The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-10 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT —STAFFORD, Deo. 9.
(Before Mr. Justice Crompton,)

THE MURDER OF TWO CHILDREN AT 'WEST BROMWIOII.

Benjamin Holding was indicted for the murder of his two
children, Jane Holding and Joseph Benjamin Holding.
Mr. MoMalion, with Mr. Stavely Hill, prosecuted; while
Mr. Motteram, with Mr. A. Young, defended.
The prisoner, a man in the prime of life, was a bundler
at an ironworks, and lived at Hall-end, near West Brom-
wich, in the black country between West Hampton and
Birmingham. He was married and had two children, one
a little girl of four-and-half years, and the other an
intent boy of only fourteen months. ro these and to
his wife he always behaved with the greatest tenderness
and affection. He bought for them a little perambulator,
and in this it was his delight to take them about the lanes
and roads about his dwelling weary evening after return-
ing from file work. One of his favourite haunts cn these
occasions was a neighbouring cemetery. He was also a
religieue man. He led a good moral life, read his Bible
often, attended regularly at church, and was a Sunday-
school Welter, In the summer and auttititt of the present
year he became aidieted with tic-doloreux, and suffered
much from pains in his head ncoompanied by sleeplessness.
On the morning of September 22 he went to his work as
usual. Ile returned at one o'clock and took his dinner.
During the afternoon he remained at home, and Was left
there by his wife at about four o'clock. The wife went to
the house of the prisoner's mothet: In a short time she
was alarmed by seeing her husband coots in with wild,
staring ere, and in a most excited state. He remarked,
„My little children are gone to heaven," and the MO
women at once ran to his bottee. There, on the hearth-rug,
in front of the fire, they saw the little girl lying with her
throat ant from ear to ear, and quite dead. Ott the sofa lay
the lifeless and similarly mangled body of the infant boy.
On the taint) *at the earning-knife with which the fright-
ful deed had been tioiettiitted. 't'he neighbours nulled in,
and to them the prisoner remarked that his time was short,
and he wished his children to go before him. The motive
thus given by the murderer hitaSelf, was the only one tot
the cotamission of the crime which eau'.` now be adduced
on the part of the prosecution. rot the defenCe a plea of
insanity was set up. The mother stated that her paternal
aunt and niece had died mad, and that she kill had a 601181/1
who was also insane. The doctor said that madness among
the poor was largely due to an hereditary taint, and that
there existed an insanity known as homicidal mania, by
which a man was impelled to commit crime even when he
was free from delusion. In answer to a direct question, he
also said that, assuming the facts of the case as given by
the witnesses to be true, he did think it probable that the
prisoner was mad when he killed his children. It was also
shown that on a Sunday, six weeks before the murder,
Holding, while in church, during the time when the con-
gregation was standing up, suddenly sat down, folded
his arms, and looked wildly around him. On the
morning of the occurrence he was observed by a fellow-
workman to be unusually silent. During the trial yester-
day he appeared:to be in the deepest dis:ress ; his tears for
nearly three hours were profuse and ceaseless, The jury
acquitted him on the ground of insanity.

CHESHIRE CIRCUIT—DEC. 9.
(Before Mr. Justice Willes.)
THE STOCKPORT POISONING CASE.

Alice Htwitt, alias Holt, was placed at the bar on the
charge of poisoning her mother, Mary Bailey, at Stockport.
Medical evidence was given to the effect that the symptoms
of the deceased's illness was consistent with poisoning by
arsenic, and also to show that on a postmortem examina-
tion and analysis, arsenic was found:in large quantities. Mr.
Swetenham, for the defence, urged that the case was en-
tirely one of circumstantial evidence, and nothing more than
one of strong suspicion. They were asked to believe that
while with one hand the prisoner fondled and caressed bar
mother, with the other she administered a deadly poison to
her and calmly looked on her dying agonies. Did the priso-
ner's conduct warrant that conclusion? The charge was thatd
being poor the prisoner had insured her mother's life, and
in eager haste to clutch the money, poisoned her
witnessesne
relative. He commented on the evidence of th
for the prosecution, especially the contradictorytheeevidence
pork pies,
of Bailey and his wife. The whole stoAryno
Bayley's. Mr.
he submitted, was an after-thought
Raynor's evidence showed that dbereo
ht. If the prisoner
euoagfsed was ill and vomit-
ing the day before the
poison
her mother, was it probe-
was administering slowPipeosi
prisoner
hie she would have actually gono
and applied for a medical
she was glad of
order at the union. W 40,1 the aid