The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-18 00:00:00

NORTHERN

CASE or

MANSLAUGHTER iW A

At the now-street police-court on Monday, Mr. Charles
Suape, the resident surgeon of the County Lunatic Asylum
at Wandsworth, appeared before Mr. Henry, upon a
summons, to answer the charge of having unlawfully
killed and slain Daniel Dolley, aged 65, an inmate of the
establishment.

The proceedings were taken by the Commissioners or
Lunacy, and Mr. R. Gordon, Mr. John Foster (the secre—
tary to the commission), Mr. Paget, &cc., were present

upon the bench.
Mr. Clarkson appeared for the defendant.
Mr. Bodkin, the counsel for the prosecution, said he
rose with much pain to state the afflicting circumstances
under which the Commissioners of Lunacy had felt it their
duty to prefer that serious charge. against a gentleman
who had for many years borne an irreproachable charac-
ter in the responsible situation which he occupied. It
'3 not to necessary to state :that the commissioners
,re actuated by to other desire than to afford protection
to a numerous and deeply-afflicted class, and whether the
result of that enquiry should be favourable or otherwise
to the defendant he apprehended it was a question which
a jury must eventually determine. Mr. Snape, it ap-
peared was the mediCal superintendent of the male inmates
of the Surrey Lunatic Asylum, and the charge against

him was that he had caused the death of a lunatic
named Daniel Dolley, by subjecting him to harsh and
improper treatment in the month of April last. Dolley
was an old man, and occasionally excitable and trouble-
some, not only to the officers, but also to-the other inmates
of the asylum. Now there appeared to be a system in
that establishment of having recourse to the cold shower

bath whenever a patient became excitable. Of the pro-
priety or humanity of that system he wished to offer no
opinion at present, for doubtless the publ;

y which.

tr, facts of the case would
definitely settle the question

)uld be giien to the distre,si

Id to ample diset

as to whether it was faulty or otherwise. The practice,
however, was admitted, and early in the morning of the
9th of April, the patient Dolley, having been reported as
excitable, Mr. Snare came to the spot where he was, and
directed the attendant to put him into the shower bath.
Dolley had been punished in a similar way about a week
before, and that may account for the repugnance mani-
festedby him on this occasion to that sort of treatment ;
for on ;seeing Mr. Snape with the key in his hand, pro-
ceeding towards the bath door, Dolley struck him a
violent blow on the head, and attempted to escape. He
was followed, and brought back to the bath room by force.
Mr. Snape desired the attendants to strip him. They
did so. Dolley then went into the bath. The cold
water was turned upon him. He was kept there tw( n'y-
eight minutes, and within fifteen or sixteen minutes atter
he was taken out he died. Now it was necessary that
he (Mr. Bodkin) should describe what that bath was.
The commissioners had directed the fullest enquiry upon
the subject, and two gentlemen' were appointed to make
they requisite examination. They reported that the bath
was so constructed as to form a closed box. There was
no aperture for air or light, and the door was secured by
a bar outside. Whenever a patient was placed within

that box, he was utterly defenceless. If the symptoms of
illness or death came upon him, the attendant outside
would remain ignorant of it while the door was kept closed.

By a calculation which had been made by the two fientlemen
referred to, it was ascertained that the water descended

in a continuous stream in the proportion of 20 gallons per
minute upon the head of the patient barred within that
box. The orifices
_through which the water ran were

unusually large, and assuming the bath to be conducted in

the ordinary wa3 on the morning in question, there must
have been nearly 600 gallons of cold water poured down
upon the head of the deceased, during the 28 minutes he
was confined in the box. The question naturally arose,
why was the patient (an old man, 65 years of age,) sub-
jected to that unusual severity of treatment ? And here
he (Mr. Bodkin) was bound to direct attention to a
very remarkable observation which was made by Mr.
Snape, and which, he feared, evinced the sort of animus
that influenced his mind at the moment. He said to one
of the attendant, " I have never been struck by a patient
brfore. Keep him in half-an-hour, and then give him a
dose of the light-coloured mixture." It seemed to be part
of the system to follow up the bath by administering to
the lunatic certain doses of tartar emetic, which were
kept close to the bath, so as to be readily accessible to
the attendants, without their having to go to Mr. Snape
for them. Following out the directions of Mr. Snape, the
attendant gave Dolley an extra quantity directly he had
got him out of the bath, having placed him upon a seat for
that purpose: but, while the unfortunate patient was
being dried and dressed, the attendant became alarmed
by a sudden change in his appearance, by the pale agonised
look, the intense shivering of the body, the crouching of
the limbs, and the loss of speech. He was hastily
removed to a bed, the doctor was sent for, but before
Mr. Snape could arrive, the man was dead. It would
be for a jury to say whether his death resulted from the
treatment to which he was exposed. An inquest was
held upon the body, as was usual in cases of sudden
death, but the enquiry took place under peculiar circum-
stances, which it was important to explain. The
attendant who placed Dolley in the bath, by Mr. Snape's
order, not being actually present at the man's death, was
not asked any further questions ; and neither Mr. Snape,
nor any other person, appears to have informed the
coroner of what had taken place. Mr. Snape stated a
post mortem examination had taken place, and that death
was caused by " disease of the heart ;" and consequently
the jury were direct ed to find a verdict of "natural death."
About this time, however, a letter was received—
Mr. Clarkson (satirically) : From whom ?
. . .

