The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-09-14 00:00:00

On Sunday night, the 29th of August last, this poor girl,
with another unfortunate creature of the same class, and
Benjamin James, were walking on Chepstow-bridge, and
were joined by three young men, with whom they went up to
Tuts-hill ; deceased left the party in company with one of
the men, which roused the jealousy of James, who called
after her, and as she did not return, followed her up a lane
called Dead Man's-lane (in which tradition says a murder
was formerly committed), the other girl following him, and
at the end of the lane they found them in the turnpike-road.
It was a moonlight night, and on seeing James, the poor girl
withdrew her hand from the young man, and James ran up
and attempted to strike her, but was twice prevented by the
man, who took hold of him, and begged him to let the girl
alone, calling her to go home, which she refused, saying,
" Ben will beat me worse if 1 do, when he catches me."
James at length got loose, and overtook her at the gate leading
into the Dead Man's-lane, where he struck her violently with
his fist in her right side ; she immediately fell on her knees ;
he dragged her up, and she fell against the wall. The
wretched man then lay down in the road, and his poor victim
crawled to him and kissed him, saying, " Don't do it any
more, Ben." He turned towards her and said, " I will mur-
der you !" She kissed him again, and lie swore he would
murder and be the death of her; he did not strike her again,
but, alas ! the mischief was done—she had received her
death blow.

They afterwards went down
.the lane to Chapel:house

Farm, where the two females and James spent the night in a
shed, the deceased suffering acute pain in her side; in the
morning James left them in Chepstow, but in the evening
met them on the opposite side of the town, and they re-
mained together all night under a hay-rick, the deceased in
great agony in her right side and back, the internal inflam-
mation increasing rapidly; they continued out the whole of
the following day, and at night James left them, saying he
was afraid to stay lest she should die. Her companion then
supported her through the streets in search of a lodging, and
at length, being quite exhausted, the poor sufferer sank on
the steps of a door, where they were attacked by some vaga-
bond boys, who threw dirt and filth at them. The deceased
exclaimed, " It is hard I cannot be left alone, I am so ill,"

and burst into tears ; her companion got her away and ob-
tained a lodging, where she passed the night in extreme
agony, and the next morning her father was sent for, who,
being unable to pay a medical attendant, took her to the
poor-house, where she received every attention that medical
aid and kind treatment could afford, but the inflammation
increased, and she expired on Friday evening.
Benjamin James was apprehended on Thursday, and the
poor girl's deposition taken by Colonel Lewis in his pre-
sence, but she was evidently alarmed at the prisoner being in
the room, exclaiming, " Take him away, he will kill me !"
On Friday morning she told her father she was worse, and
said, " Where is Ben ? He has murdered me and I am
dying, he ought to suffer as well as me," and expressed a
wish to see the magistrate, as she had something on her
mind; a messenger was despatched to St. Pierre, and on
Colonel Lewis's arrival, the prisoner was again taken to her
room, but it was then too late, she had lost the power of
speech—she was dying. The worthy magistrate and all in
the room were. deeply affected, except the prisoner, who stood
unmoved at the dreadful scene without betraying the least
emotion, and apparently without the slightest feeling for his
unfortunate victim. On Saturday he was committed to
Monmouth gaol, charged with wilful murder, and the coro-
ner's inquest has since returned a similar verdict.