The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-20 00:00:00

WORSHIP-STREET.

Joseph Wood, a middle-aged man, of dissolute ap-
pearance, described as a cabinet maker, was brought
up before Mr. Arnold in the custody of the police,
charged with the following series of brutal and un-
provoked assaults upon a poor woman named Eliza-
beth Faucit

The complainant, a delicate-looking woman, whose
face was shockingly contused, one of her eyes being
bruised all round, and the other blackened, puffed up
like a ball, and entirely closed, stated,—My husband
having deserted me a long time ago, leaving me per-
'entity destitute, I was induced by the prisoner, about
two years since, to live with him as his wife, but, in
consequence of his jealousy and cruel conduct to-
wards me, have more than once been obliged to leave
him. Upon each occasion I did so, he swore that he
could not live without me, that I must live with him
as long as we lived, and declared, if I did not come
hack to him, that he would murder me. The last
rime was on Saturday last, but he renewed his ill-
usage of toe again on the following morning, when,.
whilst I was in bed, be. called me an opprobrious
epithet, and struck me three or four heavy blows on
the face with great rapidity, one of them between the
eyes, which severely bruised one of them, and
caused the blood to pour down so profusely as
to completely soak my clothes, and, when I
entreated him to desist from his cruelty, he finished
oy kicking me with great force on several parts
of my body. On Monday he again renewed his vio-
lence, and, being in great danger of my life, I came
down to this court to procure a warrant against him
ro insure my protection, which was to have come on
for hearing to-day, but he did not make his appear-
ance to answer it; and, after waiting a couple of
hours, I was about to leave the court, when, just as I
',lad got outside, he suddenly rushed upon me, struck
me several terrible blows in the face, and reduced my
,eft eye tq the state in which it now appears.
Mr. ARNOLD (to the prisoner)—What explanation
have you to give of such an unmanly outrage ?
Prisoner (in the most cool and deliberate man-
ner)—Nothing at all, Sir; I have struck her in the
way she describes, and I do not wish at all to deny
it, and am perfectly satisfied to endure all the punish •
:vent that the law can inflict upon me for it. If I
have to undergo a twelvemonth's imprisonment I
;hall go through my hard labour without complaint,
and I am glad that this has taken place, as now there
will be an effectual separation between us, and if I
meet her ever so often in the street she will be a per-
fect stranger to me for ever after. I have done all I
could to render her happy, and I know, if something
is not done to me, that she will have to be here again
in a week or so, as I have before been imprisoned for
her, and should be again ; but not now. After I had
beaten her the last time she appeared reconciled to
me, and I was drinking some beer with her when I
was served by the officer with her summons. This
hurt me very much, and, as I have always had a
great dread of appearing at a police-court, when I
now found that I must do so, I swore a solemn oath
that I would not rest in my bed until I had had re-
venge, and I have not done so. I came down to this
court at the time appointed, to watch for her return
from it, and just as I saw her coming along from
the steps I determined to myself that I would strike
her two or three blows as hard as I could, and hid my-
self behind a cart until she came up towards me,
when I rushed out upon her and struck her violently,
and the policeman, I believe, was present and saw me
do it. I have had my revenge, and am now perfectly
tranquil and easy in my mind, and will willingly un-
dergo, without a murmur, whatever punishment or
sentence you think proper to inflict upon me.
Mr. ARNOLD listened to this deliberate declaration
with much astonishment, and then indignantly said,
—You are certainly, without exception, the most
audacious and hardened ruffian who ever came before
me, and I regret exceedingly that the powers I am
invested with as a magistrate are so wholly incompe-
tent to deal with a case of such shocking brutality.
To leave this poor woman, in her destitute state, to
indict you at the sessions, would be worse than use-
lesi, and I shall therefore deal with you with as
much severity as I can. I shall sentence you to pay
the full penalty of 51. for the first assault upon her, or
in default commit you to the House of Correction for
two months, and a similar amount of penalty or im-
prisonment for the second attack upon her at this
court, the second term of imprisonment—
Prisoner (coolly finishing the sentence)—Not to
commence till the expiration of the first ?
Mr. ARNOLD—Yes, to take effect at the expiration
of the first ; and I shall further order you to enter
into your own recognizance in the sum of 201. to be
of peaceable behaviour towards her for the next twelve
months..

Prisoner—l am perfectly content with that ; I shall
undergo the punishment with great pleasure.
lle was then removed from the bar by the gaoler,
and as he passed the complainant he looked at her
with a smile of complacency, and observed—" It is
only for four months—only four months."