be it enacted, That in every case of a summary conviction under this act, where the sum which shall be forfeited for the amount of the injury done, or which shall be imposed as a penalty by the justice, shall not be paid, either immediately after the conviction, or within such period as the justice shall, at the time of the conviction, appoint, it shall be lawful for the convicting justice (unless where otherwise specially directed) to commit the offender to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, according to the discretion of the justice, for any term not exceeding two calendar months, where the amount of the sum forfeited, or of the penalty imposed, or of both (as the unless the said sums shall be sooner paid; [or, and I order that the said sums [i. e. the shall be paid by the said A. O. on or before the day of ⚫ and I direct that the said sum of [i. e. the penalty only] shall be 'paid to of aforesaid, in which the said offence was committed, to be by him applied according to the directions of the statute in that case made and provided; [or that the said sum of penalty] shall be paid to, &c. [as before,] and that the said sum of [i. e. the value of the articles stolen, or the amount of the injury done] shall be paid to C. D. [the party aggrieved, unless he is unknown or has been examined in proof of the offence, in which case state that fact, and dispose of the whole like the penalty, as before;] and I order that the said sum of for costs shall be paid to [the complainant.] Given under my hand and seal, the day and year first above mentioned.' LXXII. And be it enacted. That in all cases where the sum adjudged to be Appeal. paid on any summary conviction shall exceed five pounds, or the imprisonment adjudged shall exceed one calendar month, or the conviction shall take place before one justice only, any person, who shall think himself aggrieved by any such conviction, may appeal to the next court of general or quarter sessions which shall be holden not less than twelve days after the day of such conviction, for the county, riding, or division wherein the cause of complaint shall have arisen: provided that such person shall give to the complainant a notice in writing of such appeal, and of the cause and matter thereof, within three days after such conviction, and seven clear days at the least before such sessions, and shall also either remain in custody until the sessions, or enter into a recognizance with two sufficient sureties before a justice of the peace, conditioned personally to appear at the said sessions and to try such appeal, and to abide the judgment of the court thereupon, and to pay such costs as shall be by the court awarded; and upon such notice being given, and such recognizance being entered into, the justice, before whom the same shall be entered into, shall liberate such person if in custody; and the court at such sessions shall hear and determine the matter of the appeal, and shall make such order therein, with or without costs to either party, as to the court shall seem meet: and in case of the dismissal of the appeal, or the affirmance of the conviction, shall order and adjudge the offender to be punished according to the conviction, and to pay such costs as shall be awarded, and shall, if necessary, issue process for enforcing such judgment. LXXIII. And be it enacted, That no such conviction or adjudication made No Certion appeal therefrom shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by orari, &c. certiorari or otherwise into any of his Majesty's superior courts of record; and no warrant of commitment shall be held void by reason of any defect therein, provided it be therein alleged that the party has been convicted, and there be a good and valid conviction to sustain the same. LXXIV. And be it enacted, That every justice of the peace, before whom Convictions to any person shall be convicted of any offence against this act, shall transmit be returned the conviction to the next court of general or quarter sessions which shall be to the quarter holden for the county or place wherein the offence shall have been commit- Sessions. ted, there to be kept by the proper officer among the records of the court; and upon any indictment or information against any person for a subsequent How far evioffence, a copy of such conviction, certified by the proper officer of the dence in court, or proved to be a true copy, shall be sufficient evidence to prove a future Cases. conviction for the former offence, and the conviction shall be presumed to have been unappealed against, until the contrary be shewn. against persons acting under this Act. LXXV. And, for the protection of persons acting in the execution of this Venue, in act, be it enacted, That all actions and prosecutions to be commenced against proceedings any person for any thing done in pursuance of this act shall be laid and tried in the county where the fact was committed, and shall be commenced within six calendar months after the fact committed and not otherwise; and notice in writing of such action, and of the cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant one calendar month at least before the commencement of the action, Notice of and in any such action the defendant may plead the general issue, and give action. this act and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had thereupon; General and no plaintiff shall recover in any such action if tender of sufficient amends issue, &c. shall have been made before such action brought, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid into court after such action brought, by or on behalf of the defendant; and if a verdict shall pass for the defendant, or the This act not to extend to Scotland or Ireland, except in two cases. Receivers. To extend to offences com plaintiff shall become nonsuit, or discontinue any such action after issue joined, or if, upon demurrer or otherwise, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his full costs as between attorney and client, and have the like remedy for the same as any defendant hath by law in other cases; and though a verdict shall be given for the plaintiff in any such action, such plaintiff shall not have costs against the defendant, unless the judge before whom the trial shall be shall certify his approbation of the action, and of the verdict obtained thereupon. LXXVI. Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to Scotland or Ireland, except as follows; (that is to say,) that if any person, having stolen or otherwise feloniously taken any chattel, money, valuable security, or other property whatsoever, in any one part of the United Kingdom, shall afterwards have the same property in his possession in any other part of the United Kingdom, he may be dealt with, indicted, tried, and punished for larceny or theft in that part of the United Kingdom where he shall so have such property, in the same manner as if he had actually stolen or taken it in that part; and if any person in any one part of the United Kingdom shall receive or have any chattel, money, valuable security, or other property whatsoever, which shall have been stolen or otherwise feloniously taken in any other part of the United Kingdom, such person knowing the said property to have been stolen or otherwise feloniously taken, he may be dealt with, indicted, tried, and punished for such offence in that part of the United Kingdom where he shall so receive or have the said property, in the same manner as if it had been originally stolen or taken in that part. LXXVII. And be it enaated, That where any felony or misdemeanor punishable under this act, shall be committed within the jurisdiction of the Admitted at sea. miralty of England, the same shall be dealt with, enquired of, tried, and determined in the same manner as any other felony or misdemeanor committed within that jurisdiction. Commence- Setting fire to 7 & 8 GEO. IV. c. 30. An act for consolidating and amending the Laws in England relative to malicious Injuries to Property. [21st June, 1827.] WHEREAS Various statutes now in force in that part of the United Kingdom called England, relative to malicious injuries to property, are by an act of the present session of Parliament repealed, from and after the last day of June in the present year, except as to offences committed before or upon that day, and it is expedient that the provisions contained in those statutes should be amended and consolidated into this act, to take effect at the same time as the said repealing act: be it therefore enacted by the king's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That this act shall commence on the first day of July in the present year. II. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any church or chapel, or to any chapel for the religious worship of persons dissenting from the united church of England and Ireland, duly registered or recorded, or shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any house, stable, coach-house, out-house, warehouse, office, shop, mill, mast-house, hop-oast, barn, or granary, or to any building or erection used in carrying on any trade or manufacture, or any branch thereof, whether the same or any of them respectively shall then be in the possession of the offender, or in the possession of any other person, with intent thereby to injure or defraud any person, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon. nery belonging to those manufactu res, &c. III. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Destroying cut, break, or destroy, or damage with intent to destroy or to render useless, silk, woollen, any goods or article of silk, woollen, linen, or cotton, or of any one or more linen, or cotof those materials mixed with each other, or mixed with any other material, ton goods in or any framework-knitted piece, stocking, hose, or lace respectively, being the loom, &c. in the loom or frame, or on any machine or engine, or on the rack or tenters, or any machior in any stage, process, or progress of manufacture; or shall unlawfully and maliciously cut, break, or destroy, or damage with intent to destroy or to render useless, any warp or shute of silk, woollen, linen, or cotton, or of any one or more of those materials mixed with each other, or mixed with any other material, or any loom, frame, machine, engine, rack, tackle, or implement, whether fixed or moveable, prepared for or employed in carding, spinning, throwing, weaving, fulling, shearing, or otherwise manufacturing or preparing any such goods or articles; or shall by force enter into any house, shop, building, or place, with intent to commit any of the offences aforesaid, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit), in addition to such imprisonment, VI. And be it enacted, That if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Destroying cut, break, or destroy, or damage with intent to destroy or to render useless, threshing any threshing machine, or any machine or engine, whether fixed or moveable, machines, or prepared for or employed in any manufacture whatsoever, (except the manu- machinery in facture of silk, woollen, linen, or cotton goods, or goods of any one or more any other of those materials mixed with each other, or mixed with any other material, manufacture or any framework-knitted piece, stocking, hose, or lace,) every such offender than the shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable at the foregoing. discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit,) in addition so such imprisonment. V. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Setting fire to set fire to any mine of coal or cannel coal, every such offender shall be guilty a coal mine. of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall suffer death as a felon. mine, or filling up any shaft, &c. with intent to destroy the mine. VI. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Drowning any cause any water to be conveyed into any mine, or into any subterraneous passage communicating therewith, with intent thereby to destroy or damage such mine, or to hinder or delay the working thereof, or shall, with the like intent, unlawfully and maliciously pull down, fill up, or obstruct any airway, waterway, drain, pit, level, or shaft of or belonging to any mine, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the Court shall so think fit,) in addition to such imprisonment: provided always, that this provision shall not extend to any damage committed Proviso. under ground by any owner of any adjoining mine in working the same, or by any person duly employed in such working. mine. VII. And be it enacted, that if any person shall unlawfully and maliciously Destroying pull down or destroy, or damage with intent to destroy or to render useless, any engine, any steam engine or other engine for sinking, draining, or working any mine, erection, &c. or any staith, building, or erection used in conducting the business of any used in any mine, or any bridge, waggonway, or trunk for conveying minerals from any mine, whether such engine, staith, building, erection, bridge, waggonway, or trunk be completed or in an unfinished state, every such offender shall be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to any of the punishments which the Court may award, as hereinbefore last mentioned. VIII. And be it enacted, that if any persons, riotously and tumultuously as sembled together to the disturbance of the public peace, shall unlawfully and with force demolish, pull down, or destroy, or begin to demolish, pull down, or destroy, any church or chapel, or any chapel for the religious worship of Rioters demo- |