The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-10-28 00:00:00

OFFENCES.

sliockiNo VIOLATION AND kURDER ON A 'YOUNG
GlRL—Hereford, Tuesday.—Last night Mary Corbett,
a young girl between 16 and 17 years of ago, in the
service of Mr. Skerrett, farmer, of Ullinswick, in this
, county, was sent by her mistress to purchase some
candles. As she did not return during the night a
search was set on foot by the parish constable and
ethers, which resulted in the finding of the body in an
orchard. Marks were first observed near to the side
of the turnpike road along Which the girl would have to
pass, and it appeared exit' two or three persons had been
there engaged in a struggle. From this spot tootmarkswer•
somewhat indistinctly traced across some fields into an
orchard, where they discovered the body of the poor girl
under a tree, in such a state as to lead to the conclusion
that her person had been violated, and her death subs°.
queutly brought about violence. Her neoic bore
marks as if she had been strangled, the ribbon of her
bonnet which abe had on having been preseed into the
akin of her neck, while her mouth was full of blood.
The authorities were at once informed of the sad event,
and the Herefordshire constabulary force having been
put in operation, two men nettled George Hope end
William Weaver, one of them a returned convict,
were at once suspected of being in seine way connected
with the offence. The suspected men bad been
drinking in a public-house in the neighbourhood.—
George Hope, the retuned convict, now in custody on
the charge of having abused and murdered the girl,
Mary Corbett, was convicted at Hereford, in Decom•
her, 1860, of stealb.g fowls, the property of Mr. Skerrett,
at Ullingswiek, and of housebreaking and robbery at
the same place for which he was sentenced to seven
years' transportation. He has since been twice con-
victed of misdemeanour, and of using threatening
language, for which he has suffered terms of imprison-
ment. It now appears that Mrs. Slcerrett, a respectable
farmer's wife, living in the neighbourhood, finding sonic
of the necessaries of housekeeping getting rather low,
and would nets in all probability) last until she visited
Hereford market oh Wednesday, sent the &Ceased to
the Drainer's Arms public-houses to which a shop for
the sale of groceries is attached. The girl Mary Corbett
was a remarkable specimen of the raddy-oomplesioned
damsels of Herefordshire; and Was an exteedingly fine
and powerful girl for her age. When she entered the
Drainer's Arms the first time, about eight or nine
o'clock on Monday night, the prisoner was drinking
with others in the kitchen. Time prisoner ruled her
to drink with him, whieli she prudently declined to do.
This circumstance had, perhaps, something to do with
her return to the house a second time, she having
forgotten some candlesshe had been instructed to bring
with her. On her second appearance the prisoner
repeated his importunities, and wont ao fat as to erder
glass of beer for her, which she had also the prudence
to leave behind. nowt:miter, immediately on the girl
leaving the house he was observed to get from his
seat and follow her, leaving behind him some beer,
which he did not return to drink. Nothing further
transpired to indicate the nature of the offence that had
been committed until Mrs. Skerrett, in her state of un-
easiness at the absence of the girl, gave information to
her husband's workmen, by whom it was immediately
spread, and the facts that had transpired at the
Drainer's Arms became a matter of cotrimon conversa-
tion. This at once threw suspicion Upon Hopes and it
Was at first thought that the man named William
Weaver had participated in the crime. This happily
turns out to be unfounded, and the evidence tends to
fix the offence absolutely upon the prisoner Hope,
who is & deeperate character. Inquiries having been
set on foot, it was observed that at a certain point in
the road a struggle had taken place which had been
followed up to a bank by the wayside. It was here
observed that the knees of a man, having a peculiar kind
staff in his trousers, had made iclentations in the turf
and mould. Here, too, was found by the prisoner's own
brother, who had joined in the search, a flail which
the prisoner had with him at the Drainer's Arms on
Monday night. Also, the net which had been torn off
the head of time poor girl The prisoner did
not return to his lodgings that night, nor does
it appear that he slept in any house. His own
statement is to the effect that ho slept in a barn, which
upon examnination does not show any trace of his hav-
ing been there. It was observed that; on Tuesday
morning, prisoner washed a portion of his clothes and
had bleed upon his forehead, which it is probable
resulted from his struggle with the girl against the
the bank by the wayside. From this point steps wore
traced to an orchard some few hundred yards distant,
where the corpse of the poor girl was found placed up
in a sitting posture against an apple-tree, after the first
offence had been committed.

