The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1893-10-07 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

ASSAULT BY A FATHER.  „A PERFECT BRUTE.”  At the Borough iroli-oTiifoari.-o-n-TliTtireday, before Medan. Joseph Craven and Alderman Evans, • night'oilman, by name Martin Rafferty, who lives at 5, Tunnel-road, appeared in answer to a summons issued at the instance of the Birkenhead Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, for having assaulted his daughter, Catherine Rafferty, between eight and nine years of age. Mr. A. F. Moore appeared for the Society. From his statement, corroborated by the evidence of the little girl, her two aunts and • arandmother living in the neighbourhood, it appears that on the sth September the child came home from school at mid-day, at the usual time. The father, who had just awakened from • drunken sleep, asked her to light the lire, which she did. Then, for some unknown reason, he took her into another room looked the door and fastened the windows, and thrashed the little one in • most brutal and unmerciful manner with • big leather belt that he usually wore round his waist, and what made the action still more outrageous he used the bookie end, the belt thas becoming an almost murderous weapon. The little child's abeek was cull open, her thighs were severely injured and bled freely, and she was bruised all over her body. Her aunt, later on, when the girl managed to get out of the room through the window, counted no lees than fourteen distinct wounds on the child's body. The little 008 was taken off at once to the Borough Hospital, where Dr. Pollard, the junior surgeon, attended to the injuries. The doctor deposed that the child certainly bad been most excessively beaten, and the wounds could not have been caused by the plain end of a belt as the defendant alleged wee the case. Mrs. Winifred Murphy, of Eldon-street, one of the aunts, deposed that she went in to the father after the 141811611 and found him lying on the bed. She asked him what he meant by ill-using the child, and he retorted that he would give her the same if she did not clear out. Defendant (interrupting) : She started heaving pots at me when she came into the house. The witness continued that the poor little girl's body "was more like • spotted leopard, it was covered with bruises." Mr. Charles Stott, the Birkenhead Relieving Officer, stated that about three weeks ago he found the defendants three little children totally destitute in a bare room of a house in Oak-street. He took them to the Union Schools, and on inquiry found toe defendant, who was a widower, at the Chester Workhouse. He induced the man to come back and take his children away. It appears that it was in consequent* of this assault that the defendant decamped, for he was summoned at the time but could not be found. As soon as he returned a fresh summons was taken out. This explained the apparent delay in the proceedings. When asked had he anything to say, the defendant, who had kept silent during the prosecution with the exception of his charge against one of the witnesses, said he had a lad two years older than the girl, and the two children were continually taking money out of his pockets at the week and. Last week they took about ss. Bd. He had given the girl threepence to get something, and she had either spent it or given it away, and that was the reason he beat her. He denied using the buckle end of the belt, and said he did not intend to injure the child. Mr. Craven (addressing the defendant) : You are • perfect brute to beat a motherless child like that. You must go to gaol for two months with hard labour.  Defendant: What are my children to do? /dr. Craven: You should have thought of that before you thrashed the child and not now. They'll ,be better taken care of now. _ . .