The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-31 00:00:00

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this calamity—viz., temporary insanity.,
to be, &c., " JOHN 'WARREN,
It may further be mentionA that Dr. Call,
for the county of Louth, sent a letter to the Howe . ze,
which was forwarded to the bench of magistrates cf New-
port, Pagnell, stating that Michael Lyons had been under
eatment and care as a lunatic by Dr. Callam.
Mr. ista:Flings then observed that, for is clients, he had
,no more evidence to call.
Mr. Jones, for 'the prisoner, urged that the eolith:Let of hts
client throughout was quite reconeileable with the state-
ments made by the unhappy roan at the deck when: taken
into custody--viz., that he was under the impression that
the two men in the carriage intended to rob him, and that
bench magistrate
sum
l r. of
would
omonuoelndsetnyhoetfnoirn sought his acts were in self-defence.
After the usual caution the bench committed the prisoner
bai
l,
bu
t mdre.clßinaedw I
it.
no
gs make
oppaonsyi
nogr,d order,
for trial, the defence being reserved.
Mr. Jones made an application for thereturn of a further
Mr.
to lot ruaptcicytehpteto
e Pe
tu,
orb:: Inn:: eul
leaves Ea
the:oefsthe Chairman said the
a judge.

PRICE..... -..4d.
STAMPED ...M.

The Murderous Assault in a Railway Carriage.

Yesterday morning, at a special sessions held at Newport
Pagnell, Michael Lyons was brought up on remand charged
under the 11th section of the 24th and 25th Vict., cap. 100,
with assaulting with a clasp knife and wounding with in-
tent to murder James Worland and Peter M'Lean in a rail-
way carriage on the London and North-Western Railway,
between Blelchley and London, on the night of Friday, the
17th July, 1863.
It will be remembered that the prisoner was charged on
the last occasion under the 20th section of the act with
havir g unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily
harm, the punishment under which was, as e misdemeanour,
three years' penal servitude. On mature consideration Mr.
Powell, the clerk to the magistrates, considered it advisable
to alter the charge to that made in the 11th section, which
made the offence committed a felony, and the penalty penal
servitude for ten years.
Mr. R. W. Selby Lowndes.
Mr. Charles J. Rawlings, solicitor, attended on behalf of
Is'oawuniee (chair-
appeared, aainr-
Rev. C.d
man)
r s,e
tm.h teeravan.t eaisn.pdrTeivas eronvrtelra,wntdehr:e
ecss.
S. Ll d
M'L
Mr.
the former occasion, for the prisoner, who was brought
up as before by Mr. Superintendent Thomas Bream from
Fenny Stratford, where he has been since the remand on
Wednesday week. appeared, as on
Mr. Rawlings said he appeared before the bench to pro-
secute the charge against the prisoner inthedock, instructed
by Mr. Peter M'Lean and Mr. James Worland, as it was
understood that the railway authorities did not intend to in-
terfere in any way or take any steps whatever in the matter,
holding it as not being an affair in which the company was
concerned.
Mr. Peter M'Lean, examined by Mr. Rawlings, said—l
keep the Victoria Tavern, West Ham, Essex, and am also
an engineer. I have known Mr. Worland about ten years.
After having visited with him Halifax, Manchester, and
Liverpool, we were returning from the last-mentioned place
on the 17th inst. by the 3.45 p.m. train for London. After
passing Bletehley Mr. Worland pulled out his pocketbook
to settle the payments made by me, as I had been cashier.
He gave me £2 se. out of between £25 and.£3o in gold he
had. Almost immediately afterwards we both got up, and
I made a step towards the end of the carriage where the pri-
soner was then sitting. He rose up exclaiming, "Advance
further and I'll murder you," at thesamemoment brandish-
ing a knife, and making a plunge at me with his left hand.
He missed me, but immediately afterwards stabbed Mr.
Worland on the forehead. I think I had hold of the pri-
soner when he made the plunge at Mr. Worland. (The
knife was produced by Orpen, the railway policeman. It
was an ordinary double-bladed pocket-knife, the large blade
of which was the one with which the injuries were inflicted.)
I had hold of the prisoner by the arm, but he kept " job-
bing" at Mr. Worland, as I could only lay hold of his
sleeve, and he had almost the free use of his wrist. As the
prisoner was making the attempt to stab me first, I said—
" Good God, man, what are you going to do with the
knife ?" While I had hold of the knife the prisoner cut my
right hand very severely, We got him down on the floor
of the carriage. Mr. Worland was too faint to give me much
assistance ; but he said, " I shall sink under this. You stick
to him, Mae." After struggling for nearly half an hour,
we got him on the floor, and I held him till we got
to Camden. road station, where Orpen, the railway police-
man, took the knife from him. While were were struggling
he shouted out several times " Jesus will fight for me,"
"Murder," "Help," and we all shouted and screamed in
the hope of attracting attention, but without avail. The
prisoner was removed, and the knife taken from him. The
floor of the carriage and the back of the compartment were
covered with blood. There was more than enough blood to
fill a hat. Mr. Worland fainted from exhaustion, and was
taken to the Royal George Hotel, Euston-square. I have
since been attended by Dr. Bain.

