The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-07-17 00:00:00

INQUEST ON THOMAS HALLIGAN.

Yesterday an inquest was held on the body of Thomas
lalligan, labourer, who was stabbed on Sunday morning, at
ane o'clock, (an account of which is briefly given elsewhere.)
before W. H. Statham, Esq., Deputy Coroner.
James Highani, labourer, (the prisoner) who is in cus-
tody on a charge of stabbing the deceased, is an ill-looking
man, with lowering looks, dressed in a poaching sort. of
velveteen coat. He appeared wholly unconcerned during
the examination of the witnesses. He has, we understand,
been tried before fora similar offence.
John Colburn being examined, deposed that he was a
labourer, and worked at the brickfields at Egremont, where
he lived. He came over to Liverpool on Saturday evening
for a pair of boots, and staid in Liverpool, as it was too late
to go back again. He was at Mr. Keevans, the pawnbrokers,
at about ten minutespast ten o'clock, at the top of Coifing-
wood-street, in Scotland-road. In about three quarters of an
hour he went from there to Lane's public-house, corner of
Naylor-street, in Vauxball-road. He and souse of his ac-
quaintances found three men down stairs. Two of the men
with him knew them, and they drank amongst them six
quarts of ale. The deceased was one of the men whom he
met in Vauxhall-road, and helped to drink the ale. They
stopped there till five minutes to 12 o'clock, when the land-
lord told them it was time to go out. The deceased, and a
man named Patrick Moore, came out with him, and they
stood talking in Vauxhall-road. He was not tipsy, and
the other two men were pretty steady. He saw the prisoner,
Higham, cross over from the opposite side of Vauxhall-road
towards where they were standing, and said to them, "Are
vou the same men that you have been before?" He did not
know which of them he spoke to. One of the other men
gave answer that he was. About half a minute afterwards
he heard the deceased say, " Oh, Lord God, I am stabbed!"
He saw no scuffling before this. The prisoner then ran
away, and he (witness) followed hint. The deceased called
out, " He've a knife," meaning that the prisoner had a knife.
He (witness) went up to the prisoner, and said, "Dont stab
me ?" He replied, " I'll serve you the same as I've. served
the other." He tried his best to trip the prisoner, and he fell
down. He thought he could hold him till he got a police-
man. They!had a struggle', and he (witness) tell, and the
prisoner got away from him, and he saw him run into the
first court in Naylor-street. lie (witness) gut up and sa w
Mary Ann Sweeney standing in the street. He seized hold
of her, and went down the street in search of a policeman,
when three or four young men follriwed her and got the
young woman away from him, and slipped another in her
stead. He then found that blood was running do.n his az ru
and down his clothes, and that he was wounded in his right
arm above the elbow, and he went to the Dispensary. He
saw the prisoner afterwards in 13ridewell, and did not see
Halligan after he cried out he was stabbed, until he saw him
dead in the Dispensary. The deceased worked in a soapery.
There was no quarrel between the prisoner and the de
ceased, to his knowledge. He could not tell why the pri-
soner crossed the street to their party. He would swear the
prisoner was the man who crossed the street, and that at that
time he wore a whire jacket.
Policeman 155 stated That he went to the prisoner's lodgings,
and found a young man there wearing'a white 'jacket, when,
on being questioned, he said belonged to the prisoner, and he
had lent the prisoner his velveteen coat. The vrisoner was
made to try the jacket, and it was found to fit him, and was
also stained with blood.

Patiiek Maude deposed that he worked in Messrs. Barber
and Morris' soapery, in Paul-street, and lived in Margaret-
place, Canning-street. The deceased worked in the same
place, and lived next door but two to mine. The deceased
and he left the soapery togethet'a little after seven o'clock
on Saturday, together with James Curry and-four other men,
who worked at the same place. They_all went to a public-
house at the corner' of Canning-street and Vauxhall-road.
They had there some whiskey and ale. They (lid nut stop
a; fri tieer-ificip i n CiTiltnntrirmit'ir.Alkw.e* t0..J.0 Li it I-I anail.
ale. They left there at a little after ten o'clock, and Thomas
Halligan, the deceased, he and another man, whose name he
did not know, went to Lane's public-house at the corner of
Naylor-street, and had been there about quarter of an hour
when Colburn and a man named Patrick Conner came in.
They there had some ale and staid till the mistress said it was
time to go. They then went into Naylor-street, and he wanted
Thomas Halligan to go home with him. He was capable of
minding himself, but was not sober. The deceased was more
sober than he was. Thomas Halligan, John Colburn, and he
stood talking together in Vauxhall--road, at the corner of N ay-
lor•street. He (witness) went down Titheharn-street about
ten yards, and stopped to see if the deceased was coming;
when he turned round, he saw him scuffling with a man in a
white jacket. He (witness) went back to him, and by the
time he had got up to him he had left off scuffling witb the
man, and was coming towards him, when he saw the man in
the white jacket run away, and John Colburn run after him.
The man with tho white jacket fell at the corner of Naylor-
street; he (witness) went tip to him and gave him two kicks,
and then left him, and went back to the deceased, and as he
was going he heard a female voice say loud enough to be
heard by the man in the white lacket,—"lt was James
Higham' or " Himes that stabbed the man." The deceased
was just faliing when he (witness) went up to him, and sup-
ported him to the Dispensary. He never spoke a word ex-
cept saying he was stabbed. He asked him if be knew the
man that stabbed him, and be attempted to speak but could
not. When they got to the Dispensary, the Surgeon said he
could'do nothing for him, that he was dying, and he died in
a few minutes while he staid. The prisoner was exactly the
height of the man that had the white jacket on. He did not
see any one come to scuffle with the deceased. He did not
know that the prisoner was in Lane's public-house.
Mary Ann Sweeney, a workwoman at Mr. Fletcher's,
colour manufacturer, Vauxhall-road. She was parting with
some friends at the top of Naylor-street about 12 o'clock on
Saturday night, when she saw the prisoner, whom she knew
very well, having lived neighbour to him, dressed in a white
jacket, and on his hands and knees, and his hat at a short

