The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-17 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIC,

- 15:

OXFORD CIRCUIT. —STAFFORD, DEc.
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
Ann Plant, aged 22, was charged with the wilful
murder of John Plant, on Oct. 22, 1857, at Wolver-
hampton.
Mr. Spooner appeared for the prosecution ; the
prisoner was undefended.
The facts of this painful case will be sufficiently
explained by the evidence given by the following
witnesses :
Hannah Hickman said,—l am the wife of George
Hickman, at Half-green, Sedgley. The prisoner's
mother lives next door. The prisoner has not lived
with her mother for two years. I remember pri-
soner coming home with a little boy. On the 20th
Oct. the prisoner was sitting in my brewhonse, and
her sister asked me if I would let her sit by my
fire. 1 did let her. On the 21st she lay at another
person's house, Mrs. Cooper's. On the 22d she
came to my house, and asked if I could let her wash
and dress the bady. I gave her leave. That was
on Thursday. She went out with the baby between
2-and 3 o'olock. She said she was going down to
Froghall to father her baby. She called the baby
" John." I tried to give the baby some teaty,
when she had none to give it. She called the baby
"John Plant." She came back on Thursday be-
tween 8 and 9 o'clock. She had not got the baby.
I said, " Ann, what has brought you back again ;
what have you done with the child ? " She said,
"By God, Hannah, I gave the child away. A gen-
tleman and lady came and said, 'Dear me, what
ails your baby 72 and asked me to give her the child.
The lady then took it, and carried it in her arms to
Stafford-street." She said, "the lady took it to
a house in Stafford-street, which was carpeted all
over." I believed what she said, and that night
(Thursday) she slept by my side. The next day
(Friday) she slept in the house of a person next
door but one. On Saturday, the 24th, she went
away to Mrs. Walker's, of Hallfield. On the
Thursday she took some clothes, and brought
them back. She said the gentleman bought some
clothes for the child, and told her to take back the
clothes and make a few pence of them. On the
Tuesday morning, the 27th, I went to Mrs.
Walker's, at Hallfield. I saw the prisoner there,
and said to her, "You've destroyed your child ;
wui you gu wIGu hue Or Air. rwlact
you gave the child to ?" She said she would neither
go with me nor Mr. Ponder. I said, "Ann, if
you've destroyed your child, you will have to con-
fess." She said, "Oh, Hannah, I have destroyed
my child ; it is trouble that brought me to it."
She said at first she had put it in the river, and
then she said she had put it in the road. I then
sent for Mr. Ponder and he came. The next day,
Wednesday, Mr. Ponder showed me a child. It
was the same child I saw with the prisoner. lam
sure of that. I had washed its clothes and suckled
it. The prisoner's mother found her with victuals,
but she had no money.
Catherine Ingram said,—l am the sister of the
last witness, and live with her. I recollect the pri-
soner coming back without the child.
William Ponder said,—l am a police-constable at
Bilston. On Tuesday morning I was sent for to
Mrs. Hickman's, at Hallfield. I saw the prisoner
there. I asked her what she had done with the
child. She made no reply. At length she said, if I
would allow her to jump down a pit she would tell
me all about it. I ;plied her two or three times, and
she said she would tell me when the crowd of
people were gone. I took her into an adjoining
room, with two gentlemen. She then said she had
thrown her child in the river. I asked her where-
abouts she threw it. She said she threw it in the
river by the side of the railway bridge that goes
over the river on this side Bilston-street, Wolver-
hampton. I asked her if she put anything with it
to sink it. She said, " Oh, Mr. Ponder, I threw ray
child in alive." She then began to tear hsr hair.
She said she should have gone to Froghall, but her
shoes were so bad she turned back. She said the
child's name] was John Plant. I took her to
the police station, and then searched the river, but
I did not find any body that day. The next day
I got some drags, and found the body. I
showed it to Ann Hickman. I produce the gown it
had on. The body was about 100 yards below the
bridge down the stream.
Mr. H. D. Best, surgeon of Bilston, said he had
examined the body of the child, and that he was of
opinion the child was suffocated by drowning.
There were no marks of violence.
The prisoners's statement before the magistrates
was put in and read, as follows :—" I did it for
want. I had no home to go to. I had been confined
only a month, and had to sit up all night in the
brawhourse. I had nowhere to t ike it to."
Mr. Baron Martin having summed up,
The jury found the prisoner guilty, with a strong
recommendation to mercy.
His Lordship said he entirely concurred in the
verdict ; but, as he felt sure, under the circum-
stances, that if he passed sentence of death it would
not be carried into effect, he thought it would ho
better at once to avail himself of the power which
he had, and to order sentence of death to be
recorded. His lordship then ordered sentence of
death to be recorded, telling the prisoner that she
would be kept in penal servitude for life.
The prisoner was then removed.
EXTRAORDINARY CASE.
Philip Clare, 30, miner, was charged with the
wilful murder of Elizabeth Hopley, on the 29th of
April, at Bilston.
Mr. Scotland and Mr. A. S. Hill appeared for
the prosecution ; Mr. Kettle defended the prisoner.
Mr. Scotland having opened the facts of this case,
the following witnesses were examined :
Mrs. Welton, the aunt of the deceased, said she
was a young woman, 18 years of age, the daughter
of a farmer at Were, in Shropshire. In April last,
and since Christmas, she had been living with her
at Bradley, in the township of Bilston. On the
29th April she had been working for a Mr. Moon,
and returned home about 7 o'clock in the evening.
She went out again near ten o'clock, withoutbonnet
or shawl, and without saying where she was
going, and never came home again. Up to March
last she had been working for the prisoner as a
bank's girl, but had left his service on the Satur-
day night before Shrove Tuesday. She had had a
dispute with the prisoner about her wages, and had
summoned him before the magistrates.
Cross-examined—l had had no dispute or quar-
rel with the deceased, wh© was in perfect health
and strength that night. In going to her work at
Mr. Moon's the nearest way would be by the canal,
where her body was found, which is less than a
quarter of a mile from my house.
Joseph Davis said he lodged with the last wit-
ness, and remembered the deceased going out in
the evening of April 29. The aunt found fault with
the deceased about not getting some watermade hot.
Cross-examined—Thera was no passion.
Geo. Buckley, a labourer, said that at about half-
past 4 on the morning of April 30 he was going to
his work, and as he was passing Mr. Rose's wharf
he saw a body in the water in the Bradley arm of
the Birmingham Canal. He took the body oat, and
c Irried it to Mr. Welton's.
Cross-examined—Between the house and the
c mat there is a coke-hearth, which gives a flickering
and unsteady glare.
Mr. H. D. Best, surgeon, of Bilston, who had
made a post mortem examination of the deceased,
said he found a slight discolouration on the back of
the neck and arm, and a few recent scratches on
tho back of the right arm. The deceased died frem
suffixation by drowning. She was a strong, healthy
girl.
Cross-examined—The discolouration would n
necessarily indicate violence, and the scratches
might have arisen from s'ruggling in the water. It
is just possible, but highly improbable, that she
could have received a blow on the head sufficient
to stun her for 20 minutes without leaving some
mark. From the appearance of her body she must
have been sensible when put in the water. The
dress and one boot were coloured by the haematite I,
ore. The wall of the canal was two feet above the
water. The witness said he was of opinion that in
coming to the angle where the canal forms a fork
the deceased had filters over the wall into the
water. He said the light of a coke-hearth was very'
flickering and dazzling.

