The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1883-02-10 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

REMARKABLE CASE.  At the Chester assizes, on Monday, before Mr, Justice Brett, Jos3ph Teece, 38, general dealer, was, indicted for feloniously wounding Jane Wainwright with intent to murder her, at Birkenhead, on Deoember 9 last,  Mr. Clement Higgins and Mr. Edwards prosecuted ; Mr. Marshall defended the prisoner.  This was a remarkable case, from the fact that the prosecutrix had recovered sufficiently from the terrible wound inflicted upon her by the prisoner to enable her to appear, although she had now a bullet embedded in the interior of the skull, which had undoubtedly, in the opinion of the medical men, passed through a portion of the brain.  The prisoner was a milk dealer in the town of Birkenhead and the prosecutrix had been in his servioe for some five or six years. On December 8 the prisoner, who was just getting over a heavy drinking bout, went to a chemist's and got a prescription consisting of chloroform, tincture of opium, and tincture of aconite, which he said he required for a swollen knee. On the following morning he was found by a neighbour suffering from a pistol bullet wound in his forehead, and, upon search being made in the house, the girl Jane Wainwright was discovered stretched on her bed with a bullet wound in her head, through which the brain was oozing. The prisoner was taken to the hospital, and on the way there he said, "I have shot myself and taken poison and I shall be dead in twenty minutes;" and he added "I have shot poor Janey ' (meaning the prosecutrix), "and I do not know how many more I have not shot." In his pocket was found a letter addressed to his wife, in which he made some unfounded accusations against his partner, and said that he was in dread of being poisoned b3i his servant. It was shown that he had suffered from delusions of a similar nature brefore. At the hospital the stomach pump was applied at his request, an emetic was administered to him, and his wounds were attended to. The girl was also taken charge of. According to the evidence of the doctor, the wound penetrated the skull to the depth of 4kin., and the bullet was still in the bones of the skull. The pistol was discovered by the police in the coal cellar, with one barrel loaded, two empty, and three with discharged cartridges in them. For the defence Mr. Marshall cross•examined the different witnesses with a view to showing that the prisoner was of unsound mind, and it was clear that he had suffered from delusions brought on by excessive drinking. - -  Dr. M'Ewen, temporary surgeon to Chester Prison, stated that, in his opinion, the prisoner was suffering I from incipient softening of the brain. Lord Justice Brett pointed out to the jury that, before they could find the prisoner not guilty on the ground of insanity, they must be satisfied by the de. fence that he was so far of unsound mind as not to know he was shooting at the girl, or that he did not know that it was wrong to do so; but if, on account of fake delusions brought on by his own misconduct, he shot at her, then he would be responsinle for his acts. He left it to them to say whether or not the prisoner had by his drunken habits rendered himself incapable of having either of the intentions with which he was charged, or whether he As of such unsound mind as to be not guilty on the ground of insanity. The jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding, and he was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour.