The Express.
London, England, 1862-10-30 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COURT.
(Before the Lord Chief Baron.)
Michael Hennesty, 24, an Irish labourer. was charged with
feloniously and maliciously stabbing sod wounding James
Dray, with intent to murder him, and also with intent to
do him grievous bodily harm.
This c.ise was also prosecuted by Mi. Clark and Mr.
Beasley, on behalf of the Treasury ; the prisoner was de-
fended by Mr. Sleigh.
. . . .

The prosecutor„ in this case is a police-ocnstable of the
F division, and it appeared that on the afternoon of the
Gth of October ho and another constable were sent for to
the Brown Bear public-Louse, Broad-street, St. Giles's,
where the prisoner and some other men were creating a
great disturbance. It will he remembered that on the
previous day the celebrated Garibalchan disturbance took
place in the Park, and the moment the officers made their
appearance, one .of the prisoner's companions exclaimed,
" Here come some of the Garibaldisns," and the
party then became very violent, and the prisoner was seen
to take a knife from his pocket and stab the prosecutor in
the face near the eye, but, providentially, without doing
Lim any.serious injury.
Mr. Sleigh, in addressing the jury for the prisoner, said
he should not attempt to justify the violent and intem-
perate conduct that he Lad exhibited ou this occasion, and
all he should endeavour to do was to urge that in the
excited state in which he was at the time, he did not intend
to do the prosecutor any serious mischief, and that, under
the circumstances, the jury would be satisfied in convicting
tho prisoner of the lesser offence of unlawfully wounding
only. _ .

Lord Chief Baron having gummed up, the jury, after
a abort deliberation, dequitted the prisoner of the felonious
portion of the charge, but Convicted him of the misde-
meanour of unlawfully wounding.
His Lordship said he would consider what sentence should
be pronounced.
John Joseph Parker, 39, was charged with feloniously
discharging a loaded pistol at Matthew Parker with intent
to murder him, and in another count of the indictment the
intent of the prisoner was laid to be to do the prosecutor
some grievous bodily harm.
Mr. Dicker prosecuted, and the prisoner was defended by
Mr. Metcalfe.
--

Mr. Dicker, in opening the case, said that the prisoner
and the prosecutor stood in the relation of half brothers to
each other. and there had been some dispute between them
upon the subject of property. The prisoner, however, had
been suffering from illness and w■s in pecuniary difficulty,
and the prosecutor did not believe that he really intended to
injure him, and his only object was to protect himself from
further violence.

The Lord Chief Baron said that the interest of the public
must be considered, sod be could not listen to auy terms of
arrangement in such a case.

Th;following evidence was then given :
Matthew Parker raid—The prisoner is my half-brother.
On the 13th of October I was in Broad-street, St. Giles's.
and met the prisoner. and he tired a pistol into my face. I
was afraid he would fire at me again and ran away, and be
followed me to Hanway-street, Oxford•street, when we both
stopped, and the prisoner was taken into custody. While
the prisoner was following me I saw that he had another
pistol in his band, or something that looked like a pistol. I
was taken to the hospital, when some shots were taken from
my face.
Croea•examined—Only two shots were taken from my
face. The prisoner was close to me when he fired. He
might have discharged the second pistol at me if he had
pleased. I knew that the prisoner bed been suffering from
Illness and pecuniary difiiculties, and I do not believe that
he intended to kill me, but that be merely intended to inti.
niidate me.

Mr. Year Shepherd, another witness, gave precisely the
same evidence as the prosecutor with regard to the conduct
of the prisoner. He also proved that he took the second
pistol from the prisoner. It was loaded, and contained four
slugs, and bad • cap on the nipple.
John Heed, a police-coustolile, proved that ha took the
prisoner iuto custody, end when lie did so the prisoner said.
"All right, I will go with you, lam guilty." He found
upon him a pistol with au exploded cap on the nipple.
Mr. S. J. Gee, houseaurge.pi at the University College
Hospital, proved that there were some slight wounds in the
prosecutors cheek, and he extracted four shots, the deepest
of which was imbedded about half-an-inch in the flesh.
Mr. Metcalfe, in his address to the jury for the
defence, observed upon the painful nature of the case,
and argued that the evidence bad failed to establish that
the prisoner really intended to kill his brother or to do hint
any set ions mischief, and that although undoubtedly ho
had committed an offence against the law, ho had neither
of the grave intentions meotioned in the indictment. Ho
raid there could be no doubt that the iuorar bud been
suffering from illness and pecuniary pressure, and he pro-
bably intended to frighten his brother in order to obtain
some assistance from him, and if he had really intended to
kill hint be could easily have carried out that object by dis-
charging the second pistol.
The Lord Chief Baron, in his summing up, haviuq
referred to the nature of the charge against the
prisoner, said that the prosecutor bad. undoubtedly,
in his evidence stated that ft was his opiuiou that
the prisoner did not intend to kill hint or to do
him any serious harm, and that his only object was to
fnghteu him, but he could not advise them to give too
much effect to the representation of • man who avowed
that his object in coming forward to ute was not to
protect the public but to protect hi f, and the jury must
form their own conclusions as to the intention of the pri-
soner to OM the evidence that had been laid before them.
His lordship then referred to the statement, of the wit.
WWI, and said that the question for them to coosider was
whether a man who discharged a pistol loaded with shot
full in the face of soother could be reasonably supposed to
have any other intention than to do that perms some
grievous bodily harm.