The Sun. — 1846-08-20 (London, England)

THAMES. THE USE OF TIVZ KNIFE. -- MURDEROUS ASSA UI T. on Tuesday, a well-dressed young Irishwoman, named Margaret Hayes, was brought before Mr. Broderip, charged wi,h feloniously cutting and wounding William Thomas Ball, her paramour, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm. The prosecutor, whose nose was slit, is an omuibu driver, and he had been cohabiting with the prisoner for the last four months. They lived at No. 19, Gill-street, Linaehouse, where, it appeared, very frequent quarrels had taken place between them, arising from the jealousy o the woman. On the 10th instant she stabbed him in the arm with a fork. She was given into custody for the outrage, but her paramour did not appear against hers On Monday night several friends visited the parties, and the prisoner became jealous of a female, one of her visitors. After Balls bad parted with them at the door, the prisoner commenced abusing him, and said, " she saw his doings," which consisted of nothing more than a friendly parting with his guests. The jealousy of the woman was, however, aroused, and after Balls had undressed himself and was about to get into bed, she threw a candlestick at him, and cut open his head; and before he had time to recover himself, she attacked him with a knife in her hand, and cut his nose and mouth. The blcod flowed very copiously from the wounds, and the prosecutor exclaimed, " For God's sake, don't kill me, what have I done ?" and called for a policeman. The prisoner begged of him not to give her in charge, and said that what she had done was in the height of passion. The man, however, had been so often annot ed and assaulted by her, that he gave her into custody of policeman 91 K, who found the man all over blood. The prisoner concealed herself in a water-closet, where she was discovered by the constable, who dragged her from her hiding place. Ott her way to the station-house she stated that she was eating her supper and her husband (Balls) pulled her off her chair and struck her several times with his fist; that he fell upon her, and that she, having a knife in her hands, cut him by accident. She made a similar statement in her defence before the magistrate, and added that he had threatened to be revenged on her on Monday night. The whole of her statement was denied, and the evidence clearly made out that she was a passionate woman, and deliberately threw the candlestick at the man and wounded him with a knife. Mr. BRODERIP committed the prisoner for trial for cutting and wounding Balls, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm. The worthy magistrate then expressed himself to the following effect :—Not a week elapses without cases of this description being brought before me, and it is lamentable to observe the frequency of resort to the knife in quarrels even of a most trivial nature—a practice which was formerly termed un-English ; but that epithet will, I fear, be inapplicable if these mutderous acts are not speedily put down. I am glad to see that the Learned Recorder of London has expressed his intention of visiting with severe punishment every case of stabbing or cutting made out ag inst any delinquent." The prisoner was then sent to Newzate.