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or misdemeanor shall be committed on the boundary or boundaries of two or more counties, or within the distance of five hundred yards of any such boundary or boundaries, or shall be begun in one county and completed in another, every such felony or misdemeanor may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in any of the said counties, in the same manner as if it had been actually and wholly committed therein.' (m)

Upon an indictment for manslaughter, found by the grand jury of the county of the city of Worcester, alleging the blow which caused the death to have been struck in the county of Worcester, it was objected that the words, 'begun in one county and completed in another,' did not apply to such a case, as the word 'completed' necessarily imported some active and continuing agency in the person committing the offence in the county where the felony was completed; but it was held that the above clause did extend to this case. (n)

On the trial of an indictment for robbery at the Kent assizes, the offence appeared to have been committed in Surrey, at a distance of about 320 yards from the boundary of Kent and Surrey, as measured by a direct line, but at considerably more than 500 yards by the nearest road; and Parke, B., held that the distance must be measured in the direct line, and therefore the prisoner was triable in Kent. (0) The above section only applies to trials in counties, and does not extend to limited jurisdictions within counties. Where, therefore, a larceny was committed in the city of London, but within five hundred yards of the boundary of the county of Surrey and of the borough of Southwark, it was held that the offence could not be tried by the quarter sessions for the borough of Southwark. (p)

Alterations by the Boundary Act. It may be observed, that an important alteration has been made in the boundaries of some counties by the Boundary Act, 2 & 3 Will. 4, c. 64, and the Municipal Reform Act, 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76 (q); so that if a felony be now committed in that part of the county of a town, which has been added to it by the Boundary Act and the Municipal Reform Act, it is triable within the county of the town. The prisoner was indicted for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm; the offence was committed at a place which was added to the borough of Haverfordwest, which is a county of itself, by the Boundary Act, and declared by the Municipal Reform Act to be part of the borough, the place in question not having been within the borough before the passing of those Acts; and it was held that the prisoner might be tried by a jury of the borough. (r) Offences committed during a journey or voyage. By the 7 Geo. 4, c. 64, s. 13, where any felony or misdemeanor shall be committed on any

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(m) See R. v. Ruck, MSS. C. S. G., post, vol. II. R. v. Mitchell, 2 Q. B. 636, post, vol. II.

(a) R. v. Jones, Worcester Lent Ass. 1830, Jervis, K. C., MSS. C. S. G. Mr. Bellamy, the clerk of arraigns, had consulted Littledale, J., about this case, and he thought that the indictment ought to be preferred in the city, and it had been so preferred accordingly. C. S. G.

(0) R. v. Wood, 5 Jurist, 225; see Mouflet v. Cole, 42 L. J. Ex. 8.

(p) R. v. Welsh, R. & M. C. C. R. 175. (2) Repealed by 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50 ; but see sec. 228. See also 31 & 32 Vict. c. 46; 48 & 49 Vict. c. 23.

(r) R. v. Piller, 7 C. & P. 337, Coleridge, J. In R. v. the Justices of Glouces tershire, 4 Ad. & E. 689, it was held that the effect of these statutes was to transfer the parts entirely and for all purposes out of the one county into the other.

person, or on or in respect of any property in or upon any coach, waggon, cart, or other carriage whatever employed in any journey, or shall be committed on any person, or on or in respect of any property on board any vessel whatever employed on any voyage or journey upon any navigable river, canal, or inland navigation, such felony or misdemeanor may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in any county, through any part whereof such coach, waggon, cart, carriage, or vessel shall have passed, in the course of the journey or voyage during which such felony or misdemeanor shall have been committed, in the same manner as if it had been actually committed in such county; and in all cases where the side, centre, or other part of any highway, or the side, bank, centre, or other part of any such river, canal, or navigation shall constitute the boundary of any two counties, such felony or misdemeanor may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in either of the said counties, through or adjoining to, or by the boundary of any part whereof such coach, waggon, cart, carriage, or vessel shall have passed, in the course of the journey or voyage, during which such felony or misdemeanor shall have been committed, in the same manner as if it had been actually committed in such county.'

