Star.
London, England, 1828-09-13 00:00:00

OLD BAILEY SESSIONS, Sart. 12.

OLD COURT.
Before Mr. Justice Lielamas.' and Barge Vaunran.
Margaret Hartigais was charged with the murder of
a child, aged five months, of the name if Maly Moore,
an the 26th if August, by pouring a quantity of boil'.
ing water over it.
Mr. CLAagsom. on the part of the defendant, st ited,
that in consequence of the child being stated in one of
the counts of the indictment to be a child unknown, and
pieriouslr having been de,cribed by name, be submit-
ted that the indictment could not stand.

Mr. ADHLPHOs, for the prosecution, stated, that the
indictment contained different count., with various
isames, in consequence of a recent conviction ; and if it
could be shown that she was guilty on any one of the
counts, it was sufficient. The difficulty in question
arose from the child being illegitimate.
Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE said, he would wait for the
result of the trial, when the Learned Counsel (Mr.
Clarkson) would again mention the subject.
Mr. Annruns stated the case for the prosecution.
Catherine Crawley deposed, that she was the mother
of the murdered child ; she remembered the 26th of •
Angola; her child was then living, and was nearly six
months old ; she knew the mother of the :prisoner, as
she lived in the same room with the witness; their
lodging was in Crown-court, Whitechapel ; three or
four families lived in the room; on the 26th August
'he saw the prisoner for the first time in the room in
which she lived; there were three or four other persons
in the room ; this was about four o'clock in the after•
noon; there were also three children in the room ; her
child was on the bed, as was also a child of the pri-
soner's; there was a kettle on the fire ; the prisoner
told her mother to take it off, as it Was boiling ; her
mother did so, and put it on the hearthstone; the pri-
soner'. mother took hold of Toone?, one of the women
in the room, and asked her what she did there? Toooey
said she was in her proper place, as she was with her
gi)ssip, Mrs. Smith; the prisoner then struck her with
a stone bottle on the side of the head ; Mrs. Toomey
said she did not expect such a reception when she paid
a visit; the prisoner again struck Tooney in the face;
Tenney had her child in her arras ; she then put bee
child into the witness's lap, and began to fight the pri•
soner, and knocked her down ; the witness: child was
on the bed all this time ; Tooney did not strike the pri-
son. r with violence; the prisoner's mother and brother
then began to beat Toone?, and the witness got up and
endeavoured to part them, saying that it was a shame
fur two to set on one; the prisoner screamed out
" Murder r on Tooney's bearing her; a woman named
Anderson came into the room and helped the wit-
ness to separate them. She had put Tooney's child-
on the bed with her own child and the prisoner's •
on the witness's separating her from Tooney, tin;
prisoner struck the witness. Anderson then separated
them ; the prisoner then took her own child off the bed,
took up the kettle of boiling water from the hearth,
and said, " that if she could not get her revenge on the
women, she would on the children," and immedi-
ately threw the kettle of boiling water on the children,
and ram with her own child out of the room. The lid
was on the kettle when she threw it on the bed ; the
children were at the head of the bed; she put down her
own child when she threw the kettle, and took it up
again immediately after, and ran away ; the prisoner
threw the kettle against the wall at the head of the bed,
and it fell on the bed; the witness immediately took up
her own child and dip,red it in a tub of cold water
which was in the room ; the child's cloches were soaked
with the water, and so hot that they burnt the witness's
fingers; she then screamed out " Murder r and some
man came into the room and took the child to the hos.
pital ; it died the neat day ; the child when put on the
bed -was in very good health.
Cross-examined by Mr. CLARKSON—The witness was
not married ; she bad no ether children ; she did not
remember when the child was christened; she never
swore the child to any one; a man of the name of
Moore was the father of the child ; she never saw the
prisoner before that afternoon. She took away the
mother of the prisoner, that Tooney and the prisoner
might fight it out; they fought for about ten minutes ;
the first of the row was below, where the prisoner and
Toone; had some words; the kettle bad been off the
fire about two minutes before it was thrown ; the pri-
soner bad the best of the fight, because the mother and
the brother helped her to beat Toone?; the brother was
a little boy about eight years of age; the prisoner was
quite calm, and during the whole of the row was not at
all alarmed ; the prisoner and her mother were thecause
of the whole of the quarrelling ; they bad invited a
strange woman to tea with them, and afterwards quar-
relled with her; the witness did not see the prisoner
after she threw the kettle, as she went to the Hospital ;
the deceased was alWags known by the name of Mary
or Maria Moore, which was the name of the father.
Catherine Tooney, examined by Mr. ADOLIIIINI—
She knows the prisoner at the bar. She had been quar-
relling with the prisoner on the day when this circum-
stance happened. The prisoner had invited her up
stairs, out of the court. and when she got up she began
to abuse her. The prisoner shortly afterwards struck
het on the head. Crawley was in the room at the time.