The Warrington Examiner. — 1872-08-17 (Warrington, Cheshire, England)

SENTENCE OF F  'ON  KICKING CASE. YEARS' PENAL  SERVITUDE. At the Liverpool•assizes on Wednesday, before Mr. Justice Willes, two brothers, named John Loftus (29), and James Loftus (30), labourers, were indicted for the wilful murder of Owen Kelly, at Warrington, on the 15th April last. Mr. Addison prosecuted, and the prisoners were defended by Mr. Hawthorne. A third man, nnned Thomas Currie, was also sent for trial on the capital charge, but he committed suicide by hinging himself in his cell in Kirkdale gaol, on the 27th ultimo. From the case for the prosecution it appeared that the deceased, who was an Irishman, worked as a labourer in Warrington. The prisoners, who were also Irishmen, were acquaintances of his, and one of them (James Loftus) was said to have some grudge against the deceased. On the afternoon of the 15th April last, between three and four o'clock, the deceased was sitting on the edge of the pavement in Buttermarket-street, Warrington, when the prisoners and the man Curiie came up and began attacking him with their fists. He stood up to defend himself, and the three men still continued the attack. The street was undergoing repairs at the time, and the roadway was therefore two or three feet below the parapet. The deceased, who was standing in the roadway, endeavoured to get on to the parapet upon which the prisoners were standing, when John Loftus, who was wearing heavy clogs, gave him a severe kick in the stomach. James Loftus then struck the deceased with his fists, and John immediately afterwards gave the unfortunate man another kick with his clog in the throat. Currie was about to use further violence to the deceased, but a man who was passing interfered, and the deceased then said —" You are too late, I am done for." The deceased staggered up a passage, where he was found shortly afterwards in an insensible state. He was taken to the workhouse hospital, and on examination by a doctor it was found that the kick in the throat had ruptured the cartilage of the neck, and that the stomach was also much injured. The deceased died on the 17th of April. It was stated that at the time of the occurrence all the parties were under the influence of drink. When arrested, James Loftus said that the deceased "had it in for him" for a long time and the deceased in his depositions said that James Loftus had a grudge against him. At first the prisoners were charged with inflicting grevious bodily harm, and when informed that the deceased was dying, the prisoner John Loftus said —" Let him die, Many a better man dies." He subsequently said to the police sergeant,—" If he is not dead, let me out, and I will kill him." After hearing the evidence for the prosecution, his Lordship said he did not think that a conviction for murder could satisfactorily take place, and therefore it would be better to try the case as one of manslaughter. This course was agreed upon.—Mr. Hawthorne, in addressing the jury, stated that the deceased was the first to interfere with the prisoner; and while he (Mr. Hawthorne) could not resist a verdict of manslaughter against John Loftus, he submitted that the other prisoner had not used any violence to the deceased.—No witnesses were called for the defence.—His Lordship, in summing up, said that what led him to be of opinion that a conviction for murder could not satisfactorily take place was the fact that the attack was a sudden one, and that there was an absence of evidence showing that the prisoners either lay in wait for the deceased or had any premeditated notion of injuring him.—John Loftus was convicted of manslaughter, and James Loftus was acquitted.—His Lordship, in passing sentence, said he did not remember so many cases of kicking in this district before as there were at the present assizes, and he was afraid that unless the practice was put down it would bring some people to the gallows.—He then sentenced the prisoner to five years' penal servitude.