The Express.
London, England, 1867-08-01 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

1103 IE CIRCUIT. —MAIDSTONE,
—..._AIDSTONE, JULY 31.
(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
Elr RAORDINAIST CARE UV MURDER.

Sr.). I, in t'alg, r, 40, described as a widow, was charged
upon an indictment, and also by the coroner's inquisition,
with the wilful murder of her female illegitimate child,
aged two weeks.

"A
daughter of the prisoner, Emma Usher, aged 11; years,
was originally charged with being an accessory before the
fact to the commission of the same murder, but the grand
jury ignored the bill, and she was called as a witness for
the crown to give evidence in support of the charge against
her mother.
_ _

Mr. Barrow and Mr. Huron conducted the prosecution;
the prisoner was undefended by counsel.
The circumstances under which this charge was pre-
ferred were of a somewhat remarkable character.
The prisoner resided at Ashford, in Kent, and her
husband died some time since, and she became
in the family way subsequently, but her neighbours at
Ashford did not appear to be aware of the fact, and her
own daughter, Emma Usher, above referred to, did not
even seem to know the condition of her mother. The
prisoner seemed to have left Ashfonl on the Nth of March
last, and proceeded to the house of her father and mother,
who reside in Gloucester-terrace, Hackney, and she was
there delivered of a child, which there was no doubt was
the same whose death was the subject of inquiry, on the
21st of March. On the 4th of April she left London to
return to Ashford by the train from London-bridge, which
started at half-past I; o'clock, and she departed with the
child, which was then in good health. She arrivedat Ashford
about 4 o'clock at night, and her daughter, Emma Usher, I
met her at the station, and they proceeded towards home
together with the child, but the latter was never again I
seen alive. Two days afterwards a young man named
Burkett, who happened to be walking by the side of the
river at Ashford, near Trumpet-bridge, saw the dead body
of a child floating in the water, and he immediately gave
information to Mr. Dewar, the superintendent of police at
Ashford,and the body was taken out of the water. The result
of the medical examination was to leave no doubt that the
child's death was occasioned by suffocation from drowning,
but at first there was no clue to show to whom the child
belonged, or by what means it had got into the water.
Inquiries, however, were instituted, and it appeared to be
satisfactorily established that the dead child was the
prisoner's. and the same that she had brought down to
Aahfonl on the night of the 4th of April, and, in conse-
quence of • statement that was made by the daughter of
the prisoner, she and her mother were both taken into
custody and committed for the murder, but tho grand
jury, as above stated, ignored the bill against the younger
prisoner.
Emma Usher, the girl referred to, who was brought up
from the gaol, was now called as a witness for the prose-
cation, and she was sworn.

Mr. 'Justice Blackburn, before the learned counsel for
the prosecution proceeded to examine her, addresEd the
witness, who was crying and vpeared to be in great dis-
tree-, and said he thought it riot to tell her that although
the grand jury had ignored the bill against her, she was
still liable to be tried for the murder, and he cautioned
her that she was not bound to answer any question which
she considered might tend to criminate herself. At the same
time he warned her that she was upon her oath, and that
if she said anything at all, she was bound to tell the whole
truth.

The witness then proceeded to give the following extra-
ordinary evidence :—I am the daughter of the prisoner,
and I have several brothers and sisters. We all lived to.
gether in the New-road, Ashford. My mother went away
from home in the month of March, and on the evening of
the nth of April I went to the station at Ashford
to meet her on her return from London. I only expected
to meet my mother, and I did not know that she was going
to bring a child with her. The train arrived at Ashford
about nine o'clock in the evening, and I found that my
mother had • child with her. We walked together
towards home, but when we got home my mother had not
got the child. We talked about different things as we were
going along.
Mr. Barrow—What, became of the child
The witness cried bitterly, and did not answer the ques-
tion.

Mr. Barrow—What did you talk about as you were going
along?
Witnea—l cannot remember everything that was said.
Mr. Barrow—Was anything said about the child,or what
was to be done with it?
Witness (after a pause, and still weeping)-1 must tell
the truth. My mother told me that she intended to drown
the child. (Sensation in court.) I begged of her not to
do it.

Mr. harrow—What happened after this?
Witness—We walked together, and when we got to the
turning which leads to our house my mother said that we
would not go that way for fear we should be seen by some
one who knew us, and that we would go by Trumpet-
bridge. She had the child with her when we got to the
bridge. (The witness here appeared to be very much
moved, and was for some time apparently unable to speak.
She then proceeded.) When we got to the bridge I walked
on, and my mother stayed behind with the child. I
heard her coming after me in a minute or two, and when
she came up with me I saw that she had not got the child
with her. (Sensation.)

