The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-26 00:00:00

they all went to Holden's public-house in Lower Frede-
rick• street. There they bad two quarts of ale, which they
drank at the bar, At a quarter to 11 o'clock the prisoner
and another coloured seaman, named Lorenzo Carpin,
entered the house, and went into a snug at the end of the
counter, The prisoner was the shorter man of the two, and

wore a billycock hat; and his com2anion wore a cap.
Vrumea and Carpin remained in the snug about five minutes
_ . .

and then came out towards the door of the public-house.

As they were walking past the bar William ➢T'Grath
staggered a little backwards, knocked against the two sea-

men, and trod on the toes of one of them. The prisoner,
whose foot had been trodden upon, was heard to say, in a
threatening manner, " By -, me will have my revenge
for that." The seaman then lett the house, but stood at the

door; and according to the evidence of one of the witnesses,
Sarah Hardy, the prisoner was waiting and watching with
a knife in his hand. Gallagher went to the door, and told
them to go away quietly, as no one would molest them,
_ .

Upon hearing this they turned round and stamped their
feet in a passionate manner. Gallagher then rejoined
_ _ .

the DT'Graths, and they all remained drinking in the
house until 11 o'clock, Upon leaving the beer-house

they found tho prisoner and his companion still loitering
about the door. The prisoner took hold of the deceased
by the shoulders. They struggled a little and the deceased
fell. As he was getting up again the prisoner took a knife
out of his pocket and stabbed Joseph M'Grath in the left
side of the belly. The screams of the witness Cotton at this

moment attracted the attention of the police, and Police•
officer John Roberts, 92, . came up in time to see the pri-

Boner make three distinct blows at the deceased, one at the

belly, which missed him, a second at the same part of the
body, and a third, which also missed him. While the pri-
soner was inflicting these blows upon the deceased Carpin

was observed to stab William M'Grath. The prisoner after
thus stabbing the deceased ran away, but he was pursued

by Roberts, who never lost sight of him, and caught him
with a sheath knife in his hand. The knife had mud upon
it, but no blood marks, and the prisoner dropped it on the
ground. 'I he deceased was immediately taken to the South-
ern Hospital, where it was found that he was suffering from
an incised wound on the left groin, through which the whole
of the small intestines protruded. There was also a smaller
wound about an inch long in the small intestines. On the
night of the 26th December he died from excessive hemorr-
hage and shock to the nervous system, Before his death
his deposition was taken in the presence of the prisoner
Uarpin, and an interpreter, by Mr. Mills, one of the borough
magistrates. The deposition ran as follows :—" My name
is Joseph M'Grath. lam a dock libourer, living at No. 2,
Forrest-street, Liverpool. Last night about ten o'cicck I
was with my cousin, William M'Grath, in Lower Frederick-

