The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-10 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

WESTERN CIRCUIT. —WINCHESTER, Dec. 9.
(Before Mr. Justice Willes.)
Frederick Deane was indicted for feloniously
killing and slaying Hannah George, at Cosham, on
the 29th of October.
Mr. W. M. Cooke and Mr. Russell were counsel
for the prosecution ; and Mr. Poulden and Mr. H.
P. Cole for the priioner.
The prisoner was a surgeon of 14 or 15 years'
standing, residing at Cosham, near Portsmouth,
and he was charged with negligent or rash conduct
towards My. George in her confinement, in conse-
quence of which she died. The evidence of Mr.
George will give a history of the transaction. He
said—l am a grccer. I was married to my wife
in May ; she was 22 years of age.' In October she
was expecting her confinement. I had retained
Mr. Deane, and had provided a nurse. On Friday,
the 23d of October, my wife was taken ill. Mr.
Deane was called in. He visited my wife agai❑
on Saturday. At four o'cock on Sunday morn-
ing I got up and called in Mr. Deane. He came
and remained the whole of that day, and until 7
o'clock on Monday morning. Mr. Deane came on
the Sunday evening, and remained all night. I
suggested further advice, but the prisoner said there
was no occasion for it ; it was a common case, such
as he should snap his lingers at. Mr. Deane left
after breakfast on the Monday morning. He paid
two visits in the course of that day. He came again
on Tuesday morning, stayed a little time, and then
brought Mrs. Deane. He came again on Wednes-
day morning, and said he was not required, and
went away. He was sent for at 7 o'clock on the
Wednesday evening. I asked if he had not better
take a second opinion. He said if I chose to fool
away a couple of guineas I might do it, but there
was no occasion for it. He remained that night.
About 6 o'clock next morning he came downstairs
and said it was a natural presentation ; the head
was in the world and it would soon be over. I
entreated him to have a second opinion. He said
nature was doing its own work, but doing it slowly ;
that the pains had ceased, and he quoted some
lectures on midwifery to justify his waiting. About
8 o'clock he told me that there had been some en-

tanglement about the bead which he had re-
moved, and all would soon be well. He came down
without his coat. My wife expressed a wish to see
me, and I went up to her room about 9 o'clock.
Mr. Deane was sitting by the side of the bed and
Mrs. Deane was sitting on the bed. I went and
kissed my wife and never saw her afterwards.
Scion after Mr. Deane came down stairs. I said a
man must have a heart of steel not to feel for a
poor creature suffering as she was, and I must in-
sist upon having another opinion, and suggested
Dr. Ingledew. He said he was a friend of his, and
there was no man into whose pocket he would
rather put a guinea, but there was no occasion. I
said, "Never mind the expense ; send for him."
He said he would go himself, because if a messenger
were sent the doctor might not come till he had seen
his other patients, and that in all probability he
would bring him in his own carriage. He went by
the omnibus at 10 o'clock. Dr. Ingledew lived
four miles off. Mr. Deane returned alone about 2
o'clock. I said, " Where's the doctor ?" He said he
could not come. I said, " Good God ; not come ?"
He said he had stated the whole of the case to him,
and that would do as well. He said the doctor had
asked him why he did not remove the child, and he
had told him he could do it himself, and should do
it directly. Dr. Ingledew had told him that he (Mr.
Deane) must be the best judge of the time. I asked
him if the child was dead : he said he could not tell
' till it was completely born. At 5 o'clock in the
afternoon he said it was necessary that something
should be done, and he went for Mrs. Littlefield,
who lived close by, and they went up-stairs toge-
ther. About 6 o'clock Mr. Deane came to me and
said, "I have bad news to tell you—she is gone."
1 said, " Good God, sir, you have left it too long."
He assured me everything had been done that could
be. In the course of that day he told me he thought
there were twins. Another medical man lived
within 150 yards, but he was younger than Mr.
Deane, and I had heard Mr. Deane say he would
not meet a junior practitioner. Mr. Deane was
never absent long together, and Mrs. Deane came
frequently. I have not directed this prosecution.
I declined to employ an attorney, as it was brought
forward by a county magistrat7.
The nurse stated that on the Wednesday even-
ing Mr. Deana said it would soon be all over, and
if she would give him a glass of brandy he would
soon give her a child. She gave him a glass of
brandy, which he drank off. The head of the
child was born about daybreak on the Thursday
morning. Mr. Deane said the child had been dead
some time. He tried very hard for half an hour
to deliver the child. She had no natural pains
from the Wednesday to Thursday except what
were produced by medicine which Mr. Deane had
given h:-r. Mrs. George was very much exhausted.
Mr. Demo came in shortly before she died and said
she was hysterical—she must not give way. She
was faint, and would soon get better. This was 20
minutes before she died.