AWDActohB tatGaitns.—The Ost-beutsche-Post of
Vienna says :—" A letter from Posth states that two
regiments of infantry have been sent off, one to the
district of Kachow, and the other to that of Gross-
wardein to pot an end to the brigandage which has of
late increased very considerably in those countries.
The following fact will give an idea of the audacity of
the brigands :—A baud of them lately invaded a country
house at the moment when the master was at table
with a large number of guests. A part of the iniaderS;
who *ere all well armed, (guarded the doors, while the
others Went in and seated themselves, musket in band,
at table with their guests, ate with them, and even
offered cigars to their neighbours. The afterwards
compelled a young lady who was present to sit dowh to
the piano, and play then, some opera airs and Hun-
garian songs. The lady, as may be, supposed, did ndt
feel much at her ease, for alio constantly es* uniskets
directed totvards hek. Before the brigands left they
completely pillaged the house.
DESPERATE AFFRAY WITII POACHERS.-011 Wed-
nesday night a most desperate encounter with poachers
took place at the Horne'a Castle publicliouse, Hollow
Stone, Nottingham, in the heart of the tpwn. About
a quarter-peat tk a keeper of Ebb Earl of Chettorileld's,
bathed BrOokes, accompaniedbySeperintendent Home,
of the Bingham division, and P.C. Radkin, of the
county police, went to the above publichouse, a noted
resort for poachers for the purpose of apprehending
two poachers named Walker and Worthington, who
were connected with the late poaching case near Not-
tingham. When tho keeper entered the house he per-
ceived n, docen.'well-knowb poachers playing at caide,
and immediately singled out Walker, telling him that
he wanted him. At this moment polic,oinon Home and
Rudkin came up. and the landlord of the house, whose
name is Maltby (himself an old poacher), stepped be-
tween the officer and the men, saying, "I'll be d—d
if you shall take him in ivy house; show me your war-
rant.' The whole of the poachers then rose, and
Maltby immediately arming himself with a powerful
life-preserver, Made a furimis onslaught on the keeper,
inflicting two tremendous blows on the head, which
felled the keeper to the ground and rendered him in-
sensible. The affray then became general, the police-
men striving to capture Walker, but upon seeing the
dangerous state the keeper was in they went to his
assistance. In the meantime messengers were sent to
the county police station for more officers, but before
they arrived the whole of the mem with the baleption
of,one named Smith (who Was implicated in the late
affray at Thrumpton, where a poacher was drowned in
the Trent), effected their escape. After a violent
struggle Maltby was captured and conveyed to the
police-station, the injured keeper being taken to the
dispensary. On Thursday morning Smith and Multby
were brought before the Borough Bench of magis-
trates, but the case was remanded until Saturday' in
consequenee of Molts not being able to appear through
the injuries he received in the affray. Bail was re-
fused for Maltby, the magistrates remarking that it
was too serious a case to admit of bail.

DR. LANICESTER ON INMSTICIDE,--At an, intptent
held in the Marylebone troth hens° on Thursday toublieg
the &Ali of a nowly-born infant, Dr. Lankester, the
coroner, took occasion to explain some observatiot s
made by him on a former occasion with reference to
infanticide in the metropolis. Ile said it seemed to be
supposed he had intended to convoy the impreesion
that the average number of inquests held in the central
division of Middlesex concerning infants. found dead
WM nearly one n-day fee the *hole year. Now, ho was
not prepared tb aay that it was oVen as high as one
every other day, from year's end to year's end ;
though there were times when he held an inquest of
this kind nearly every day. He had held a very large
number of them within a period of three months, and
he feared that the return for the year would be very
high. He was informed that no less than 32 of thoso
oases had been brought under the notice of the medical
officers of the Marylebono workhouse alone within a
a period of 27 months. He did not mean to any
that there was me greater disposition towards the crime
of infanticide in London than was to be found in other
capitals, but it bad been stated to him; by persons
who had made sotue inquiry into the subject, that this
crime was of proportionately snore frequent occurrence
in London than in continental_cities. A deputation of
working men who had waited upon him expressed their
opinion that this state of things was owing to our
bastardy laws ; which, in their opinion, „enabled the
father of illegitimate children to escape from much of
that responsibility which ought to attach to them. If
the mothers of those children were of that opinion sonic
of them might think that, as the fathers were allowed
to shrink from the performance of their duty, tho
getting rid of tho burden placed upon them was not so
great a crime as it otherwise would be. Such reason-
ing was false of course, and could afford no justification
of crime ; but it was desirable to remove all incentives
to infanticide and concealing the birth as far as that
object could with justice to the community lbe accom-
plished. It must be borne in mind that tho crime of
infanticide was likely to be attended with even a worse
result than the death of the infant,. It could not be
doubted that after a woman killed her infant she would
be less likely to look with abhorrence upon the crime
of murder, and the blunting of her sensibility on
that point was dangerous to society at large. In the
case before Dr. Lankester the dead body of the infer t
had been found, there was no evidence to show that it
died from violence. A verdict in accordance with that
state of facts was returned by the jury.

RELEASE OP REPORTER GRAY.—By the liberality of
friends Mr. Gray, who was convicted of libel It the Cen-
tral Criminal Court about six weeks ago, and fined £5O,
has been raised. The fine was paid on Thursday.