Weekly News. — 1892-07-28 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

STABBING AFFRAY AT POOLE.  Shortly before midnight on Saturday, the neighbourhood of Bell Street Lane was disturbed by loud screams of 'murder." A party of men who were near the spot went at once to the house from which the sounds came, and asked what was the matter. They waited for about a minute, when a man named Calver is stated to have rushed out of the doorway with a knife in his hand and stabbed a man named Bartlett in the back. The man then went back again into the house and shut the dom.. Bartlett was at once attended to and taken to the surgery of Dr. Robinson, when it was found that Bartlett had been stabbed in the middle of the back to the depth of two or three inches. The wound was dressed, and the injured man was taken to the Hospital, where he is lying at the present time. It seems that the knife penetrated the man's back the whole length of the blade, and must have been done by a tremendous force, and it is evident that Culver intended to inflict grevious bodily injury on Bartlett. The injured man is, however, progressing favourably. At the Poole Police Court on Monday, before Mr. W. H. Ballard and Mr. C. Hill, Walter Culver, of Miatley, Essex (29). a sailor on board the Queen of Mistley, now in port at Poole, was brought up in custody charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm upon Robert Bartlett, of Poole, by stabbing him in the back with a pocket knife on the 23rd inst.—Mr. W. H. Curtis, who appeared for the prosecution, said that prisoner was a sailor on board the Queen of Mtstley, now in port. On the night of the 23rd it appears that he was in the house of a woman named Mary Butcher, About 12 o'clock, shouts of " murder" were heard to come from the house, and several men who were near at the time went to the door, and asked what the noise was about. Prisoner then came out of the house and struck one of the persons outside with a knife, inflicting a very serious wound, and he was afraid grievous bodily harm to a man named Bartlett. He was going to call sufficient evidence to justify a remand. Defendant was in the hospital, and would not be able to give evidence for a week. Joseph Stickland said he lived at Waterloo, near Poole. On Saturday night he was in company with other men in Bell Lane, when he heard screams, and a woman shouting" murder." He went to the house and knocked at the door with his stick, and asked what was up. He did not receive any reply, and he then shook the door, when Mary Butcher asked what he wanted. Witness told them he wanted to know what they were up to. About a minute afterwards, the prisoner rushed out of the doorway and knocked Bartlett, who, in the meantime, had come up to him, in the back. He did not see any knife in the prisoner's hand. When Bartlett was struck by the prisoner, he called out, " I am stabbed." After prisoner had struck Bartlett he went in again and shut the door. He did not appear to have been in drink at the time. Witness then sent for the police. Dr. W. T. G. Robinson said on Sunday morning, early, about half-past twelve, Bartlett was brought to his surgery by P.C. Dyer. He examined him, and after taking off his clothes found that the back of his shirt was saturated with blood. On removing the shirt, he found a punctured wound, between two and three inches in depth, in the middle of Bartlett's back, about an inch from the spine on the right side. He cleaned and dressed the wound, and then sent the man to the hospital. The wound had only been done recently when he saw the man, and it was bleeding. He had seen the man again that morning, but he would be unable to give evidence for another week at least if he went on as favourably as at the present time.  Mr. Curtis said he did not intend to call any further evidence, and the magistrates having remarked that it was a very serious case, remanded prisoner till Tuesday week.