The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1876-08-22 00:00:00

A TERMAGANT.-A SCENE IN A DRAWING.
ROOM.

At tho Middlesex Sessions, a day or two ago, before
Mr. P. IL Edlin..d.C., Assistant-Judge, Mary
Connell, 30, was ch with having unlawfully and
maliciously committed age upon the personal property
of Donald Macintosh, to the amount of £l5, and also
with having unlawfully assaulted and occasioned actual
bodily harm to that gentleman. Dr. Macintosh is a
doctor of medicine lasi and carrying on his profession
at 10, Lancaster-road, Belsise-park. Last June, being in
need of a housemaid, ho made application to the Dudley
Stuart Home, when Miss Thomson, the lady superinten-
dent, recommended the prisoner to him. The prisoner
accordingly entered into the doctor's service, where she
continued until the leth of July, when, in consequence
of her conduct not being satisfactory to the doctor, she
wasdischarged. On that day she left, taking with her
her wages and her luggage. The doctor saw nothing more
of her until the 22nd. the evening of that day, while
sitting in a back parlour, he was astonished at hearing a
great noise proceeding from his dining-room. He conse-
quently went there, and found the prisoner in the act
of smashing all the glass, pictures, and other articles
with the fire shovel. Much damage had already been
done, some valuable pictures having been injured.
Directly he entered the room she turned round upon him
and aimed • blow with the fire shovel at his head. This
blow he warded off from his head, but it took effect on his
arm. A struggle then ensued between them, amid the
shrieks of the woman-servants of the house, who had con-
gregated at the doer of the dining-room upon hearing the
uproar. The struggle lasted for some minutes, and the
doctor, who is advanced in years, would hare been entirely
overcome had it not been for the opportune arrival of a
neighbour. to whom the prisoner applied for protection,
saying "Save use ! save me! This man has drugged me,
and now be wishes to murder me." This gentleman, how-
ever went to the doctor's aid, and the prisoner was
retained t'll a police-constsble came, when she Rai taken
into custody. A. 5 she was leaving the house she persuaded
the constable to allow her to sit down for a few minutes
on the door step, but while there on the doctor making
his appearance at the door, she jumped up and aimed a
blow at him with her fist, missed him, but sent her hand
through the glass window in the door, breaking the glass
and cutting her hand severely. She was then placed in a
cab and taken to the police station. When there she
stated that she wished shelled done more harm. After the
evidence had been adduced to prove the above facts, the
prosecution, in the interests of the prisoner, put the
surgeon of the House of Detention into the box. He said
that when she entered the house his attention was
attracted to her, and he came to the conclusion from her
appearance and from her repeated decimations about
having been drugged by Dr. Macintosh, that she was
suffering from insane delusions, lie would not say, how-
ever, that she was not conscious of right and wrong.
When she committed the acts complained of he believed
she must have known that she was doing wrong. The
brother of the prisoner was also called as • witness to
speak to her state of mind. He had only however, seen
her once in the House of Detention. The jury returned •
verdict of Guilty and the Assistant Judge said that he
would take into consideration in the sentence which he
should pass the circumstance that she was labouring under
an entire delusion in entertaining the idea that she had
suffered some wrong, and remarked that in prison she
would have the advantage of constant medical super-
vision. Ile then sentenced her to nine months' imprison-
ment with such hard labour as her health would enable
her to undergo.