Three medical men who made a post mortem
examination of the body of Mrs. George on Mon-
day, the 2d of Nov., stated that they found great
decomposition of the upper part of the body, es-
pecially the face. She was a well-formed, healthy
young woman. The head of the child was born as
far as the shoulders. It was a natural position. It
was delivered without the least difficulty. There
was no obstruction to the birth. From hearing the
evidence to-day they were of opinion that she died
from e ehaus: ion of the vital powers after a long
protracted labour and the non-delivery of the child.
After the head was born the rest of the body ought
to have been delivered. Not more than 10 minutes
should have elapsed before the complete delivery
ought to have been effected. In a labour which
had been protracted for a week it was necessary to
deliver completely at once. Delay would be dan
serous. Had the child been immediately delivered
the mother might have been saved. After labour
had completely set in a practitioner was not justi-
fied in leaving the patient for more than an hour or
two. It would be unsafe to leave after the head was
born. It was a common thing after the head was
born for the labour paies to ceaee altogether, which
was a proof of exhaustion. This was a long, tedious,
sluggish labour. It was au unusually large child,
measuring 24 inches in length. Instrumental
delivery was always dangerous to life. If they
could not succee 1 in the complete delivery within
an hour they would perforate the chest of
the child. They bad never heard of such as a case
as this. One of the surgeons said he should have
proceeded with fear and trembling. They would
have sought a second opinion, and if they
could not have obtained that they should have
acted at once. In such a case they would not have
left the bedside of the patient. Mr. Deane was
spoken of as a person of good professional character.
Mr. Poulden, for the prisoner, urged upon the
jury that the prisoner and his wife had acted with
great kindness and attention to Mrs. George, and
the most that could be charged against him was
that he had erred in judgment, but he did not con-
cede even that, because the medical men who had
been called were not present at the time, and it was
impossible to know what they would have done had
they attended the poor woman. One of the sur-
geons had stated that in such a case he should have
proceeded with fear and trembling ; but they all
agreed that they had never known such a case,
therefore how could they convict the prisoner of
gross rashness and negligence ?
Mr. Justice Willes, in summing up, observed
that the question was, not whether the prisoner
had been guity of an error in judgment, because
for that no one was answerable ; but the question
was whether the prisoner had acted with such gross
rashness or neglect as to cause the death of the
woman.

The jury retired for some time, and then came
into court and said they found the prisoner Guilty
of gross neglect.

-Mr. Just-ice Willes told the jury that was not a
verdict. The question was whether the prisoner by
gross rashness or neglect had caused the death of
Mrs. George. _ _

The jury- again retired, but eventually brought
in a verdict of Guilty.
The Judge said he should take time to consider
what sentence he should pass.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—YoRK, DEC. 8.
(Before Mr. Justice Williams.)
Chas. Wm. Smith, aged 28, was indicted for
forging and uttering, knowing it to be forged, a
promissory note for the payment of money at
Wakefield on the 24th July last.
Mr. Johnston appeared for the prosecution ; the-
pr,soner was undefended.
The prisoner, wlv) appeared at the bar dressed
in a blue jacket with a badge of a petty officer of the
.elt,j,
Royal navy on the arm, went, it appeared, on the
24th July last, to the office of Mr. Wainwriole, au
?ttn
ati Wakefield, of considerable experience
in r
offonceF, and complained to him that a
police, and in their. IV
man
wright rent
Hawed Barber had robbed him. Mr. Wain -
to be a pbeetetz
for Mr. Donald, the chief of the
and
wishing
s,epsotrino, presence he represented him-
self lately
lent. After stating
by Ea, her, who,
M'Donald said he should diz in the Royal nlvy, who
hblatragkeednfrom H.M.S. Excel-
he
said,
had
tali(cioularst of the robtery
rfuonr
hid
with his wife,
iii apprehension;
put to some ex -
in tracing it out, and required an adv,, l'ense,
51. The prisoner then produced a prWjltaT: oi
note v.'llic..ll he said the officer of the ship had
given hint rattier than that ha should have the