distance from him. There were three men stood over him ;
John Colburn was one; the prisoner got up with his hat in
his band, and said, "chaps, that is not fair," on which one
of the three men went and gave him a blow, or a kick, and
knocked him into the middle of the street.. One of the three

men then went back to a butcher's shop, near where she first
saw the prisoner, and she saw blood .pouring from his left
side, and he said "Pm stabbed; I'm dead.' On that she
turned round to Ann Donegan and said, "Oh, James High-
ems; James Highams," meaning the prisouct. After the
man that was stabbed had walked three or four yards, he fell
on his 'knees, and he was carried to the Dispensary. John
Colburn then got bold of her, and was bringing her tip the
Steps, hut the surgeon would not let them in. She was stand-
ing in Vauxhall-road with Colburn, and his arm was bleeding
very badly, and ,covered her with blood, and a crowd collected
round her; but her brother rushed amongst the crowd, and
asked what was to do, and got her away. The prisoner Highams
had worked in a warehouse about two months back, and she
did not know where he had worked before. She could not
say whether Highams had been in the habit of wearing a
white jacket, but she saw him in one on Saturday night.
She thought Maude was the third man that was over High-
ams when she first saw him. There was no one near enough
to stab the man that was stabbed except Maude, andColburn,
and the prisoner.
Thomas Clayton, tammerman, in the employment of
Messrs. Forrester, and Co's. foundry, Vauxh-all-road. He
and some of his companions were standing talking- at the.
corner of Naylor-.street, about going to the race course next
morning. It was about twelve o'clock. He hoard a scuffle,
and turned round, and saw a man with a white jacket lying
on the flags. Men were standing over him, but nobody touched
him, su long as he lay on 'the flags, which was about a
minute. He then got up, and was walking away, when a
man followed him. In the course of two minutes a scuffle
took place between the two men. In a few minutes after,
deceased ran over to a butcher's shop, where there was a gas
light, and he (witness) heard some one say, " I am stabbed."
He went over to the deceaSed; and assisted to carry him to
the North Dispensary. He was bleeding so, that he thought
he would vile in the street. He stayed with him at the Dis-
pensary till he died.
Thomas Pimblet examined; stated, that he was a porter
living in Heaton-street. and knew the prisoner. They had
been working together for the last three weeks amongst cot-
ton, for Mr. Hyde. He was with him on Saturday night last,
they went home together when they left off work. After get-
ting their tea, they went out to St. John's Market, with Moses
Gott. It might be close upon 10 o'clock when they came
out of the market. They went towards home, and called at
the Cross Keys, in Vauxhall-road, and had two glasses of
of ale each, and left there about eleven o'clock, and went
towards home. He was sober. They were opposite Naylor-
street, and the prisoner went across the street to speak to a
girl he saw there. He turned round for a minute, and on
looking towards him again, saw the prisoner on the flags, and

one or two men kickinghim. The prisoner got up and went
down Naylor-street, and he (witness) went down after him,
and in a short time he found him up in An entry there, and
he (the prisoner) asked him to. change jackets. Before, he
had ou a white moleskin jacket. He (witness) had on the
fustian coat now worn by'the prisoner, which the prisoner
put on. The prisorier'asked'him jibe would put on his jacket,
and he (witness) said he was not afraid to put it on as he bad
done nothing amiss. They then went to the prisoner's house
at the bottom of Regent-street, and the prisoner then sadl.)-
wanted him to change jackets for good; but he (witness)
said he did not like to do so till he had asked his wife, and
bid him '(mod night, and went home with the prisoner's jacket
on. He delivered the jacket to a policeman named John
Bell, about half-past three o'clock on Sunday morning. The
reason he lent the prisoner his coat was, that he said he was
afraid he should get leathered again. The prisoner was ra-
ther intoxicated when he left the Cross Keys. The prisoner
had told him he was a spinner. Ne had seen him working
with cotton with a knife with a blade about two inches long,
and half an inch•broad. It had rather a sharp point.
John Bell, policeman, deposed to the jacket the prisoner
now had on was the same be received from the last witness on
Sunday morning, at his house in Heaton-street.. He showed
it to the prisoner in Bridewell, where he denied all knowledge
of it.

