Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-23 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES. LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1857.

COUNTY MAYO. -TULL IMORX, MONDAY.

IMPORTANT CASE _A.t the sitting of the court this
morning the Lord f.Ciiief Justice proceeded to pass
sentence on Denis Grogan, who had been found guilty of
having caused the death of the Rev. J. Alexander. The
Lord Chief Justice said the prisoner had been found guilty
of having sold, through negligence, a quantity of arsenic
to the Rev. Dr. Alexander, since deceased They could
not have arrived at any other conclusion ; the case was
too plain; but he exonerated him from any intention of
causing the death of the deceased. It appeared that he
was a young man of good character, very sober and
well conducted, and it was to be lamented that the
transaction had occurred. 'he family of the de-
ceased had suffered severely—some of them had par.
taken of the poison, but luckily without any fatal
effects ; they had been bereaved of their head, and that
bereavement had been caused, unintentionally no doubt, by
the prisoner. The facts of the case were these:—The
Rev. Mr. Alexander had been for some time delicate, and
labouring under erysipelas. A messenger was despatched
to the establishment of Mr. Whitfield, at Ferbane, for a
pound of arrowroot ; the prisoner was in the shop ; he
took a portion from a bottle, and from e broken paper
made up the quantity demanded, though unfortunately Le
gave deadly poison instead of nutritious food. The
owner of the establishment had di-d shortly before; he
was succeeded by his brother, and it should be said of
him that he was not acquainted with the details of the
business; but this he should say for the protection of the
public, that if the owner of a shop exposed his shops un
to the liability of selling poison instead of food, and did
not exhibit sufficient caution in the assortment of his
goods, he rendered himself liable to the accusation of
being an accessory before the fact. The prisoner must
have known that arsenic was mixed with the arrow-
root in the shop, and therefore he should have been cau-
tious in selling it. Each 'material somewhat resembled
the other, but still they were distinguishable—for one
was gritty, the other soft and smooth ; and the mere
selling of one for the other amounted to inexcusable care-
lessness. There could not be any doubt that the rev.
gentleman was poisoned. The post mortem examination
and the analysis of the contents of the cup demonstrated
that in it there was arsenic. The jury had recommended
the prisoner to mercy, and he was glad to be furnished
with a reason for passing a light sentence, but it should
be one that would prevent others from falling into similar
mistakes, and show them that they were bound to exercise
duo caution:in vending and disposing of such a destructive
material as arsenic. The sentence of the court was that
he should be imprisoned. for six months, one month of
which had already expired. Mr. Curran said he hoped
that the legislature would pass an act to prevent the sale
of poisons by general dealers It was an inconsistency
in the existing law that none but licensed apothecaries
could sell medicines, while any one might sell poison.
The Chief Justice quite agreed in this opinion, and
observed that it should be male a serious offence for any
grocer to mingle poison with the other articles in his
shop ; and even druggists and apothecaries should be
bound, as in Scotland, not to sell oois'n unless the party
by whom it was purchased signed his na:ne..in a receipt
book regularly kept for the pu-pose.