The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-01-25 00:00:00

SENTENCE OF DEATH.

At the W rcestErehire Assizes, on Tuesday, be-
fore Baron Huddh ston, Enoch Whis-on (21), de-
scribed as a groom, was indicted for feloniously
wilfully, an I of malice aforethought killing and
slaying Alr .d Nimedith on the 12th of December,
1878, at the borough of Du lley.
Mr. Streeten and Mr. Selfe pro3ecuted, and Mr.
Darling defended the prisener at the request of his
Lordship.
Mr. Streeten, in opening the case, said that the
deceased was about 24 years old, and for several
years was in the employ of Messrs. Hill and Smith,
who had ironworks at Hart's Hill, near Woodside,
as clerk. He was in the habit of going every Friday
to the Birmingham, Dudley, and District Bank at
Dudley to oetain money to pay wages.
.The nearest
way from Dudley to Hart's Hill *was by a footpath
leading from near the Junction Inn across a Meadow,
through Woodside, and then along a lonely place
where, for some distance, there were no houses. On
December 6th the prisoner who worked for Messrs.
Hingley and Smith, Hart's Hill, was at the Junc-
tion Inn in a room which overlooked the road from
the bank. Deceased was at the bank at between
two and three o'clock, and received notes and gold
and silver for a cheque amounting to £2BO 6s 9d.
He returned along toe footpath, and was followed
by prisoner. At the lonely spot beyond Woodside
prisoner was seen close to Meredith, and shortly
after wards a shot was heard. At that spot the pri-
soner shot the deceased, took from him the money,
and ran away towards Commonside. The di cea-ed •
who was wounded in the head, was taken to the
hospital, where he died on the 12th. At Common-
side lived Mary Terry, with whom the prisoner
kept company. He told her several times he would
bring £25, and on the 6th he came to her and gavo
that amount The police arrested him in her house,
and in his pocket was a pistol, loaded with powder
and slugs. Mr. Streeten described how through state
merits made by prisoner to Superintendent Burton
the rest of the money was found where it had been
concealed. After Meredith's death the prisoner said ,
to Superintendent Burton, "I meant to have the
money. I did not mean to murder him." Mr.
Streeten said the prisoner's intentions must be
judged by his acts. If he followed the deceased for
the purpose of committing the robbery, and, in
furtherance of that design, used a deadly weapon,
shooting the man whom he intended to rob, and
who died from the wounds so inficted, that in law
would amount to the crime of murder.
Thomas Meredith, painter, of Dudley, stated that
the deceased was his broil; r, and was not quite
twenty-four years of and was a clerk in the
employ of Messrs. Hill and Smith, of the Brierley
Hill Ironworks. He saw his brother at about nine
o'clock on the morning of the 6th December, and
he was then in good health. Witness was present
on the 12th of that month when his brother died at
the Guest Hospital,
T. S. Stevens,. a clerk in the emphy of Messrs.
Hill and Smith, stated that it was the duty of the
deceased to go to the b ink each Friday at tw )
o'clock for the money with which to pay the mens'
wages. The leather bag produced was tie one
Meredith was accustomed to carry. The prisoner,
whom he had known three or four years, had been
in the employ of Messrs. Hingley and Smith, whose
works were near those of Messrs. Hill and Smith.
On Friday, December 6th, in consequence of some-
thing he beard, he ran to a place called Pitt's L
inc
and saw blood on the ground. The leather bae was
given to him by Thomas Smith, and he found in it
a packet containing £5 in silver, a small bag, and. a
letter to the firm from the bank. A. min named
Buckley was at the place, and he handed him a slug
with blood and hair on it.
By Mr. 'Darling: He did not know the prisoner
intimately. He had never seen him ill.
Sarah .Humphries, of the Junction Inn, near
Dudley, said the prisoner came to her house between
twelve and one o'clock, and remained about half an
hour, during which time he drank half a pint of
ale. He returned about two o'clock and went into
the taproom, from the window of which room
could be seen anyone coming from Dudley. At his
I request she allowed him to take the blind down, he
I telling her that he wanted to watch for his sister.
