Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1893-01-21 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

SHOCKING CRUELTY TO A CHILD. Elizabeth Smith, living in Lower Grove-road, Wandsworth, was charged at the South-Western Police-court, on Monday, before Mr. Denman, with cruelly ill-treating Agnes Minnie Everett, aged ten years.—lnspector Northover stated that on Saturday night prisoner was brought to the station on the charge ot assaulting the child. The divisional surgeon was sent for, and examined the child, and as a recilt of the examination the prisoner was detained and charged. Prisoner said, "I never hurt the child. The child did it itself, falling about."—Mr. Denman: What relation is the prisoner to the child ?—lnspector: She is housekeeper to the father of the child and has control over the child.—Dr.Mahon stated that he examined the child. Her limbs were almost covered with bruises, discoloured and swollen. The shoulders and back and one side of the face were especially ,J:1( ly bruised. The left eye was inflamed and could not stand the light.—Mr. Denman: What was that due to ?—Witness: I should say to a blow.—There was a large open wound on the back of the head, which she said was an ulcerated chilblain. That might have been the case. The shins were bruised. She accounted for the mark on the side of the face by saying she had been shoved against a door. She could not move her arm owing to the bruises on the shoulder. Her thighs were bruised, and had evidently been beaten. She was fairly well-nourished, well-clothed, and clean.— Mr. Bird (chief clerk): Could the marks on the forehead have been caused by falling down ? Witness: I don't think so. They must have been caused by blows.—Etnina Boatright, who lodged in the same house as prisoner, gave evidence as to the latter's cruelty to the child. She had seen the child dragged by the prisoner round the scullery by the hair, and she had also been shut up with arms tied for four hours in a cold room. The prisoner's excuse was that she was determined to alter the child's nature and to cure it of untruthfulness.— Mr. Denne : Have you ever seen her beat the child except when it has been doing wrong ?—Witness: No, sir. On Friday morning the child did not break her fast from 2 o'clock in the afternoon till Saturday morning. ‘Viien the prisoner was remonstrated with she replied, "If I swing for the child I don't care."—Ernest Hill, 2, Lower-grove, also gave evidence as to the prisoner's cruelty to the chill—The mother of the last witness stated that she heard the prisoner say once, "I know I'll murder the child." The child was an untruthful one.—Edwin Everett, father of the child, said the prisoner had been his housekeeper for 12 months, and had control of the child. He knew nothing about the ill-treatment of the child,who was always kept clean. He was a journeyman butcher, and used only to see the child in bed when he came home at nights. He had noticed the bruises on the face, which he attributed to falls.—Police-constable 36 V deposed to arresting the prisoner, who said, in answer to the charge, "What, do you mean to blame me for it ? The child has done it herself." —Mr. Denman remanded the prisoner till the child I should be in a fit state to give evidence. ~cats  At the Tunbridge Wells Petty Sessions on Monday the Mayor, Mr. Alderman Pink, was presented by the magistrates' clerk with a pair of white gloves. ' there being no cases for trial. There has not been an opportunity of observing the custom since the town was incorporated, four years ago. His Worship congratulated the chief constable and the town on this satisfactory evidence of good government. At the Winsford Petty Sessions, on Monday,there were no cases for hearing, and the chairman, Captain Turner, was presented with white gloves. lie said that a similar thing had never occurred in that district before. They had frequently had as many as 180 cases, and the present condition was he more remarkable seeing that the Court would have dealt with any Christmas cases of drunkenness.