116 
A HOUSE RIDDEN TO DEATH. 
cember, about nine o’clock in the morning, and the defendant 
arrived at the Half-Way House, in the parish of Welford, shortly 
after one o’clock, having driven the poor animal 48 miles in four 
hours and a quarter. A witness would be called who would be 
able to prove that the conduct of the defendant, when he passed 
the turnpike-gate at Welford, was most wantonly cruel. The 
landlord of the inn, who witnessed the circumstance, would de- 
scribe the condition of the horse when put into his stable, and 
that it died within twenty minutes after it arrived, in consequence 
of having been over-driven. 
In the evening the animal was examined by a veterinary 
surgeon in the presence of the landlord, and he should be able 
to prove that the immediate cause of death was the violent 
exertion the poor animal had been compelled to undergo. 
When the defendant reached Hungerford, he stopped a minute 
or two to give the horse some sherry. At this place several 
persons remarked the condition of the horse, and advised the 
defendant not to proceed, as it was quite evident that it could 
not live to reach Newbury. He, however, persisted, and conti- 
nued his progress towards the Half-way House, when the death 
of the animal compelled him to give up the match. 
Mr. Thomas then called Robert Bemister, who stated that he 
keeps the turnpike-gate at The Benham, in the parish of Welford ; 
and that on the 7th of the present month he saw the defendant 
and another person about one o’clock coming from the direction 
of Hungerford towards the turnpike-road. The other man was on 
horseback, and had hold of the reins of another horse, which was 
harnessed to a light gig, and was dragging it along, while the 
defendant was walking by the side of the horse, and flogging it 
most violently. 
When they came to the gate, he particularly noticed the 
condition of the gig horse, which appeared completely ex- 
hausted, and hardly able to put one leg before the other. 
Witness fully expected that, if the defendant had stopped to pay 
the toll, the horse would have dropped down and died. They 
passed through the gate, and, as far as the witness could see, 
the defendant continued to flog the animal most unmercifully. 
It was ten minutes past one o’clock when they passed witness. 
The Half-way House is about a quarter of a mile farther on. 
Robert Aller, the landlord of the Half-way House, proved that 
the horse died in his stable within a short time after the de- 
fendant arrived, in consequence, in the opinion of the witness, of 
having been over-driven. This was the opinion of the veterinary 
surgeon. 
