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

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

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

THE MURDER OP TWO CHILDREN AT WEST IMOD:MICH.

Benjamin Holding was indicted for the murder of his two
children, Jane Holding and Joseph Benjamin Holding.
Mr. McMahon, with Mr. Stavely Hill, prosecuted; while
Mr. Motteram, with Mr, A. Youtg, 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
infant 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 every evening after return-
ing from his work. One of his favourite haunts cn these
occasions was a neighbouring cemetery. He was also a
religious man. He led a good moral life, read bis Bible
often, attended regularly at church, and was a Sunday-
school teacher. In the summer and autumn of the present
year he became afflicted with tic-doloreux, and suffered
much from pains in his head accompanied by sleeplessness.
On the morning of September 22 he went to his work as
wad. He 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 mother. In a short time she
was alarmed by seeing her husband come in with wild,
staring eyes, and in a most excited state. He remarked,
"My little children are gone to heaven," and the two
women at once ran to his house. There, on the hearth-rug,
in front of the fire, they saw the little girl lying with her
throat cut from ear to ear, and quite dead. On the sofa lay
the lifeless and similarly mangled body of the infant boy.
On the table was the carving-knife with which the fright-
ful deed had been committed. The neighbours tusked 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 himself, was the only one for
the commission of the crime which could now be adduced
on the part of the prosecution. For the defence a plea of
insanity was set up. The mother stated that her paternal
aunt and niece had died mad, and that she still hail a cousin
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 tke trial yester-
day he appeared:to be in the deepest distress ; 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 Hewitt, 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.
Swetenhaw, 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 her
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 that
being poor the prisoner had inured her mother's life, and
in eager haste to clutch the money, poisoned her inearest
s
relative. He commented on the evidence of th
for the prosecution, especially the contradictoryftheevidence
pork pies,
of Bailey and his wife. The whole story
no
Bayley's. Mr.
he submitted, was an after-thou
Raynor's evidence showed that dgbalircoteuoa
,fsed was ill and vomit-
ht. If the prisoner
ing the day before the pies were
was administering slow poison to her mother, was it proba-
and applied for a medical
ble she would have actually gone.
prisoner said she was glad of
order at the union. When the