street, and we went into Holden's public-house, and on com-
ing out we saw a row. The prisoners and other coloured men
like them were engaged in it. We stopped to look on, and
one of the two prisoners, I cannot say which, but I am sure
it was one of them, turned round, saying, This is one,'
and the other prisoner pulled out a knife and struck me with
it in my left side, the lower part, and caused the wound I
am now suffering from. I fell when I got the stab, and the
two prisoners ran off, followed by some of the crowd, who
shouted They have killed a man.' I had seen the two pri-
soners before that night in the public -house. They were
drinking together. I did not speak a word to them, and
never gave them any provocation. I think they must have
taken me for another person: I was about half drunk, but
knew wen what I was doing. I did not see William
M'Grath stabbed. I cannot say whether the person said
• This is the one,' in English or not, but he painted to me,
and I understood him to mean that I was one. There were
other coloured men near me when I was stabbed, but only
the prisoners were really near. One of the prisoners only
ran at me, and 1 saw the other run towards William
M'Grath. The one who seized hold of me had a knife."
Mr. Deighton having referred to the statement in open-
ing the case, and the scuffle in the public-house.
His Lordship suggested that the deceased's depositions
should at once be put in as evidence, as it would go a long
way to reduce the charge to onto of manslaughter. It
appeared that the prisoner's tees had been trodden on in
the public-house, and there had been a row and a scuffle
outside between the prisoner and deceased, and Carpin and
William M'Grath. Under such circumstances the case
could hardly be proceeded with as one of murder.
Mr. Russell intimated that the prisoner was willing to
plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter ; but his Lordship
said manslaughter of this description was so very serious an
offence that the prisoner had better not adopt that course.
The case accordingly proceeded. The evidence was on
many points very contradictory.
Police-constable Roberts, Thomas Jones (a shoemaker
living in Thomas-street), and John Gordon, all swore posi-
ti that prisoner was the man who struck the deceased.
Carpin and the prisoner are very much alike in appearance,
the colour of the hair, complexion, and form of features of
each being identical.
Mr. Russell, in his detente, commented upon this simi-
larity, and suggested that the witnesses might very possibly
have mistaken Carpin for the prisoner. The learned counsel
further submitted that the evidence of a common design be-
tween the men was insufficient for a conviction ; and that
if the jury were not satisfied beyond all doubt that it was
the Prisoner's hand which inflicted the wound they must
acquit him altogether.
Hie Lordship, in summing up the evidence, pointed out
that, as there had unquestionably been provocation, the jury
would find it safer to treat the case as one of manslaughter.
Still it could not be too generally known that no person had
a right to resort to the use of a deadly weapon upon such
slight provocation as was given in this case. A man was not
justified in resorting to deadly weapons unless attacked by
those weapons, or in fear for his life or property. In case of
an attack with such weapons the man so attacked might in
self-defence take the life of the person who had inflicted the
outrage upon him. But the law did not allow a resort to deadly
weapons upon such slight provocation as treading upon the
toes or striking a man other then with a deadly weapon
Accordingly, if the stab was given by the prisoner in this
case he would be guilty of manslaughter. It was, he could
not help observing, exceedingly to be regretted that young
fellows like the prisoner, coming, to this port as sailors, and
likely to get into (laurels in the streets, should be allowed
to have their knives about them at all, But as the consul
had no authority to make a law of that kind it was a pity
the subject was not !onsidered with a view to the passing of
some rule whioh word prevent sailers trom carrying their
knives, just as soldiers were prevented from going about
with their side arms. No doubt the possession of the wea-
pon was a great temptation to its use, and resulted some-
times, as in this case, very seriously. However, as the
Court was not to mike laws, but to administer the law as it
was, the jury must 3onsider the two questions—first, whe-
therded ;
i prisonerthaendnex,
t ` upooks then;
be did not, was he acting in blow from which the deceased
concert with the man who did
The jury, after a short consultation, returned a verdict of
guilty,
Before sentencing the prisoner, his Lordship expressed a
desire that Carpin should be tried, and Carpin was accord-
ingly arraigned.
Mr. Deighton withdrew the charge of felony and the
prisoner was then found guilty of wounding Wm. M'Grath.
It transpired in the course of the case that Vruwea also
went by the came of Ramos, and that the other prisoner's
name was Carpos.
The Judge, in posing sentence, first addressed Vrumea
—You have been convicted of an act which is contrary to
the laws of this country, and equally against the laws of
Spain or any other country in the world. You have killed
a man by a deadly hand, and it is absolutely necessary to
make a severe example in order to teach sailors that they
mutt not resort to their knives upon a slight quarrel. le
you had been a person of bad character you would unques-
tionably have beer sent into penal servitude for the remain-
der of your days; but you are a young man, and a person
apparently not naturally of a bad disposition. Besides,
considering that :ou are a foreigner, you will necessarily
suffer more from :he sentence of the Court than if you had
been a native of the country. Nevertheless, considering by
how bad an act y)u took away the life of M'Grath, you
must have a most substantial sentence passed upon you.
The sentence of the Court upon you is that you be kept in
penal servitude f,r 8 years. As for you, Lorenz) Carpos, it
is fortunate that you have been acquitted of acting in con-
cert with Irrunaet in killing M'Grath, Dut you have beon