Irish Assizes.
The Times, 1824-08-05T00:00:00

os;r. ar.57WXCUiA05,31 a pert5p oi some p7opurLyis au-. '"Ji1 Was indicted for the-siwde oef s poor ruan n4ined lWrty, a hacklertl of flax, at"Mldint'aq by .stavdikjj.him on fbe h&0ad tit a nmetal1 lht ofuwlicl helaxguisled. fro& thze Lh ti ot Petruary td the Daulel Rzferty, fatherP. a- dased, stated, tlat he and his son were at the -prisoner'st house, working-therc 3S habclers. The prisoner ztieretd the.ioorna-where they were, arnd without speaking stmuck tb. decea.sed :with somet?hinglcb tWpe -witness could not swear to, and-lsnoiie&hiuldowilb Wltncss was himseelf knocked dawn twice by the prisone,r. his son -Sas niever.well 'tnceethat.. I*rossSaminet.Slewed woorked,. or had the name of working, three davw,bsifer. ~TixeritS n qphIte betwveeu -itnesseind DIrs. H tes on.tlP e dsayin'huq 3ie h~ ving said that the fizwas not we]l dsd-and tlhctckl xe; ng that it'twas. Mr. W. Cannon, in- behalf- of. te defenc, said,; that he *aa at theprigoner's house on the night in question; he ras with the pri- soner in hils palour*. on:hstbripg a noise up stairs, and finding that it cnntinued, the ptisoner went up and turned the backlers out. He was not in ag,reat pa#slonwhe he returned. Hie took no weapon with him, The Jury acquItteid the ristitter. O>n thisJury rettirning the veedicts Hils Lordsship (M?r. ustice JE SB) . took occasion to say that there 'were circttmstneasZnQconnectedt *ith this case which he felt it his duty te observe spon ftem. the Bendi. When the trial was ealled on, ro professierial nerson appeared to have been egnaged to conduct the prosecution ;'a petition was fandelup to lirn from the widow of the deceased man, imploringthe Court that such aid mightbegiven, so that justice miglt- be dore., and satistactoti mnade, for what she called the murder of. her husband. lie (the Judge) thought it kis luty to conldly with the prayer of that petition, and to order that a lawyer shouldl be retained. 'e could not but say that hb was 'orry that sotnerpersons in the oDunty did not feel it to have been their duty to take some mencasures to investigate into tl1e afair, and to col- lect aU the inforrnatton onboth sides that could be got at. Tbe charge refcrred by. those pzoor people was of a grievous nature; and circumsltances hadbeen stated' which, if oroved on 'the trial, might materially alter the nattireof thecase. Iwas assertee by the family of the d&ceased, that be-easue -by his deatlh in c6nscquence of a blow with a heavy instrument given by the prisoher; that fact wns stated in the information; but it dig not appear on the trlal whlat-that in. strunment was, or whether there was. any weapon atall. He did not throw' out, or mean to throw out, axty charge against the prisoner- he was acqnitted by thejury; and from the evidence, prorerly so ac. quitted. Hls animadyesi&ions were applied to another quarter. lt appeared, that after the death of the deceased, no pains whatever were taken to investigate the transaction-no inquest-was held on the body-no pecuniaryscsistance w.as tensdered to his famnily to enable themn to carry on the prosectsion--no pains whatever were taken to procureevidnce,-or'to see that thie medlcal personwho, it Wwgstaid, had exam ined thte wound, would be forthscomng at the trial. Such conduct-was not creditable to the adininislration of justice; and he had only to say, that if a blot rested on the administration of justice, the Bench on which he sat was at least free from blame. Mr. A'LAUOGHLEN (counsel for the prisoner) bete observed, that Mr. Brew, a neighbounng magistrate, when he heard of tllc de- ceased's death, sentword to the father to know whether he would vish to have an inquest held on the body, and that the answer was, le would not. Mir. JuzdceJEB observed,that the learned Counsel knewas well as be did that it was the bounden duty of-magistratea atid of coroners to see that inquests be held on all p3rsons who had not come bY their deathslby natural means. Mlr. M LAuoGHLEX oblerved, that this was not the case of sud- den deasth. The COURtT.-No, but it is a case where death proceeded from alleged violence. Infornnations as to the fact were sworn-a strorg grouansturely why a Coroner's inquest should be held. It was clearly the duty of a Coroner, in all cases of the description he had n$ated, to hold inquests. It was the duty of the Coroner to hold an inquest even though against the wishes of the relatives of the de-- CeaGed. He regetted so say that there was not an assize in the oantry at vwhich it did not appear that deaths among the lower classewof the people were auffered to pass unnoticed-without- any Coroner's inquestbfng held, or any inquiry whatever taking place. Tereaee O'LAuhlin, a strolling beggar, was indicted for thic wil- ful mnurder of-`trs. 3Elen 6tackoole, the late wife of a gentleman In this county, by having, by theats and violence, frightened her to death,-on the 25th day of March last. MIr. 