Mr. John Grant, one of the visiting surgeons of the North
Dispensary deposed, that he was on duty on Saturday night
and Sunday moiuing last, at the Dispensary. At a little
after twelve o'clock, on Sunday morning, he heard a loud
knocking at the side door, in Freemason's-row, which he im-
mediately opened, and a man, coveted with blood, carried by

MAN AND WIFE.

several persons, who said be was stabbed, was brought in.
The man could not speak. He had him taken into the shop,
and on removing his clothes, he found a wound on the ...lower
part of the abdomen, on the left side, from, which he was
bleeding rather freely. He immediately placed his finger on
the wound, to arrest the further flow of blood, but he died in
about one minute after his clothes had been removed. --No-
thing could be done to save him. He had, that day, examined
the body of the deceased, and found two wounds ; one on the
front of the chest, the other on the lower part of the left side
of the abdomen, about one inch long. The skin and muscles
were divided, and the external illiac artery half cut ,across.
The intestines were uninjured. This wound was the cause of
death. It appeared to have been inflicted with a:knife, such
as is usually carried by sailors. The wound on the front of
the chest was of little consequence. He also, about a quarter
of an hour afterwards, dressed the arm- of JOhn Coleburn,
who had received a punctured wound, and he was of opinion
it was inflicted by the same instrument.
The Coroner thought they were now in a situation to close
the Case, on the part of the crown, and it was open for the
prisoner to call witnesses, but unless he could •call such as
would quite contradict the evidence against him, it was only
a waste of time.
The prisoner said, at first, he had no witnesses, but after-
wards wished
Moses Gott to be examined on his behalf. The witness
stated, that was a hammerman, in Mr. Vernon's yard, at the
New North Wall. He lodged in the prisoner's house. They
went together from home on Saturday night to the Cross
Keys, and they had two glasses of ale a-piece. They then
went to St. Johu's Market; from there they went to a pub-
lic house in Hood-street, where they bad a glass of ale ;
from there they went to the Cross Keys again. The prisoner
had three glasses of ale, and he had three glasses of cider.
They went out of the Cross Keys at shutting up time, and
;then came down Vauxhall-road, and there were some girls,
and a young man standing at the top of Naylor-street, and
then the prisoner was knocked down, and he got up, and was
knocked down again. Then there were four men round
him, and he held his hands up to keep them froze kicking his
face. The prisoner then shouted out pick my hat up, and he
(witness) was looking for his hat, he (the prisoner) got away
from him, and he did not see him for half an hour. He got
his bat, and be and 'Thomas Pimblet went doWn
Naylor-
street to look for him. He (witness) left Thomas Pimblet,
and ran through Gladstone-street into Freemason's-row. He
afterwards met the prisoner, and he and Thomas Pimblet
had changed .their jackets, and he did not know them till
they called him. The witness then corroborated the state-
ment of Pimblet, about the prisoner wanting to " swap"
jackets.

The deputy. .coroner carefully summed up the evidence:
They had the surgeon's evidence that the wound was the
cause of death, and the evidence of Colburn was very conclu-
sive, that the prisoner was the party who had stabbed the de-
ceased. They had also Ann Sweeney calling out the pri-
soner's name,.and there could be nodoubt of the reason of it.
And they had the evidence of the surgeon, that the wounu
on Colburn's arm was by a similar instrument. If the jury
thought that Colburn was sufficiently
.sober to remark what
Akas going on, he was of opinion theirlverdiet must be wil-
ful murder, for there was malice aforethought in his coming
across the street, andafterwards threatening to serve Colburn
th

e same.
The evidence of Maude went to show, that there was a scuf-
fle, and if the jury should be of opinion that the stab was
inflicted during a fight, it ttonld be manslaughter only.; On
the whole of the evidence, be thought their verdict ought to
be manslaughter.
The Jury expressed a wish to retire at a quarter to nine
o'clock, the inquiry having occupied five hours and a.half,
After an absence of a quarter of an hour, they returned, and
found the prisoner guilty of "ijUl Murder."
The prisoner being cautioned that what he might say
might be brought against him, was asked if he wisbed to say
anything. He said, "they knocked me down, and I don't
know who it was, but it is false that I used any instrument.
I was knocked down two or three times and kicked. I have
the marks on me now where I was kicked." The prisoner
was then committed to take his trial at the assizes.
The several witnesses were then bound over to give evi-
dence.
A crowd of 600 or 700 people surrounded the office door of
the Coroner, waiting to hear the verdict.