This enactment is general, and applies to any carriage whatever employed in any journey. The prisoners were sent from the Great Northern station in Middlesex with a waggon to Woolwich in Kent, and the usual quantity of oats for the horses was given out to them, and put into the waggon in nose bags. The prisoners sold the oats at Woolwich, and it was held that they were triable in Middlesex; for the object of the statute was to enable a prosecutor, whose property is stolen from any carriage on a journey, to prosecute in any county through any part of which the carriage shall have passed in the course of that journey; because, in many cases, it might be quite impossible to ascertain at what part of the journey the offence was actually committed. (s)

The prisoner had acted as guard of a coach from Penrith in Cumberland to Kendal in Westmoreland, and was entrusted with a banker's parcel, containing bank-notes and two sovereigns; on changing horses at some distance from Penrith, he carried the parcel to a privy, and while there took out of it the sovereigns: and Parke, B., held that as the act of stealing was not in or upon the coach,' the case was not within the statute, and the felony having been committed in Westmoreland, the indictment ought to be preferred in that county. (t)

Larceny on a journey by railway. On an indictment for larceny tried at Stafford, it appeared that the prosecutor travelled from Shrewsbury to Shifnal, and afterwards missed a dressing-case which had been in the carriage with him. The prisoner had accompanied the train, and had stated that he had found the dressing-case in a first-class carriage at Codsall, one of the stations on the line, and that he carried it to the engine and gave it to another prisoner, who opened it with a wrench, and on their return to Shrewsbury gave him some of the articles as his share. The part of the line from Shrewsbury to Shifnal is in Shropshire, but Codsall station is in Staffordshire. It was urged

(s) R. v. Sharpe, Dears. C. C. 415.

(t) Sharpe's case, 2 Lew. 233.

that the prisoner's statement showed that the larceny was not committed during the journey; for the removal of the dressing-case from the carriage did not constitute the larceny, according to the prisoner's statement, but it consisted in the distribution of the property at Shrewsbury; but Williams, J., held that there was evidence from which the jury might find that the dressing-case was abstracted during the journey; as the evidence, with the exception of the prisoner's statement, was consistent with either supposition. (u)

The

Detached parts of counties locally included in another county. 2 & 3 Vict. c. 82, s. 1, enacts, that it shall be lawful for any justice or justices of the peace acting for any county, to act as a justice or justices of the peace in all things whatsoever concerning or in any wise relating to any detached part of any other county, which is surrounded in whole or in part by the county for which such justice or justices acts or act; and that all acts of such justice or justices of the peace, and of any constable or other officer in obedience thereto, shall be as good, and all offenders in such detached part may be committed for trial, tried, convicted and sentenced, and judgment and execution may be had upon them in like manner as if such detached parts were to all intents and purposes part of the county for which such justice or justices acts or act; and all constables and other officers of such detached parts are hereby required to obey the warrants, orders, and acts of such justice or justices, and to perform their several duties in respect thereof, under the pains and penalties to which any constable or other officer may be liable for a neglect of duty.' By sec. 3, 'The word "county" shall be taken to mean and include county, riding, division, and parts of a county having a separate commission of the peace.' (v)

It has been held that the grand jury of the county, which wholly surrounds a detached part of another county, may find an indictment for an offence committed in such detached part, and that the prisoner may be tried by a jury of such surrounding county. The prisoner was indicted in Dorsetshire for larceny in a parish of Somersetshire, entirely detached from it, and surrounded by Dorsetshire. He had been committed by a Dorsetshire magistrate to the gaol of that county. The indictment laid the offence to have been committed in the parish of Holwell, the same being a detached part of the county of Somerset, surrounded in the whole by the county of Dorset; the venue in the margin was Dorset. The indictment did not state that the prisoner was in Dorsetshire, or that he was committed by a Dorsetshire magistrate. Fitzherbert objected, first, that this should have appeared on the face of the indictment; and, secondly, that the grand jury of Dorsetshire could not find the bill, as there were no words in the statute giving any power to find the bill; and he referred to the 60 Geo. 3, c. 4, the 7 Geo. 4, c. 64, s. 12, and the 4 & 5 Wm. 4, c. 36, to shew that the word 'try' in a statute did not include the finding of a bill by the grand jury; but Rolfe, B., overruled the objection, saying that it would strike the Act out of the statute-book. (w)

(u) R. v. Pierce, 6 Cox, C. C. 117. See R. v. French, 8 Cox, C. C. 252, post, Book IV., ch. 13, as to an assault committed in a journey by railway.

(v) Sec. 2 provides for payment of expenses of prosecutions by the county to which the detached part belongs.

(w) R. v. Loader, ex relatione Mr. Fitz

Outlying districts may be transferred from one county to another. By the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 88, s. 2, justices of any two or more neighbouring counties in their sessions may from time to time agree that such parts of their several counties as to them shall seem fit, shall, for the purposes of the 2 & 3 Vict. c. 93, be considered as forming part of any other of the said counties; and 'whenever any such district shall be so transferred, for the purposes of the said Act, from one county to another, with the consent of the justices of both the last-mentioned counties, such district shall be considered, for the purposes of the said Act, as if it were detached from the county to which it belongs, and wholly surrounded by the county to which it is so transferred, and all the provisions contained herein, or in the said Act, or in the 2 & 3 Vict. c. 82, shall be taken to apply to such transferred districts.'

By the 21 & 22 Vict. c. 78, s. 2, the preceding provision shall extend to any part of a county which did not form part of such county before the passing of the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 61, in like manner as if the same had always formed part of such county.'