Mr. Barrow—Did ;our mother say anything to you
when she joined you in the way you have stated ?
Witness—Yes, she said she wished she bad not done it.
Mr. Barrow—Did anything occur before you walked
away front your mother and the child?
Witness—l begged her to let me walk on Met, and I told
her that I would put my fingers in my ears in order that I
might not hear the child go into the water.
Mr. Justice Blackburn asked the prisoner whether she
wished to put any questions to her daughter.
The prisoner, in a low tone, said that it was a very
painful thing for a parent to stand up against her own
child, and she went on in a rambling incoherent manner
to say that abe did not recollect anything that occurred on
this night, or whether her daughter was speaking the truth
or not, but she said that no dependence could be placed on
what she said, and she had been discharged from a great
many situations for not telling the truth.
The learned judge asked the prisoner whether she had
any questions to put to her daughter in reference to her
statement as to her having drowned the child, to show
that this statement was not true.

The prisoner replied th►t she was so agitated at the time
that she did not know what took place. She went oa to
say that her head was affected, and that she frequently
did not know what she was doing, and the medical man
who had attended her could prove the fact. She also said
that she had twice had her head shaved.

The learned judge, in summing up the case to the jury,
said that it was undoubtedly • very melancholy one, hut
they were all bound to do their duty, and the question for
the jury to decide was whether the evidence established
to their satisfaction the fact that the prisoner had
been guilty of the murder of her child. He then re-
ferred to the facts that had been proved in evidence, and
said he thought there could not be the slightest d,nbt that
the child that was found in the river was the child of the
prisoner, and that its death was occasioned by drowning.
The question th►t would then arise was by what means the
child got into the water, and, apart from the evidence of
the prisoner's daughter, there certainly were very strong
grounds, from the other facts in the case, for coming to
the conclusion that the prisoner had thrown the child into
the river. If, however, they believed the evidence of the
prisoner's daughter, and he could not ate any reason why
they should not do so, it appeared to be clearly established
that the prisoner had committed the act imputed to her,
and they would have no alternative but to find her
guilty of the crime of murder. The defeat, of the prisoner
appeared to be that owing to the infirmity of her mind
she was not responsible for her actions, but he was bound
to tell them that there was nothing in the shape of evi-
dence in reference to this question upon which they
would be justified in acting. At the same time, however,
having regard to all the circumstances of the case, he
thought that the subject of the mental condition of the
prisoner was one that might well be considered after-
wards, and he would take care that such inquiries were
instituted, and he had no doubt that the advisers of the
crown would act upon any information that was given to
them in reference to the matter.

The jury, after deliberating for about five minutes,
found the prisoner Guilty of murder, but recommended
her to mercy, on the ground that they did not believe she
was of strong mind.
Mr. Justice Blackburn, having put on the black cap,
addressed the prisoner' and said that she had been con-
victed upon evidence which did not leave the slightest
doubt of her guilt of the wilful murder of her child. The
jury, however, had at the same time recommended her to
mercy on account of the state of her mind, and be consi-
dered it a most proper subject for further inquiry ; and
he had no doubt that if anything should be discovered
that would justify zilch a course, she would receive *mi-
tigation of the sentence. He would take care that the
necessary inquiries should be made ; but in the meantime
all that he was called upon to do was to pas@ the sentence
fixed by the law for the crime of which she had been con-
victed. The learned judge then passed the fennel sen-
tence of death upon rho wretched woman, and she was
led from the bar by the turnkeys in attendance.
Charlotte Griffin, 51, was charged upon the coroner's in-
quisition with the manslaughter of Thomas Aimee.
Mr. Barrow prosecuted.
The prisoner was a nurse in the Dover Union Workhouse,
and the deceased was a child two years of age, whose
mother was in the infirmary of the house, and who, in con-
sequence, had been placed in the charge of the prisoner.
It appeared that on the morning of Sunday, the 7th of
Apnl, the child required washing, and the prisoner pro-
cured some water in a pail, which she took from a boiler,
which turned out to be scalding hot. The prisoner, with-
' out attempting to discover the temperature of the water,
appeared to have placed the poor child into it, and kept it
there for five minutes, notwithstanding its shrieks and
cries of pain, and it was so dreadfully burned about the
legs, that death ensued from the injuries and
the shock to the system on the following
Tuesday. The prisoner appeared to have ex-
pressed her sorrow at what had happened after the I
occurrence, and she placed flour and whiting on the
burns, and did all she could to alleviate the sufferings of I
the poor infant; and the affair appeared to have been
the result of reckless carelessness on her part, and thee.
did not appear to be the slightest suggestion that there
was any deliberate intention on her part to cause mischief I
to the child.