money by him and lose it, and this note he handed to
Mr. Wainwright, and it purported to be dated—
' Portsmouth, July IS.
" Ten days after date I promise to pay to Charles Wil-
liam Smith, 23/. for value received.
" 25/. " G. H. GIBBS, Lieutenant, Royal Navy.
" Case and Londonsack, Navy Agents, 1, James-strest,
Adelphi, London."
He also informed Mr. Wainwright that he had paid
a similar note into the Old Bank at Leeds, three
days before, for which he held their accountable
receipt, which he produced. Mr. Wainwright took
the note and sent his clerk with it to his bankers,
intending that they should take charge of it and pre-
sent it when due, but they sent him back cash for
it, and of the proceeds he handed 5/. to M'Donald,
2/. to a constable, and 11. to the prisoner, who told
him to take charge of the rest. Meantime the pri-
soner ordered some new clothes, which were sup-
plied by Mr. Wainwright's tailor, and also ordered
a conveyance for a drive for himself and some mem-
bers of Mr. Wainwright's family, and the inquiries
as to the robbery he had suffered were being prose-
cuted with vigour, when Mr. Wainwright'sbanker
informed him a day or two after that this bill was
a forgery, and that there was no such person as Lieut.
Gibbs, of the Royal Navy. The prisoner was in con-
sequence apprehended, and in due time the bill de-
posited at the Leeds Bank was presented and dis-
honoured. The prisoner then asked Mr. Wainwright
to write toy Sir Charles Wood at the Admiralty,
complaining that his pay was withheld, and also
drew an order on a Jew at Portsmouth, who he re-
presented was acquainted with Lieut. Gibbs, and
who would get the money for Mr. Wainwright which
he had expended. It turned out that no such Jew
was to be found. It was also proved by Mr. Green,
a clerk in the Leeds Old Bank, that the prisoner,
when he had presented the other promissory note
at the bank requested cash for it, which they re-
fused to give, but agreed to obtain cash for him by
presenting it when due, and gave him an account-
able receipt for it. It was also proved by a
clerk from the Admiralty that the register of
officers of the navy bad been searched, and that
there was no such person as Lieutenant Gibbs in
the Royal navy.
The prisoner cross-examined each of these wit-
nesses at enormous length as to their knowledge of
his correspondence with various parties, and espe-
cially with one Gilbert Barrington Fretwell, who
represented himself as a barrister-at-law, residing
at 3, James-street, Adelphi, who acted as his agent,
and who had got his money, but who, in fact, was
only a schoolmaster ; and called Mr. Noble, the
governor of the gaol, to corroborate his statement
as to his correspondence and money transactions.
Mr. Noble stated that ho was always writing let-
ters, that he had represented Mr. Gilbert Barring-
ton Fretwell to be his uncle, and that an answer to
one of his letters to the Bank in Dublin stated that
he never had an account there, and they knew
nothing about him, and that he had made so many
false statements he could rely on nothing that he
said.

His Lordship, in summing up, directed the jury
that it was equally a forgery in point of law to
forge the name of a person whether he existed or
not, provided it were done with intent to defraud.
To establish that intent it was not necessary
that the prisoner should have obta;ned money on
the promissory note ; if he uttered it with the ob-
ject of obtaining credit, or of furthering his views
in carrying out any fraudulent object, that would
be an uttering with intent to defraud.
The jury found the prisoner guilty.
His Lordship sentenced him to 10 years' penal
servitude.

James Carter and Thomas Butterwood were in-
dicted for assaulting Joseph Gray, and stealing
from him a sum of money and a watch.

Mr. Shaw and Mr. Sykes appeared for the pro-
secution ; Mr. Daarsley defended Carter, and Mr.
J. W. Blackburn defended Butterwood.

It appeared that the prosecutor, on the evening
of Oct. 23, was attacked at Sandal; Magna, near
Wakefield, by two men, and was thrown down and
throttled, and while on the ground ill used and
robbed.