The witness was cross-examined by Mr. Jones, who pu
numerous questions, with a view to show that the conduc
of Mr. Worland and the witness might have led the prisoner
to think that they intended to do something towards him,
but Mr. M'Lean, with some vehemence, said, after replying
in the negative to many interrogatories. " Pray, sir, do not
agitate me further with such utter nonsense," and the Bench
interposing, the cross-examination stopped.
Mr. Jas. Worland, examined by Mr. Rawlings, confirmed
the evidence of Mr. M'Lean, and stated in addition that
after the prisoner stabbed him he (Mr.Worland) kicked the
prisoner, to overcome him if possible. The witness fell on
the platform, after getting out of the carriage, being weak
from loss of blood.
Mrs. Maria Eaton, examined by Mr. Rawlings, said that
she was 78 years of age, and lived at 31, Herbert-street,
Hoxton. She left Liverpool on the 17th inst. in the same
carriage with the last two witnesses. She had a sniall dog
with her. She saw three gentlemen in the carriage, and
after the train passed Bletchley she suddenly looked up,
being aroused by a noise, and saw the three struggling
violently, The prisoner Lyons had a knife in his hands.
She said, " For God's sake, what's the matter? Give rue
that knife." The prisoner atruck Mr. Worland on the
temple, and afterwards made several attempts to stab both
the others, exclaiming, as if invoking, " Jesus, Jesus I "
but what else he said she could not hear. She partially
fainted, and when recovered she found they had got the
prisoner down, and she bound up Mr. Worland's forehead
with three handkerchiefs and her apron. She wanted to
get the knife away from the prisoner, and if she had got it
she would have thrown it away at once. She would have
thrown herself out of the carriage to escape.
John Orpen, the railway company's constable, examined
by Mr. Rawlings, stated that he received the prisoner into
his custody, charged with attempting to murder Mr. Peter
M'Lean and Mr. James Worland. The prisoner said that
what he had done was in self-defence, for he thought the
two gentlemen in the carriage were going to make an attack
upon his life.
Dr. 'William Bain, of Poplar deposed to the character of
the wounds inflicted upon Mr. Worland, and that there was
great danger for tnree or four days. He also attended Mr.
M'Lean for the wounds on his hand, which might have been
very dangerous.
Inspector Cox produced the following letters, which he
had received upon the subject-matter of the charge :
" July 20.
" Sir,—Seeing an account in to-day's paper of an assault
committed by a schoolmaster named Lyons recalls to my
recollection a man of that name who was usher at the school
I was at some 12 years ago, His actions then were so pe-
culiar he was generally considered mad, and was dismissed
for an assault on a boy who he fancied was speaking of him,
The man I refer to is tall and thin, given to speak to him-
self, and in the habit of uttering incoherent words,
"Yours, &c., " J. DENNISTON,
"Audit-office, King's-cross Station.

" To Inspector Cox."
" Consular-lodge, Dundalk, July 2 "
Sir,—As borough magistrate of this town I consider it
my duty to report to you that Michael Lyons, who
imade
y
the murderous at tack on the two merchants in
the
eralwaabout
carriage, was at the business house of my firm,
whenlnowing
to sail by one of our steamers on Thursday last. i
him for several years as a national school teacher
lecturer on science in this neighbourhood,
told me be was the
boat
with him for half an hour
previous
leaving, and he appeared quite rational, toI disco ur and
sed
about to take his holidays in England,
an a l
me when he returned, to see if I would patronise 0
-
ot wisoeuld call on
for the benefit of the Free Library. 1 felt surprised
o Sun
day morning when I read that he
outrage. I feel that I should reportsd
a a large sum of money
hatbdepseerepierteruaratesd:nuceohs an
you. I cannot account how he
c'-'0
_were,' a poor man. I
on his person, as he was always ,
have sent word to his relatives. 2.
J, E.
(Signed)
it 15 Mr. Inspector Cox."
lso
been
received by the chair-
The following letter has
a
man of the Newport
Pagnell bench of magistrates:—
Pfularr, Dundalk, Ireland, July 28.
" Glebe, 13allYTram— the newspapers that the case of
Mr. Michael LyonsSir,—Pereeiving
to bo heard at your sessions on
Thursday nest,
Itake the liberty of addressing you as chair-
man of the Newport Pagnell bench of magistrates. The na-
donsl school and teacher's house of, Rampark, in this parish,
are less than two miles distant from the Glebe, where I
have resided for the last 12 years. Mr. Lyons has been the
teacher a, Rampark for a longer period. He has been tutor
to my children for upwards of four years, spending several
hours in my house every evening except Saturday and
Sunday. On the Saturday afternoons he has been
teaching natural science in the chief school (the grammar-
school) of this district. As a popular lecturer in Dun-
dalk and its neighbourhood he is well known, and has
been moat successful. Although struggling with diffi-
culties, his untiring industry and ingenuity have fur-
nished him with opportunities for scientific purposes,
the construction of which at once prove him to be
no ordinary man, and yet withal I have invariably found him
most modest, unassuming, and gentle. Possessed of qualities
of head and heart calculated to fit him for a higher position
in life than that of a national schoolmaster, he was recom-
mended to raise his social stat us by the acquisition of a degrsz
in scic nce,and having been assisted in a pecuniary way he left
Dundalk for London on the evening of the 16th with the
intention of presenting himself at an examination at Bur-
linton House, to be held the following week. I saw him a
fewl hours before he left home. His strength was severely
taxed by physical exertion under an unusually hot season,
ahe mentioned to me that ha had lost his rest at night
through the strain upon his mind. If we add to this a very
high nervous temperament, naturally a predisposition to
mental, derangemnt, which on more than one occasion
ull_had
been evinced, anxiety about this examination, and an
broken sea voyage and long railway journey, it will not be
difficult, I presume, to arrive at the true and sole es
•