The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1896-03-11 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

SAVAGE ASSAULT IN FIELD-STREET.  MATLVO A WOMAN'S MIN. Mary Kenny, Field-street, was brolht up in oustody on remand, before Messrs. H. . Grayson and T. L. Dodds, at the Borough Police wounded Court, yeeeseday, on a chair of having feloniously and sweanlbod Catherine O'Brien, 34, Fiald-atreet. Docker Barrow, junior house surgeon at the Bo.ough Hospital, deposed that the prosecutrix was brought to the hospital on Monday. He found her suffering from wounds on the lower lip which were very much swollen. On examining the inside of the mouth= found that the lip and chin had been torn sway from the lower jaw. She told him that it had been done by a bite and this in his estimation would very likely have caused such wounds. The lower lip and the el= had been torn from the lower jaw leaving a space of between an inch and two inches bare. The wound was not dangerous in itself except that it might hare interfered with her future powers of speech, but all danger from that source was now past. She was sober when brought to the hospital. Prisoner: Hes face was disfigured from the night before. They. murdered me, bother her and her husband. It I. all spite. Catherine O'Brien, the prosecute-ix, stated that the was in her kitchen on the day in question, and prisoner had come over to see the woman who lived in the parlour of the house. Witness went down to the parlour to oak the lodger for the rent, when the prisoner made an Insulting remark, and accused witness of having put her baby down the stairs. Prisoner (excitedly): The child can't walk. Witness, continuing, said that she asked the prisoner to go away and not cause a disturbance, and to this she replied by dragging the skirt of witness's back and pulling her into the middle of the road. She then got hold of witness by the hair, held her head bask and sank her teeth into witness's lip, saying, "If I cannot beat you, I will eat you." A woman named Rose Tucker pulled the prisoner off, and witness, whose mouth was bleeding, was taken to the Borough Hospital. Prison= here made a rambling statement to the effect that Mrs. O'Brien had accused them of having stolen Is. 9d. from her and that they had all been sitting together in O'Brien's house drinking beer. Mary Churchill, 36, Field-street, spoke to having witnessed the assault from the window of her residence.  Prißoner: God forgive you. Asked if she had any queetiotut to ask, the witness priooner replied "Go on,f don't care if you hang me, you are all !size swearers." . _  Rose Tucker, also a Field-street resident, deposed that she heard O'Brien tell the prisoner to go away from her door and not be creating a disturbance. She also saw the prisoner get hold of O'Brien, pull the skirt from her and then bite her lip. Witness separated them. Ma. Copeland inquired from Tucker if the prisoner said anything when assaulting O'Brien, and Tucker answered "She could not say anything when she was down on top of her eating the chin off her." Catherine Churchill and Joseph Emmett also deposed to having witnessed the assault the latter adding that when Mrs. Tucker interfered, prisoner picked up a 'brick and threatened to do the same to Tucker. P.C. 39 (Griffith.) proved the arrest of the prisoner, who when charged with having wounded O'Brien said, "She assaulted me and I assaulted her." She had one or two scratches on her face. She had bad a lot of drink.  Prisoner was understood to say that O'Brien had received the wounds from her husband on Sunday night. It "was all spite because she had given O'Brien and her husband prison a few months ago. Mr. O'Brien meant to do away with her." Prisoner then turned to the witnesses who were sitting in court and addressing the woman Tucker shouted, " Your character is well known here, you need not be making feces at me. It took all the force to take you here, Rosie Tucker." Mr. Grayson said the magistrates could not help taking • very serious view of the ease. Prisoner would have to undergo two months' imprisonment with hard labour.