She did not see him leave the house
Cross-examined by Mr. Darling: She could not
say that the prisoner's sister -came to her houss that
day in order to fetch him. It was on the second
occasion that the prisoner took the blind down.
He could be seen over the blind if he was standing
up, but not if he was sitting down, When the blind
was down persons outside could see into the room.
Henry Griffin Walker,, manager of the Birming-
ham, Dudley, and District Bank, said he knew the
Junction Inn. The footpath near the inn branched
off towards Messrs. Hill, and Smith's works. The
deceased, whom he knew, came to the bank at be-
tween two and triree o'clock on December 6th, and
received £289 6s 9d. The cash was paid as follows:
Four £5 notes, 161 sovereigns, 90 half-sovereigns,
ten £5 packets of silver, £1 of threepenny pieces,
and 6s worth odd silver.
Mary Lilley, Woodside, near Dudley, said on the
day in question she saw the deceased in the Middle
Pit Inn which was between the Junction Inn, and
Woodside. He had a leather bag in his hand. She
saw the prisoner walking very closely to Meredith
and keeping at the same rate as the deceased. They
were going towards the Harts Hill Wor ks.
Cross-examined : The place where she saw them
was about half a mile from where the deceased was
found shot.
Daniel Round, labourer' ,Woodside, said he knew
Meredith, and on December 6th saw him at Wool.
aide carrying a leather bag, and walking towards his
employers' works. This was at a quarter past three,
The prisoner was about a yard and halt' behind
Meredith. He afterwards saw a pool of blood about
130 yards further on. About a ininute and a half
after he left them he heard the report of firearms
from the direction in which the two men had gone.
He went towards the place from whence the sound
seemed to come, and saw the deceased being carried
to Jubb's public-house.
Cross-examined : There was only one shot. He
did not meet anyone else to his knowledge before he
met the two men. He knew the prisoner and nodded
to him as he passed, but the prisoner took no notice
beyond caging a look at him. He had never heard
the prisoner complain of a pain in his head. They
had formerly worked together, but prisoner left his
employment on December 3rd;
By Mr. Streeten: From where the blood was the
nearest house was 125 vards distant.
Harriet Bradford, Woodside, said on December
6th she was standing at her back door and saw the
deceased walk past with a black bag in his hand.
The prisoner was following him, and was some two
yards in his rear. About a minute afterwards she
heard something go off, and saw Meredith struggling
on the floor. She ran towards him and saw the pri-
soner in the act of running up the field with the bag
in his hand. Meredith was bleeding.
Isaac 'Wall, licensed victualler, Woodside, so id on
December 6th he heard the report of a gun or pistol,
and went towards the place from when the sound
came. Meredith was struggling on the floor, and
he noticed a man run up the field from the direction
where Meredith was lying. The man had a black
bag in his hand, and was 100 yards from *here
Meredith was lying. He assisted to convey the de-
ceased to Guest's Hospital.
Cross-examined: He was in the middle of the road
when he beard the report of a pistol. He knew the
prisoner, but had never spoken to him.
James Buckley, engine tender, proved finding a
slug where Meredith was lying, and which had hair
and blood upon it.
Thomas Smith, miner, Brierley Hill, said he
heard the report of a pistol. and on going towards
the place where the report seemed to come from he
found Meredith laid upon the ground. He sub-
sequently discovered a black bag in the middle of a
field through which he
.had seen the prisoner run-
ning. The bag contained a packet of money and a
letter.
Police-constable Staines, of Woodside, said, hear-
ing a report of a pistol when in his station, he went
into the road, and found Meredith bleeding from
behind the right ear, He saw the prisoner at
Brierley Hill station-houee, send he asked, "Are
they going to look the girl up ?" Witness replied,
" I think moet likely they will." Prisoner then said
"Have they takee all the money off her ?" Witness
said, " I think they have," He then said, " I lost
some of it running across the field, I pit my hand
in to get the money out,and the bag came open and
some of it spilled on the pound. After I shot him
I was so frightened, I was afraid I had killed him,
and I didn't intend to kill him. When I was sun-
ning away *bought I heard someone running behind
me. The spot where Meredith fell was 120 yards
from the Nelson Engine House. At the place there
was a largo mound which would completely bide**