is not: a subject, for my

Mr. Bodkin (warmly)
friend to treat with jocularity
Mr. Clarkson indignantly repelled the imputation
Mr. Bodkin understood the meaning of his friend's
sneer. The letter received by the Commissioners of
Lunacy was an anonymous letter. That was perfectly

--
Mr. Clarkson Where is it ? Produce it.
Mr. Bodkin had never read the letter. He had never
seen it, nor cared to see it, for it would not alter the facts

I to matters

duty bound to pursue that enquiry—to sift it to the bottom.

ineil a great number of with

empowered to do, and sent a copy of the evidence to the
visiting justices of the county, at the same time sending

nother cony, very fairly, to Mr. Snape himself, that he
night be fully informed of eveey statement elicited to his
&mom; other circumstances it transpired, as

xdurlice

he J was proceeding to observe, that a post mortem
examination had taken place, as reported to the
coroner ; but it was made by Mr. Stripe and his
colleagues in the establishment, Dr. Dimond, (the
medical superintendent of the female patients), and
Mr. Dimond, jun., who were naturally influenced by a
friendly feeling towards a daily associate and brother
officer at the institution. The examination was conducted
by young Mr. Dimond, who had just passed the College
of Surgeons, his father and Mr. Snape being both present.
On the chest being opened, Mr. Snape pointed to some
thickening matter about the heart, which, he said, denoted
disease ; but Dr. Dimond did not agree with him, and,
being unable to discover any disease of the heart,
or any other natural cause of death, he abstained from
attending the inquest. But the inquiry proceeded,
and Dr. Dimond, anticipating the probability of his
being examined by the Commissioners of Lunacy,
thought it desirable to have his opinion confirmed by
some eminent medical authorities. He therefore took
out the heart, and submitted it to Messrs. Hancock and
Paget, who concurred with him in opinion. There was
one circumstance which, although not absolutely material,
was nevertheless to be regretted—namely, the destruction
of the heart after this examination; for, it having become
offensive, and there being no apparent object in preserving
it, it was deposited in the ashes of Dr. Dimond's sur-
gery. Still it was a matter of regret, because when the
friends of Mr. Snape expressed a wish to have the body
exhumt,,l, and an order to that effect was obtained from the
Home ~3eoretary, it having come out that the heart was
no longer in the body, but had been destroyed, it of course
appeared useless to carry that order into effect, and the
exhumation did not take place. At the same time he
(Mr. Bodkin) maintained that the circumstance was not
material, either way, to the present enquiry, for even if
it could be shown that there was some slight indication of
disease of the heart, it would only prove how ter that very
reason, this unfortunate lunatic ought not to have been
exposed to such severe treatment. If disease existed,
and anything was done or directed to be done by Mr.
Snape which would tend to accelerate the death of the
patient, he would be equally answerable for the conse-
quences—equally liable to the charge of manslaughter.
The jury would have to consider whether the order to
pour a continuous stream of cold water for half
an hour without cessation, upon the bare head and
body of an old man, 65 years of age, did not manifest
a reckless disregard of life, not to say humanity, such
as to make him fairly amenable to the criminal law, fol-
lowing, as that order did, upon an act of violence towards
himself, and, considering the language by which it was
accompanied, bearing all the aspect of revenge on the
part of the defendant. The commissioners might have
proceeded in this case by indictment before the grand
jury, but thought it fairer to the accused to have the
matter first investigated before a magistrate.

Mr. Henry: And better for the judge, as it will be the
means of furnishing him with depositions.
Mr. Bodkin theft examined the following witnesses :
John 0. Barnett, sworn—l h,ve been an attendant in
the Surrey Lunatic Asylum, at Wandsworth, between
four and five years. My ward, No. 5, contains about 40
patients. I was acquainted with Daniel Dolley, who be•
came an inmate in September last. He had been in and
out of the asylum several times previously. He was a
very excitable patient at intervals. About a week before
his death I gave him a shower bath, by order of Mr.
Snape. I gave him no medicine after it on that occasion.
On the 9th of April I saw Dolley -in a very excited
state, at a quarter past six in the morning. He had
struck another patient, who had caused this excitement.
Dolley had his breakfast at eight o'clock. Mr. Snape
came round, and I reported to him what Dolley had
done. Mr. Snape spoke to him. Ido not know what he
said, but Dailey turned a deaf ear to him. Mr. Snape
n said " Come this way, Polley," and walked towards
the bath-room. Mr. Snape had the key of the bath-room
in his hand, aid WaS in the act of opening the door when
Dolley struck him a " strongish blow on tile head with
his list. Dolley made to got away. but I followed him,
with another attendant named Davies. He turrJ d round
and kicked us. I lew my whistle, upon which Ibbetson,
a third attendant, came to our assistance. Mr. Snape
was waiting at the bath-room door. We all went in,
Polley being still greatly excited. Mr. Snape desired us
to put him into the bath. Polley said, with an
" Let me go to the farm to work," or words
to that effect. Mr. Snape said, "Go into the bath
quietly, Polley," which he did. After he was in we
fastened the bath door by letting down the bar, and
turned the water on. A patient has no means of opening
the door. There is no bell to ring, nor any window.,