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Detached parts of counties to be part of the county by which they are surrounded. - By the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 61, s. 1, 'every part of any county in England or Wales, which is detached from the main body of such county, shall be considered, for all purposes, as forming part of that county of which it is considered a part, for the purposes of the election of members to serve in Parliament as knights of the shire,' under the 2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 64; provided that nothing herein contained shall alter the county, riding, or division to which any such detached part shall be deemed to belong for the purpose of holding inquests under the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 12. (x)

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In certain counties of cities and towns prisoners may be committed, and tried at assizes held for adjoining county. By the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 55, s. 19, whenever any justice or justices of the peace, or coroner, acting for any county of a city or county of a town corporate within which Her Majesty has not been pleased for five years next before the passing of this Act to direct a commission of Oyer and Terminer and gaol delivery to be executed, and until Her Majesty shall be pleased to direct a commission of Oyer and Terminer and gaol delivery to be executed within the same, shall commit for safe custody to the gaol or house of correction of such county of a city or town

herbert. S. C. Talf. Dick. Q. S. 188, where a quære is added to the decision by the learned editor; but with all respect to his opinion, it should seem that the decision is perfectly correct, as the object of the Act clearly was to render prisoners triable in the surrounding county, and to prevent expense, and the effect of a contrary decision would be that they never could be so tried in such county, except where an indictment had been found by a grand jury of the county to which the detached part belonged; which would greatly add both to the inconvenience and expense, which it was intended to avoid. It is difficult also to see how it can be correctly said that a person is 'tried in like manner as if such detached part

were to all intents and purposes part of the county for which such justice acts,' unless he is tried on an indictment found by the grand jury of such county; for that is the mode in which he would be tried if the part were to all intents part of that county. C. S. G.

(x) Sec. 2. The detached parts are to belong to the adjoining hundred, &c., or to form a separate hundred. Sec. 4. No judicial proceeding or deed or other instrument in writing shall be invalidated by reason of any error in stating the name of the county to which such detached portion originally belonged, instead of the county to which it will belong under this Act, or the converse.'

any person charged with any offence committed within the limits of such county of a city or town not triable at the court of quarter sessions of the said county of a city or county of a town, the commitment shall specify that such person is committed pursuant to this Act, and the recognizances to appear to prosecute and give evidence taken by such justice, justices, or coroner shall in all such cases be conditioned for appearance, prosecution, and giving evidence at the court of Oyer and Terminer and gaol delivery for the next adjoining county; (y) and the justice, justices, or coroner by whom persons charged as aforesaid may be committed, shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the proper officer of the court the several examinations, informations, evidence, recognizances, and inquisitions relative to such persons at the time and in the manner that would be required in case such persons had been committed to the gaol of such adjoining county by a justice or justices, or coroner, having authority so to commit, and the same proceedings shall and may be had thereupon, at the sessions of Oyer and Terminer or general gaol delivery for such adjoining county as in the case of persons charged with offences of the like nature committed within such county.'

The venue in the margin of an indictment was 'county of Norfolk, being the next adjoining county to the borough of Yarmouth;' the offence was committed in the parish of Gorlestone, in Suffolk. The whole of that parish is within the jurisdiction of the borough of Great Yarmouth, and the prisoner had been committed by the borough magistrates to the house of correction at Great Yarmouth. It was objected that the prisoner could not be tried in Norfolk. Pollock, C. B. The words of the statute are, that in such a case as this the prisoner shall be tried "in the next adjoining county." Here the next adjoining county was either Norfolk or Suffolk. The place in the borough where the offence was committed has nothing to do with it. This would very likely have been a good trial in Suffolk, but I think that it is also a good trial in Norfolk.' (2)

Trial of Offences committed on the Sea.

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Offences to be tried in the places limited by commission. The 28 Hen. 8, c. 15, s. 1, enacts that all treasons, felonies, robberies, murders, and confederacies, committed in or upon the sea, or in any haven, river, creek, or place, where the admiral has, or pretends to have, power, authority, or jurisdiction, shall be inquired, tried, &c., in such shires and places as shall be limited by the King's commission, as if any such offences had been committed upon the land. (a) adjoining counties, see 38 George III. c. 52, S. 2.

(y) Here follow some words repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1875. As to the counties to which certain boroughs are to be deemed adjoining, see 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50, Sched. 6. As to preferring indictments in

(2) R. v. Gallant, 1 F. & F. 517.1

(a) The 28 Hen. 8, c. 15, s. 2, introduces 'manslaughters,' and uses the words

AMERICAN NOTE.

1 It seems that in many States in America it has been held that a man may be tried in one State, where he has carried the

goods, when the taking has been in another State. Bishop, i. s. 141.

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