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

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this calamity— viz., te-mporary insanity,—l
to be, &c., " JOHN WARREN,
It may further be mentioned that Dr. Cal.
for the county of Louth, sent a letter t 1 the
which was forwarded to the bench of magistrates IT
p rt, PagneU, stating that Michael Lyons had been unde.
treatment and care as a lunatic by Dr. Callato.
ter. Rawlings then observed that, for his clients, he had
no more evidence to call.
Mr. Jones, for the prisoner, urged that the conduct of his
client throughout was quite reconcileable with the state-
ments made by the unhappy man at the d,.ck- when taken
into custody—viz., that he was under the impression that
the two men in the carriage inteaed to rob him, and that
his acts were in self-defence.
After the usual caution the bench committed the prisoner
for trial, the defence being reservoti.
Mr. Jones made an application for the return of a further
cram of money for the purposes of the dc:ence, but the
magistrate declined to make any order.

Pit CiL -..i:i.
STAMPED ....SC,.

The Murderous Assault in a Railway Carriage.

Yesterday morning, at aarnasl adapsponenkdeni
aaionfl
nedsessionsbroughtheldwounding
ie
Viet.,
eNa epw. port
nml
s,
a33lllunliidti
enchrhga Michael
James
Lyonsahen:
dawrerthe
Peter g
tr Lo
,faagr
Friday, di chargedn tahr
te:
carriage on the London and North-Western Railway,
under the 11th section of the 24th and 25thn
100,
It will be remembered that the prisoner was charged on
' the last occasion. under the 20th section of the act with
Pwbw 1
in-
tent
between
et
eaeae
July, 1863.
having 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.
The magistrates present were Mr. J, C. Maule (chair-
man), the Rev. J. Tarver, the Rev. C. S. Lowndes, and
Mr. R. W. Selby Lowndes.
Mr. Charles J. Rawlings, solicitor, attended on behalf of
Messrs. M‘Lean and Worland; Mr. Jones appeared, as on
the former occasion, for the prisoner, who was brought
up as before by Mr. Superintendent Thomas Breary, from
Fenny Stratford, where he has been since the remand on
Wednesday week.
Mr. Rawlings said he appeared before the b nch to pro-
secute the charge against the prisoner in thedock, 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. Jones then sought to induce the m. gistrates to accept
bail, but, Mr. Rawlings opposing, the Chairman said tie
bench would not interfere, but leaves Mr. Jones•to apply to
a judge,

Mr. Peter INl‘Lea.n, examined by Mr. Rawlings, said—l
keep the Victo,:a 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 B!etchley Mr. Worland pulled out his pocket book
to settle the pay ments made by me, as I had been cashifr.
He gave me £2 ss. 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 the samemoment 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 wris,. As the
prisoner was making the attempt to stab me first, I said—
" Good God, m'.n, what are you going to do with the
knife ?" While I bad 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, Mac." 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 put
numerous questions, with a view to show that the conduct
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,
Huston. She left Liverpool on the 17th inst. in the same
carriage with the last two witnesses. She had a small dog
with her. She saw 0-..ree 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 me
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 1"
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 three 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
my duty to report to you that Michael Lyons, who made
the murderous attack on the two merchants in the railway
carriage, was at the business house of my firm, when about
to sail by one of our steamers on Thursday last. Eililesr
and
him for several years as a national school tea.eseeursea,
lecturer on science iu this neighbourhood, I dribs a
with him for half an hour previous to
we
be
was
leaving, leaving, and he appeared quite rational, told
uld
about to take his holidays in England, and wisoe
lture
call on
me when he returned, to see if I would patronrised
son Sun-
for the benefit of the Free Library.
day morning when I read that he hladfelpte
these circumstances to
ort
outrage. I feel that I should rep large sum of money
srp.etrated such an
you. I cannot account how he had a
on his person, as ha was always c_ a
considered poor man. I
have sent word to his relatives.-1
tiARATIER, J.P.
(Signed)
" T a Mr. Inspector Cox.'
The following letter has '
allisobebneuelin
orefcmeivaegditbryattehuechair-
man of the Newport Page
n,
Dundalk, Ireland, July 28,
Sir,—Perceiving
ct Glebe, Ballyrnascan
the newspapers that the case of
Mr. Michael Lyons is be heard at your sessions on
Thursday next,
lotnas ike the liberty of addressing you as chair-
man of the Newl,°r
t pagnell bench of magistrates. The na-
tional school and teacher's house of Rampark, in this parish,
are less than two miles
sdisrant
from
the Glebe, where I
have resided for the last 12 3. ears. Mr. Lyons has been the
teacher se Ramp for for a longer period. He has been tutor
to my children for upwards of four years, spending several
e
house every evening except Saturday and
hours in my
Sunday. On the Saturday afternoons he hus been
teaching natural science in the chief school (the grammar-
school) of this district. As a popular lecturer in Dun-
dalk and its neighbourhood ho is well known, and has
been most 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 fora higher position
in life than that of a national schoolmaster, he was recom-
mended to raise his social status by the acquisition of a degree
in
science,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-
lington House, to be held the following week. I saw him a
few hours before he left home. His strength was severely
taxed by physical exertion under an unusually hot season,
and he 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 had
been evinced, anxiety about this examination, and an un-
broken sea voyage and long railway journey, it will not be
difficult, I presume, to arrive at the true and sole cause of

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