The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-10 00:00:00

A REMARKABLE CASE.

At the Chester assizes, on Monday, before Mr,
Justice Brett, Jos3ph Teece, 38, general dealer, was,
indicted for feloniously wounding Jane Wainwright
with intent to murder her, at Birkenhead, on Deoem-
ber 9 last,

Mr. Clement Higgins and Mr. Edwards prose-
cuted ; Mr. Marshall defended the prisoner.

This was a remarkable case, from the fact that the
prosecutrix had recovered sufficiently from the terrible
wound inflicted upon her by the prisoner to enable her
to appear, although she had now a bullet embedded
in the interior of the skull, which had undoubtedly, in
the opinion of the medical men, passed through a por-
tion of the brain.

The prisoner was a milk dealer in the town of
Birkenhead and the prosecutrix had been in his ser-
vioe for some five or six years. On December 8 the
prisoner, who was just getting over a heavy drinking
bout, went to a chemist's and got a prescription con-
sisting of chloroform, tincture of opium, and tincture of
aconite, which he said he required for a swollen knee.
On the following morning he was found by a neighbour
suffering from a pistol bullet wound in his forehead,
and, upon search being made in the house, the girl
Jane Wainwright was discovered stretched on her bed
with a bullet wound in her head, through which the
brain was oozing. The prisoner was taken to the
hospital, and on the way there he said, "I have shot
myself and taken poison and I shall be dead in twenty
minutes;" and he added "I have shot poor Janey '
(meaning the prosecutrix), "and I do not know
how many more I have not shot." In his pocket
was found a letter addressed to his wife, in
which he made some unfounded accusations
against his partner, and said that he was in
dread of being poisoned b3i his servant. It was
shown that he had suffered from delusions of a similar
nature brefore. At the hospital the stomach pump
was applied at his request, an emetic was administered
to him, and his wounds were attended to. The girl
was also taken charge of. According to the evidence
of the doctor, the wound penetrated the skull to the
depth of 4kin., and the bullet was still in the bones of
the skull. The pistol was discovered by the police in
the coal cellar, with one barrel loaded, two empty, and
three with discharged cartridges in them.
For the defence Mr. Marshall cross•examined the
different witnesses with a view to showing that the
prisoner was of unsound mind, and it was clear that
he had suffered from delusions brought on by excessive
drinking.
- - -

Dr. M'Ewen, temporary surgeon to Chester Prison,
stated that, in his opinion, the prisoner was suffering
I from incipient softening of the brain.
Lord Justice Brett pointed out to the jury that,
before they could find the prisoner not guilty on the
ground of insanity, they must be satisfied by the de.
fence that he was so far of unsound mind as not to
know he was shooting at the girl, or that he did
not know that it was wrong to do so; but if,
on account of fake delusions brought on by his
own misconduct, he shot at her, then he would
be responsinle for his acts. He left it to them to
say whether or not the prisoner had by his drunken
habits rendered himself incapable of having either of
the intentions with which he was charged, or whether
he As of such unsound mind as to be not guilty on
the ground of insanity.
The jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding,
and he was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment
with hard labour.