The Kenilworth Advertiser. — 1881-05-21 (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England)

THE KENILWORTH ADVERTISER.  sonar would have felt any inconvenience in having to obtain the £lO, ne commented on the fad that if prisoner had dssigned the attempt he had done exactly what any other man would not have done, and forged the missing links in the chain of evidonee himself. He endeavoured to throw a doubt on the evidence of the prosecutrix, who, after being whirled oft the bridge and lying on the cold ground all night, could not be expeeted to remember distinctly what happehed. Mr. Hugo Young concluded at 1.24 p.m., having spoken for 40 minutes.  -.Justice Lopes then exhaustively summed up the whole of the evidence, pointing out that there were two charges on which the prisoner could be found guilty or not, namely, of attempted murder, and of intent to do her grievous bodily harm. He dwelt upon the fact of the prisoner placing the girl upon the bridge as a most unusual thing, and said that in the purpose for which this was done lay tbe whole question. He commented upon the clearness of the proseoutrix's evidence, so much depended upon which that he adopted the somewhat unusual course of reading it verbatim to the jury. It had been suggested that such an alternative as the murder of the girl was an absurd one for snob an inadequate reason as a difficulty in finding £10; but those persons who passed much of their time in such Courts knew that such alternatives were very often resorted to for very inadequate reasons. The Judge then drew the attention of the jury to the many and contradictory statements of the prisoner, and then reviewed the arguments advanced by the counsel for the defence as a justification of prisoner's conduct after the fall. The question on which they must use their own judgment was whether after such an occurrence a man would  calmly sit down and contemplate the consequences that might arise from such circumstances. Prisoner had told falsehoods concerning it for a very considerable time, but at length admitted that he was with her at the time. After alluding to the fact that the medical man had stated that the prosecutrix had perfectly recovered the mental shock of the acccident, he at 1.55 p.m. dismissed the jury to consider their verdict. Recalling them however, he said: It has been stated by several witnesses and I ought to have said that the prisoner was an inoffensive man in general. Of coarse we Know that sometimes where people have hitherto been qniet and inoffensive they have committed terrible deeds of violence. That is however a matter for your consideration.  At 1.59 p.m the jury decided upon their verdict. The Clerk of Arraigns asked the foreman if the jury had agreed upon their verdict.  The Foreman: Yea. The Clerk: Do you find him guilty or not guilty?  The Foreman: The Clerk: Of what? The Forman: Of the attempt to murder. The prisoner here drew a deep breath, but said nothing. The Clerk asked the prisoner if he had anything to say why judgment should not be passed upon The prisoner shook his head.  The Judge said: Oliver Ashbourne, you have been found guilty of an attempt to murder this woman after a most anxious and patient hearing, and a most ingenious speech from the counsel for the defence. I feel it my duty to say that I entirely concur in the verdict the jury have found. I could not think they could well come to any other conclusion. You may think yourself most fortunate that the poor girl did not die, as in that case you would have been tried for life and no doubt I should have sentenced you to be hung. I feel it my duty to pass a most severe sentence upon you. The sentence of the Court is that you be kept to penal servitude for twenty years. The prisoner, on receiving the sentence reeled and staggered, but was quickly removed.