The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-31 00:00:00

OLD COURT,

(More Mr. Baron Parke and Mr. Justice Williams.)
THE MURDER IN FOLEY-HAM-711r. Bodkin applied
to the Court to postpone the triV,of Luigi Baranelli for
the murder of Mr. Lotharn to Nfie next session. lie
made the application upon two groinds, the first of which
that there would not be a proper opportunity for inquiry
at the present time ; and..seeemily, that the prisoner
himself was in such--; ~nuclitionof health as rendered him
unable to leave his al.

Mr. Baron Parke at once wanted the application.

Hannah, Maria Pepkins, tO„ a good-looking young
woman, was indicted for the wilful murder of her male
illegitimate child by cutting its throat.
Mr. Carteen prosecuted. The prisoner was defended
by Mr. Sleigh, through the humane interference of the
Sheriffs, the prisoner herself not being in a position to
obtain legal assistance.
The circumstances of this case were of a most melan-
choly character. It appeare6, that the prisoner was in
the service of a lady named Swift, and that at the time
of the occurrence ehe lived at Dalston, in a house be-
longing to that lady, which vas occupied also by Mrs.
Scott, the niece of Miss Swift. On the 28th December
the prisoner appeared to be very ill, and Mrs. Scott gave
her
About one o'clock on the following morning, in conse-
quence ha
of Mrs. Scott went again to the
m and f
aid she gave her some more pennyroyal and gin, and the
r oe
o some pennyroyal rg ot yh
aa
e noise,1
prisoner
and
apparently in great pain,
gin, and she went to bed.
prisoner said she felt better. At six o'clock the same
morning Mrs. Scott went again to the prisoner's room.
She was in bed, and Mrs. Scott observed a clot of blood
upon the carpet, and exclaimed to the prisoner, " My
God 1 what has been the matter ?" The prisoner replied,
"Don't be frightened ; lam better now." Mrs. Scott
then went down stairs to prepare breakfast, and upon
going into the kitchen she saw a quantity of blood upon
the table, and a carving-knife with blood upon it was
lying near it. There were also marks of blood upon
the floor and in the passage, and upon following them
into the coal-cellar she found the dead body of a child,
with its throat cut, thrust behind a box, and its bead
resting upon the coals. A. medical gentleman named
Herringa was c
called
thatd in,
and upon examining the body it
w
the
child's throat was cut from ear
sdiscovered ll

to ;: ear ; all the arteries w;;;—severed:' as Wwell
as the windpipe, and death must have been the
immediate consequence of such an injury. Ac-
cording to the evidence of the surgeon the infant
was a fall-grown healthy child, and expressed a con-
fident opinion, from the appearances presented
born alive. Re admitted, however on
by the lips of the wound, from the fact that the
lungst he and other circumstances, that
cross-examination, that the teat of the floating of the
lungs was not considered evidence by medical authori-
ties, and also that the appearances of the wound might
chwilderew
fausl y in
have been the same if the wound had been inflicted im-
mediately after death while the circulation was going
on, although vitality lead ceased. He also admitted that
when a chili was born under such circumstances, and
without aay medical assistance, the delivery was likely
to be much more difficult, and the child might, conse-
quently, have breathed to so me extent before it was fully
brought into the world. The prisoner
was proved to
have borne a most excellentcharacter for some years,
and that she was always regarded as a kind-hearted,
good girl.
Mr. Sleigh made amost energetic address to the jury
on behalf of the prisoner, and he contended, with a good
deal of ability, that the evidence of the child being born
alive was not sufficiently conclusive to justify them in
coming to such a conclusion and he, therefore, called
upon them to acquit the prisoner of the dreadful crime
of wilfully murdering her own offspring,
and to find
. her only guilty of the lesser offence of concealing the
birth.
Mr. Baron Parke having summed up, the jury then
retired, and had not returned their verdict when we
went to press.