The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-06 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—CROYDON, Aug. 5.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
THE KINGSTON MURDER.

Martha Bradish, 4'2, married, was chargcd with
the wilful murder of her step-sister by cutting her
throat with a razor. She was also charged with
the same offence upon the coroner's inquisition.
The prisoner, who is a tall, powerful woman, was
very well dressed, and she pleaded " Not Guilty" to
both the indictment and the coroner's inquisition
in a firm tone of voice.

Mr. Robinson conducted the prosecution ; Mr.
Ribton and Mr. H. Williams were counsel for the
prisoner.

Mr. Robinson, in opening the case to the jury,
said the prisoner was charged with the offence of
wilful murder, and he believed there could be no
doubt whatever that it was by the hand of the pri-
soner that the unfortunate deceased, who was a
young woman about 20 years old and the step-sister
of the prisoner, met her death, and the only question
that in the result they would have to consider was
whether at the time the act was committed the pri-
soner was an accountable .being, and responsible for
her actions. He was bound to admit that there did
not appear to be the slightest motive either of
jealousy or anger for the commission of the clime,
but at the same time he thought it his duty to in-
form the jury that the evidence did not appear in
the slightest degree to show that the prisoner had
exhibited any symptom of insanity either before 'or
after the transaction, and that, although she un-
doubtedly appeared to be a good deal excited after
the act had been committed, the jury would have
to consider whether this might not be fairly ascribed
to the natural remorse that must always follow after
the commission of such a dreadful deed, and not as
a proof that the mind of the prisoner was affected.
The evidence was then gone into, and the facts
deposed to were qaite conclusive to prove that the
prisoner had destroyed the deceased. It appeared
that the prisoner was the wife of a sergeant-major
in the 3d Regiment of Surrey Militia, the head-
quarters of which were stationed at Kingston, and
occupied the barracks in that town, and the prisoner
and her husband had two rooms on the groundfioor,
one of which was used as a bed-room, which was
entered from the barrack-yard, and the other as a
sitting-room. The deceased, who had been em-
ployed as a domestic servant, was out of place at
the beginning of March, and the prisoner had in-
vited her to come and pass a few days with her and
her husband, and she slept in the inner room upon
a bed made up on a sofa, and had done so for about
14 days at the time the fatal occurrence took place.
The murder was committed on the morning of the
26th of March, and it appeared that shortly before
7 o'clock on that morning the husband of the pri-
soner got up and went out, leaving the prisoner
its bed, and the deceased also in bed in the adjoin-
ieg room. The prisoner would seem, from the
evidence, to have got up almost immediately after
her husband left her, to have taken a razor belong-
ing to him from a drawer, and gone into the room
where the deceased was lying, and inflicted a
f=arful woand in her throat. There is very little
doubt that the unhappy young woman was asleup
when the prisoner attacked her, but she rose front
her bed, staggered a few feet into the adjoining
room, and then fell down dead. Immediately after
the dreadful occurrence the prisoner went into the
barrack-yard and accosted one of the sergeants, and
said to him, " I have murdered my sister ; come
along with me, and I will show you where she is,"
and she then went to the pump, and washed her
hands. Dr. Cory, a medical gentleman residing in
the town, was sent for, and upon his arrival the
prisoner said to him, " Oh, doctor, this would not
have happened if I had taken your advice," and she
afterwards became very excited and exclaimed that
she must have been mad or she could not have done
what she had to a sister she loved so well. It ap-
peared from the evidence that the prisoner and the
deceased had always been on the most affectionate
terms, and there never had been the slightest quar-
rel or ill-feeling between them, and there wasi not
the smallest assignable motive suggested for the
commission of such a dreadful act. It was stated,
however, in the course of the case, that the prisoner
had been in India with her husband, and that she
had suffered from the, climate, and Dr. Cory, who
had attended upon her, had ordered her to keep
herself very quiet, as her brain was likely to be
affected by any excitement.
Mr: Ribton made a most able address to the
jury on behalf of the prisoner, in the course of
which he particularly observed upon the absence of
motive on the part of the prisoner for the commis-
sion of such a dreadful crime, and said that the
only answer he was instructed to make to the
charge was that at the time the act was committed
the prisoner was in such a state of mind as not to
be criminally responsible.
Several witnesses were then examined, whose
evidence went to show that one relation of the pri-
soner had destroyed himself, that another had twice
attempted to commit suicide, and that the mother
of the prisoner was also insane. Evidence was also
given that the prisoner at the time of the melan-
choly occurrence was in a peculiar condition of
health incidental to women at her period of life. and
Dr. Hood, the consulting physician of Bethlehem
Hospital, a gentleman of great experience and skill
in these cases, stated that women in this condition
wetre peculiarly subject to sudden attacks of mamia,
during which they would commit acts of viola nce
and homicide, without being at all aware of the
i character of the acts they were committing.
The learned Judge having summed up the whole
of the evidence,
, The jury at once Acquitted the prisoner on the
ground of her insanity, and she was ordered to
be detained during her Majesty's pleasure.
The prisoner, who appeared perfectly calm and
composed, and who exhibited no emotion during
any portion of the trial, was then removed front
the bar.
___......

THEATRE-ROYAL, HA.Y.MARKET,
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buokstone.
THIS EVENING, the performances will sornmenoe with
a new Ballet, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE. Miss Fanny
Wright, the Leclereqs, Mr. Webster, ..to.
After which, a new Comedy, entitled MY LORD AND
MY LADY ; or, It Might haTe been Worse. Mr. C. Mathews,
Mr. Andrews, Mr. Buckstone, Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs.
Wilkins, Aro.
Followed by OF AGE TO-MORROW. Miss M. Oliver.
To conclude with TURNING THE TABLES.
Commence at 7.

Rolf A L PRINCESS'S TEFEATRB.—
Lessee and Manager, Mr. A, Harris.
.Tins EVENING, the new comic drama, entitled A
HOMESTEAD STORY, Messrs. Ryder Shore, and Miss
BE Harris.
Followed by HAMLET. Hamlet, Mr. Fechter. Sup-
ported by Hermann Vezin, Ryder, Meadows, &c. ; Misses
'Heath, Elsworthy, and R. Leclercq.

Chancellors, observe—to say nothing of coinciding
law lads, like my - Lord KINGSDOWN and my
Lord WENSLEYDALE—exactIy FIVE ex-Chancellors
—XI,OOO a piece deducted from their salaries, as
we have said (if they are really so very devoted to
the cause of economy in the interests of the nation)
£l,OOO a-piece deducted from their retiring
pensions would just make up the annual salary of
the Chief Judge of the new Court of Bankruptcy !
Supposing they put it upon the altar of their coun-
try next session as a peace-offering : a peace offer-
ing from Lord LYNDHURST, Lord BROLIGHAM, Lord
ST. LEONARDS, Lord CRANWORTH, and Lord
CHELMSFORD-our Five economising Ex-Chancel-