The jury found Carter guilty, and he was sen.
tented to five years' penal servitude.
Butterwo3d was acquitted.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—GLOUCESTER, DEC. 8.
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
Ch tries James Watson was charged with forging
wo orders for the payment cf 51. and 11. 6s. 9d.,
at Bristol, on the 18th August.
Mr. W. H. Cooke appeared for the prosecution.
The prisoner was undefended.
It appeared that on the 17th Aug. last a Mr.
Taylor, a printer at Bow, in Middlesex, obtained
two money orders—one for 61., and the other for
12. 61. 9d. He then enclosed them in two enve-
lopes, and directed them to "Mr. Watson, No. 9,
Russ-street, Bristol." The party for whom they
were intended, John Watson, lived at No. 9 ; but
it appeared thee was another No, 9 in the same
street, where the prisoner formerly lodged. The
letters were both misdelivered at the prisoner's
former lodgings, and thus came into his hands.
When he opened his letters he said they contained
orders for money from his friends in London. He
took one of the orders to the post-office, signed
"John Watson," and thus got U. 63. 9d.: and
the same day he got another man to take the other
order to the post-office, also signed "John Watson,"
and thus he obtained the whole of the money. In-
quiries were afterwards made, and the prisoner ad-
mitted that he had obtained the money, but said
he believed it had been sent to him by his friends
in London. The letters which accompenied the
orders were not found upon the prisoner, nor were
they produced by him.
The jury found the prisoner guilty.
Mr. Baron Martin, in passing sentence, said that
in consideration of the great temptation, he would
pass upon the prisoner a lenient sentence—viz.,
that ho be imprisoned with hard labour for 12
calendar months.
George Wood, aged 59, shoemaker, was charged
on the coroner's inquisition with the manslaughter
of Hannah Wood. The grand jury had thrown out
a bill for the same offence.
Mr. W. H. Cooke, who appeared for the prose-
cution, said that under the circumstances he felt it
to be his duty not to offer any evidence in this case.
Mr. Baron Martin said he quite approved of that
course. The deceased died of apoplexy, and it was
very doubtful whether the act or negligence of the
prisoner had anything to do with the death.
Mr. Cooke said the case had excited a good deal
of feeline, but ho felt bound to say that there was
no probability of a conviction.
Mr. Baron Martin sail, he quite concurred in
the observation, but added, that it was avery proper
case for the coroner to inquire into.
The prisoner was then discharged.
Wm. Ball, aged 25, labourer, and Richard Ball,
aged 17, labourer, were charged with stealing 151.
from the person of Charles Saunders, at Woolstau-
ton, on the 21st of Nov.
Mr. Powell appeared for the prosecution, Mr.
Sawyer defended the prisoners.
It appeared that the prosecutor was a young farm
servant, who in the7course of a 12 year.' service had
saved up the sum of 161. Bs. He was about to he
married to a young woman, and having seen her
home safe on the night of the 21st Nov., he went
towards his home, with 151. in one pocket, and
11. Bs. in the other. On his way he entered a beer-
shop and there had 'gem cider, and paid for it with
a sovereign. The elder prisoner, Wm. Ball, was
there, and when the prosecutor observed that he
should not go home that night, but should sloop at
the Swan public-house, as ho had something about
him, the prisoner induced him to go to the house
of a man named Williams, and have some drink.
Aceording to the prosecutor's statement, while lean-
ing with his left arm on the dresser in 'Williams's
house, he felt the younger prisoner, Richerd Bell,
put his hand into his right hand pocket. He imme-
diately missed the 151., and charged the prisoner
with robbing him. This the prisoner denied, and
offered to be searched, but the offer was not ac-
cepted. In the meantime the elder prisoner struck
the younger prisoner a blow on the chest, and then
gave the prosecutor a severe ulow, which caused
him to bleed profusely. The prisoner's mother
then came and took the younger prisoner away.
The prosecutor was taken care of for the night, and
next morning he caused the prisoners to be taken
into custody. Their house wassearched, but no part
of the money was found. Williams was examined,
and said he saw the prisoner's hand in the prosecu-
tor's pocket and suspected that he was about to
commit a robbery, but he said nothing about it and
went to bed.
Mr. Baron Martin said there was no case against
the elder prisoner.
Mr. Sawyer then addressed the jury for the
younger prisoner, and contended that no reliance
could be placed on the witness Williams.
Mr. Baron Martin summed up the evidence; and
The jury found the prisoner not guilty.
J, dm Tyler, aged 20, fi- herman' was charged with
maliciously setting fire to the dwelling-house of
Rachel Tyler, one Mai y Tyler being then in the said
dwelling-house, at Tidenham, on Aug. 19, 1857.
Mr. Sawyer appeared for the prosecution ; Mr.
Poore 1 defended the prisoner.
It appeared that the prisoner lived with his
grandmother, Rachel Tyler. He came home one
night late, and Lie grandmother complained, and
told him he had better go back to the place from
which he came. He w.- nt up to his bed-room, and
presently came down and went out, saying he would
burn the b-- lot of them. He immediately re-
turned to the house with two bundles of straw,
which be took upstairs and set on fire. The pri-
soner then came downstairs and locked the door.
The grandmother had left the house, but the pri-
soner had a sick aunt in bed in the kitchen. She