'WoULFE, for the prosecstion. said, that before he went into the evidence, he was induced to trouble the Court with a rew observations, because-the case Wat one of a very novel nature. Airs. Ellen Stackpoole, the decease lady, was a person of delicate frame end of-very nervGus ections-sho was particularly apprehensiveof fever-:and be w2slntrs ed to say that the prisoter at the bar, know. ing her apprehensive and fearful disposition, took advantage of the absenceof MIr. Stackppole, her husband, and suddenly and violently rushed into her presence demanding mLney. Mrs. Stackpoole became inatamly alsnned she attempted to run up stairs, the prisoner -ursued her; she then ran eut of her house, the prisoner followed ber, sei2ed her by the hand, and said that he had not the fever himself, but that the rags he had urn him belonged to a man who died of the fever and he the prisoneT) got them out of the hoiuse in which that person had died. The singu]lar and disorderly appearance of the prisoner, the violence of his conduct, andl the nature of his remarks, might have affected a woman of a much stronger frame of mind than that of the deceased. Upon her, unfortunately, it had the most fatal effect: she imnmediately took to her bed, and in 12 hours after she was a corpse. The learned gentlematn concluded by saying, that he would not press the murder, but he tiouglht it a clear case of mansiaughter. Illary D'Arcy-Knows the priconer, saw him on the o5th of March last at the house of her master, AMr. MatthiasfStackpoole; witness knew the deceased, when the prisoner entered the house theremwfno other person there but witness and the deceased; witoems paw the prisoner attemplto lay hold oflher; witness interfered, but the prisoner put her away: the deceased went three or four steps out of t3e kitChen; she then ran into a field; the prisoner followed her, lIid hold of her, and demanded money. A nian at the time hap- pened to be passing, tile deceased called for his assistance:; the de. ceased was terrified; she attempted, in her terror, to run through a -wall ; the pnriioner called to her, and said that he had not thie fever but that the rags he had on be got at a house where the fever hau been. Milrs. Sta4udpoole was greatly alarmed. Witness knows that it was well and getnerally uiderstood in the nTeighbourhood that Mrs. Staekpoolc wag particularly fearful of the fever. When the man came to the asestance of the deceased, the prisoner went away. Thedeeased said to witness, that site felt her heart breaking within her-that life was about to drop from her; she sat down trembling by the fire; she took to her bed, and diedl the same night; before that time she wvas not ill, she was about the house as usual. The next witness was a woman who had nursed the deceased.- S9t said she left Airs. Stackpoole the morning of the 25th of March last ct her own house: when she left lier she was safe and sound: in tie evening ehe was sent for, and the deteased told witness how ahe was flizhtened bv the prisoner ; slie said that he was the cause of her death. She aidded, that she was aware she was dying: in the middle of. the night she became very agitated and oppressedd; slhe said her death Was8 approaching; she died about three o cock in the morning of the 2fith. Shiortly before her death she said to wit. ness that thr1 prisoner had broken her heart: Mry. Stackpoole was of .a delicate frarat and mind; ghe was particularly apprehensive of fever; that was krown to every Verson about the country in her neirhbourhood. Titomas Cross was passing the house of the husband of the de. ceased on the 25th of Mtarch last ; the deteased was in a field oppo- site the house; she called for his assistance; slie attempted to run through a wall; when witness came up, the prisoner walked smartly alere the c-ae closed for the Crown. The priaoner being called ont for his defence, g4l;ressed the Court in the Irish language, and in a manner the moat 'nhcment declared that he never intended to in- jure the lady, and that F.s inerely asked for charity. Thte Jury retunmed a verdict of GOuilty. The prisoner appeared to he a man of about fifty years of age; his body ivas but itmperfectlv covered with wretched rags ; hNi coun- tenance bad a degree of wild expression; his who!e appearance was ext'remel grotesque. The velhement manlier of his adidress; the forecofhis lan1guage: the impressive -appropriate action of his hands, and the varied tones of a strong, deep, atid mellow voice, gave a very favoutrable spedmen of rustic eloquenem migm .4sm-1mg.; .CLARb. f II JjD-. It.'