The Sun. — 1860-10-11 (London, England)

THE ATTEMPTED MURDER A 7 LEEDS.  Yesterday, at the Leeds Town Hall, John Kenworthy was charged with the determined and murderous attack upon Mr. Stephen Lupton, grocer and provision dealer, Armley Hall, of which we have already furnished some particulars. The first witness called was Mrs. Horner, a widow residing in the adjoining house to that occupied by Mr. Lupton, in Holdforth, New Wortley. She deposed to responding to Mr. Lupton's calls for assistance, and stated that she saw the prisoner leave the house. She found the hatchet with which the wounds had evidently been inflicted, and noticed that in Mr. Lupton's bedroom the drawers and clothes had all been disturbed. Mrs. Horner's evidence was corroborated by several witnesses ; and a girl named Shaw stated that she saw the prisoner near his mother's house soon after the perpetration of the outrage. He was very pale, and seemed agitated, and turned his head repeatedly. Upon the left knee of his trousers there was a great spot of blood. Police Constable Scott, who apprehended the prisoner, and afterwards secured the clothes worn by him early in the morning, stated that he found on the trousers a mark of blood.—George Gibbons said : I live with the prisoner's mother, who is my stepmother. About a quarter to six o'clock on Monday morning the prisoner came in, and went up stairs to his mother's room. Kenworthy shortly after asked me to lend him my coat. I did so. The hatchet, which is one ordinarily called a " blocker," and used for chopping up firewood, was identified by several persons as having been in the possession of the prisoner.—Mr. Daniel Baxendale, the employer of the prisoner, identified the chopper as his property, and said it had been stolen from his stable about six months ago.—Mr. William Scott, surgeon, of Holbeck, said : I found five scalp wounds on Mr. Lupton's head, a wound on the left ear, another wound on the back, over the fifth and sixth dorsal vertebras, another on the left wrist, and a superficial wound on the nose. There were also many scratches on the face. The wound on the crown of the head was a compound fracture, was nearly three inches in length, cut down to the bone, and was the same transversely. All the other wounds on the scalp also exppsed the bone more or less. The wound on the wrist was a superficial wound about an inch in length. The wound on the nose appeared to have been occasioned by a bite. The wounds on the head must have been inflicted by a blunt-edged instrument, similar to the hatchet produced, and the other wounds (that on the nose excepted) appear to have been inflicted with a sharp instrument like a knife. When I examined the hatchet in Mr. Lupton's house, I saw that the blade was bloody, and that there was some hair attached to it which was of the same colour as Mr. Lupton's hair. —Jane Blanchard, who assists in cleaning the offices at the Leeds Town Hall, deposed that when the prisoner was brought in he was placed within the iron fencing until the charge was entered, and when she afterward went to sweep that part of the room she found on the floor an ordinary pocket knife. The blade, which was open, was marked with blood, and was nearly bent in two. The case was further adjourned until this day (Thursday) week. Mr. Lupton still remains in a very critical position.