By the Judge—lfshe had been struggling with
a man, I think there must have been marks on her
body, but there were none.
Edward Lloyd, the landlord of the Square and
Compasses Public-house at Bilsten, proved that
the prisoner was at his house from half-past 6 till
11 o'clock on the night of the 29th Ap. il, and left
in company with a man named William Wol!iscroft
and three others.
Win. Wolliscroft proved that he accompanied the
pishier part of the way to Muxley, whfra the pri-
soner lived, and parted from him about a quarter
of a mile from his (the prisoner's) house.
Cross-examined—We went along the Holyhead-
read. We talktd together for some time on the road.
George Hague, a puliceman, saw the prisoner, at
about 12 o'clock, about 50 or 60 yards from his
(prisoner's) house.
8. Wall said—l am a labourer. Oa 29-J1 April I.
`was night watchman to Mr. Rowe, at Bradley. The
near the rail?,
are near the railway bridge. I know the pri-
soner. On the night of the 29th of April I came
bridge. I noticed two people on
not tell whether
the bridge. Wasth 100 or 200 yards off. I could
to the foot of theey- wererid men or women. I went
yarashoftgeLnear the rails. I was
olfsthoer 16 bridge,
by the Theyrai
mahe
were at the abut-
onujtto i n the wall. I heard theiwnegm; awubsere the rail-
don't kill me ; you said you Would kill me' before."PlliliP'
I then knew one of them was a woman. I saw him
i raise his fist and knock her down. It was on some