The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-21 00:00:00

CHARGE OF ATTEMPT TO MURDER.

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.
A young man of respectable exterior, named Vivian
O'Keefe, was charged with having attempted to murder
a girl named Jane Riley, on the 13th of March last, by
discharging the contents of a loaded gun at her, in a
shooting gallery in Williamson-square, near the Theatre
Royal. The hearing of the case had been deferred in
consequence of the inability of the prosecutrix to give
evidence, owing to the precarious state in which she has
been since the occurrence.

The prosecutrix, having been assisted into court, gave
the following evidence. She said—About 12 o'clock on
the morning of the 13th March I went into a shooting
gallery in Murray-street, Williamson-square. I wanted
to see the master. As I went in I saw the prisoner
standing on the steps. I heard him say to a friend, " I will
have another shot, and then I will go home." He then
followed me into the gallery. I went into a small room,
called the snug, to see if the landlord was in. Whilst I
was there the prisoner came in and asked me to come to
him. I did not speak to him. He then smiled and took
up a gun, and said he would shoot me. I thought he
was joking, and said, " Oh, don't." I then turned my
back, and had hardly done so when the gun went off,
and I felt a ball penetrate my shoulder. I believe I was
afterwards taken to the Infirmary. The prisoner ap-
peared rather tipsy.
Mary Ann M‘Laren, wife of the man who keeps the
shooting-gallery, corroborated the prosecutrix's evidence,
and added that she saw the prisoner present the gun at
the prosecutrix, and heard him say to her, "I'll shoot
you." After saying so the prisoner pulled up the ham-
mer of the gun, and fired at her. Prosecutrix scretamed
out, saying she was shot, and blood began to flow from
her shoulder. Witness then said to prisoner, " You
have shot the woman, and I'm ruined." He said no-
thing, but smiled, and left the place.
A police-officer deposed to taking the prisoner into
custody at his lodgings in Islington-terrace the next
morning. He denied all knowledge of the transaction,
and said he did not remember having been in a shooting
gallery the evening before.
The surgeon to the Royal Infirmary deposed to re-
ceiving the prosecutrix into the infirmary, as a patient,
on the morning of the 13th of March. On examining
her he found she had been shot in the shoulder. The
charge had entered the upper part of the shoulder, and
passed into the spine. Had attended upon her since,
and had not been able to extract the ball, but had
traced it about four inches, and believed that it was xt
present lodged in the muscles of the back near the spine.
He believed the prosecutrix to be at present out of
danger.
Mr. Snowball, solicitor, appeared for the prisoner,
and urged that there could not be a committal under
the act of Parliament, as murder was not intended. -
The magistrate's clerk said that under the section of
the act it would undoubtedly have been murder had the
prosecutrix died ; and after a few mimkte,s' conversation
the presiding magistrate said it was a very serious
charge, and he felt bound to send it before a jury. The
prisoner was then committed to take his trial at the
assizes.

Bail having been applied for, the prisoner's father
came forward and said, that he was a housekeeper re-
siding in Dublin, an I connected with the press there.
The magistrates declined to accept his bail, and
ordered the prisoner to find bail himself in 100/. and
two sureties resident in Liverpool in 50/. each.