The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-02-07 00:00:00

THREE PERSONS SENTENCED TO

DEATH.

At the Lin .:oln assizes, Henry Howitt, 25, John Brewster
Veazey, 22, and Elizabeth Ireland,- 22, were charged with
the wilful murder of George Holt, at Spalding, on the Bth of
November last,
Mr. Lawrence, QC., Mr. Ewlns Bennet, and Mr. Morley
Drosecuted; the lion. E. Chandos Leigh defended the pri-
soners at the request of the learned Jadge.—We take the
following report of the case from The Times :

George Bolt was a rag and bone merchant, shout
48 years of age, living in one of two detached cottages
at Pinchbeck, about two miles from Spalding, and the
female prisoner lived with him as his housekeeper.
There are two roads leading from Spalding to Pinch-
beck, and Rolt sometimes used one and some-
times the other, but on the night in question he
seems to have returned home by the less fre-
quented road, for his body was found in
a field by the side of a footpath. He was dead,
stiff and cold, was lying on his back with his hands ex-
tended at right angles to the body, the key of his
house was clutched in his right hand, and the left
pocket of his trousers had been cut or torn off. There
were but slight external marks of violence on the face
or body of deceased, but two ribs were fractured in-
ternally, and the medical witnesses were of opinion
that death had been caused by suffocation. The de-
-waned was proved to have been slightly affected with
heart disease; but, although it was admitted that this
Might have accelerated his death, the doctors who
made the post mortem examination expressed a strong
Opinion that the symptoms were not consistent with
death by heart disease alone. It was proved that at
six o'clock in the evening in question the prisoner Ire-
land left Bolt's cottage, taking the key with her, and
accompanied by a boy named Clark, who livad next
door, and went to the "Butchers' Arms," Spalding,
where the other prisoners lodged and were having tea.
After some conversation with them she left, but they met
vain at the "Punch Bowl "Inn and sat there some time.
The boy Ciark was then told by Ireland to go home,
and that she would overtake him at the railway
bridge. The boy, however, finding that she did not
come after a lapse of about 20 minutes, went home.
The three prisoners remained for some time at the
"Punch Bowl" and then went to the "Peacock "Inn,
where they had more drink, and left at about half.
pact eight, and went towards Pinchbeck. Bolt was
seen at his house by his neighbour, Mrs. Clark, at
about eight, and he left home with the alleged object
of getting the key of his house from Ireland, and was
not again seen alive. To connect the prisoners with
the murder it was shown that they had gone along
the footpath which led through the field where
the body was found, and that voices were
heard as of people quarrelling there by seve-
ral persons who were walking along the road
which ran parallel to it, and one of these identified
the voice of one of them as that of Holt ; and the voice of
another as that of a woman. Between nine and ten
Lhatievening, Mrs. Clark, who lived next door to Rolt,
had gone to bed, and shortly afterwards was alarmed
to hear a great noise in her house, and to see Ireland
rush into her room in a great state of fright and ex-
citement, and she told Mrs. Clark that there were
two men below with knives who were threatening to
murder her. Ireland remained in Mrs. Clark's house
all night, and continued in the same state of alarm;
but neither Clark nor his wife could see any one,
though the night was bright and clear. Close to Rolt's=
body were found two cape, and they were sworn to as
having been worn by Howitt and Yazoo, respectively.
Rolt's house was also found to have been broken into,
and his best clothes and hat stolen, These clothes
were traced to the.possession of Howitt, and the hat
to Vessey. There was much circumstantial evidence
In the case • but a most important element was the
statement Of the prisoner Howitt, voluntarily made,
on the day after he was taken into custody. It was as
follows :

"On Saturday night me and Jack Veasey were
getting our tea when the dead man's housekeeper
came to us and we asked her to go to the " Still ''
Publichouse and she would not go; she then promised
us that she would see us in the town. We finished
our teas and had one pint of beer between us, and
then went up town and met the housekeeper coming
out of a baker's shop. We then all three went to the
*Punch Bowl '• she had brandy, and me and Jack
had beer. A boy was with her. We then went to
the Peacock'' publichouse. When :we came out of
the 'Peacock' she sent the boy over the railway
gates to wait for wt. We then stood :in Steppingstone-
lane, near the cricket field. While we were talking
the deceased man came up. He asked for his door-key.
She at first refused to give it to him. He told her he
would have it and she might go whereshe liked. She
gave him the key, when we all three went up to the rail-
way gate. I saw no more of the deceased until we attacked
him in the field, She told us he had a lot of money
In his left pocket. She said if he would take it from
him she would go with us to London or anywhere
else. We held him down while she cut his pocka off.
We left him in the field and all three went to his
house. When we got to the garden end she said,
Von wait there and I will fetch you a hat,' as I
had lost mine. She did so. She told us that she
would pack the things up and we would go by the
mail train to London; she then hid herself and I saw
her no. more. Then I fell into the drain, and then
went into deceased's house and fetched out a suit of
clothes; we then us two came away, I tore up my
trousers and put on the black pair I took from the
house. I never meant to kill the man." Vessey also
said, "I did not steal the hat, the woman gave it to
me. It is a bad job; the woman is to blame for all i
this, we should never have thought about t if it had
not been for her; she put us up to it. We should
have never known the man if it had not been for her."
The Hon, E. Chandos Leigh, on behalf of the female
'ner, urged that there was not sufficient evidence
to connect her with the affair at all; and that as to the
male Prisoners, while he could not resist the evidence
84 to the robbery, he trusted that, in the absence of
Malice or intention to take life, the jury would acquit
Latina of the capital charge.
The learned Judge, in summing up the case to the
11117/, told them that if, without doubt, they came to
the conclusion that Rolt was killed by being thrown
down in order to rob him, and by being sat or knelt
12Pun by some person with the view of carrying out
that Purpose of robbing him, then not only the person
Who sat or knelt upon him, but every person present
on the occasion aiding or abetting that person and
taking part in the robbery, was guilty of wilful
murder.

The jury, after considering their verdict for twenty
minutes, found all the prisoners Guilty, but accom-
panied their verdict with a recommendation to mercy,
because they believed that a result occurred never
contemplated by the prisoners.
His Lordship said that the recommendation of the
jury would be forwarded to the proper quarter, and
Passed sentence of death upon all the prisuoers,