The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-08-09 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE COUNTY ADVERTISER.  THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, ISA  THE opinion which we ventured to express in our columns at the time of the magisterial investigation that the Grand Jury would have no alternative but to throw out the bill against Haylings who stood indicted on his own confession with the wilful murder of the man Mathison, has been fully borne out by subsequent events, for last week the Grand Jury, acting upon the suggestion which Mr Justice Wills embodied in his charge, ignored the bill against flaylings who was subsequently discharged. Though the local chief of the Aston Police instituted and conducted exhaustive investigations into the circumstances attending the death of Mathison, no evidence was adduced substantiating the "confession" of the foolish fellow Haylings. Under the circumstances it seems rather peculiar that the Aston magistrates should have committed the self-accused man for trial. Whatever may have been their ideas concerning the conclusiveness or inconclusiveness of the evidence in support of the prosecution there can be no doubt that the act they took in the matter was decided by a desire not to assume the responsibility of discharging a man accused of; a capital crime. Hayling's committal, however, is not a matter for any complaint for it has not resulted in a miscarriage of justice, though it (lid necessitate the confessor being kept in gaol for a few days longer than he would have been had he been discharged by the magistrates. Considering the trouble and expense which his statement entailed, the fact that he spent a short period in Willson Green gaol is not to be regretted, for the punishment he was thus subjected to would teach him that there was a cettain amount of inconvenience, if not risk, associated with the avowal of incriminating statements, even though they be false. There can be no doubt that the case for the prosecution as stated on the depositions was very weak and did not in itself actually warrant the Bench in committing Haylings for trial ; but there were lateral issues which did perhaps justify the committal. Mr Justice Wills in his charge to the Grand Jury rebuked the Aston magistrates for sending the case to the Assizes and in oin opinion used undeserved language in regard to the inquiries made by the local police in support of the case for the prosecution. Knowing what we do and having sonic knowledge of the extent of the investigations which Superintendent Walker caused to be made, we have no hesitation in saying that the mnstire his Lordship, in his judicial capacity., passed upon the lecal branch of the Warwickshire Constabulary wits unmerited. " The scores of things" his Lordship spoke of were thought of and the necessary inquiries were made, but as the result were of purely a negative character they conld not be recorded on the deposit ions. The reasons why the tin 'items depositions were not produced, and the girl whom I laylings stated he wished into the reservior not summoned 'l'4 a t ness, were .satisfactorily explained by 3lr Walker to the Aston Bench, but tietse plaimtiotis tqadll it he stated oil the 411'111/Sit it