The Sun. — 1864-12-19 (London, England)

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—LEEns, Dec. 17. (Before Mr Justice Keating.) ' George Atkinson were indicted for feloniously wounding his wife, with intent to murder her, at Wakefield, on the 14th of October, 1864. The indictment contained two other counts.  Mr Shaw and Mr Skidmore conducted the prosecution ; ;he prisonet was undefended.  The material facts are contained in the summing up of the evidence to the jury by the learned judge, who said as follows :—" It is necessary, fur the prisoner to be guilty of the principal offence, that ho intended to deprive his wit, of life, and that if he had so deprived her it would have been murder. If you should be of opinion that he intended to do her grievous bodily burnt without inter ding to take life you can find him guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm ; but if you should think that he had neither of those intents, you can find him guilty of unlawful wounding. There is no doubt from the evidence that he unlau fully wounded her, and therefore you can hardly acquit him. It appears that the prisoner and prosecutrix have been married for some years, From the questions put to the prosecutrix by the prisoner, the state they lived in was most lamentable—whether provoked from her lightness of conduct or some other cause, he did what he ought not to have done—he beat her, She avenged this illusage by con;. mating adultery with a man named Young—but it is not for you to judge of that immoral act, for, although the woman has misconducted herself most grievously, she is not amenable to the law of the land for that offenc, but is answerable at a much higher tribunal. Whatever provocation she may have given him, he was not authorised to use any violence to her. She appeared to have left him not by their mutual consent, and to have gone and lived with Young. He was anxious for her to return ; she refused to do so. On the 14th of October he went to a publiohouse in East Moor, and sent Eliza Carter to Young's house with a message to his wife to tell her that be wanted to speak to her, bat that she was not to give it if Young was in. The jealousy of the prisoner, the fact that he went armed, and that he went for the purpose of pressing his wife to return. are facts that tell most against him ; but if, from your thperyiso requiren a razor, why that fact is got rid prisoner, knowledge of the usages of the class of persons in the same io You knew that in the course of otphfoes;iirtbunt if s n a businessthoet, you must bear in mind that he had a razor, and went with it in his Pockeb. to see his wife, and went with the ofthe Pressing her to return home. While Eliza messageesssge the prisoner came-into Young'sC a r house,ter was giving him there. He asked his wife to go home with him at once, She said she would go home on the following Monday. lie was desirous that she should go at once. probably the presence of Young excited a of jealousy feeling in the breast of the prisoner. The purpose and found prosecutrix then said that if he had any noise she would not go at all. The prosecutrix was then leaning against the table; the prisoner put his hand en her shoulder, and on her refusing to come home he out her throat and ran out of the house. Two witnesses concur in this, that the wound la not very deep, and that the much greater power to the blow, although he had not d,,ne so, which is a fact in favour of the prisoner. plea however, asked the policemanthe following day, when he was apprehended, whether pwraiesort,igerhht aacdrothesetlzptloorrtollyo of giving his wife was dead, and on learning she wss not, he said, "I wanted us botq to have gone together." The jury found the prisoner guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm no and recommended him to mercy on account of the great provocation he had received.  The learned Judge sentenced the prisoner to six years' penal servitude. The Court has been occupied the whole day in bearing cases the details of which are unfit for publication.