The Sun. — 1861-07-27 (London, England)

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—STAFFORD, JULY 25. CIVIL COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Keating.) Rachel Withenshaw, 24, potter, was charged with attempting to murder her child, Elizabeth Withenshaw, by casting it into a canal on the 15th of May, 1861, at Wolstanton. Mr. Motteram conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Cook Evans, at the request of the learned judge, watched the case for the prisoner. It appeared from the evidence of a boatman.named John Davis, that a little after six o'clock on the evening of the 15th of May last he was with his boat on the Trent and Mersey Canal. As he approached the mouth of the Harecastle. Tunnel at Tunstall, in the parish of Wolstanton, ~e saw the prisoner sitting on some steps on the bankside of the canal with a baby in her arms. She got up and went into the tunnel, but sha came back again and looked about her, and when the witness with his boat had entered the tunnel the girl had followed for some distance, and appeared to be doing something by the iron rail which separated the towingpath from the canal. When the boatman had got about 300 yards into the tunnel he looked back to the mouth of the tunnel and saw the prisoner jump into the canal. He at once gave the alarm, stopped his horse and ran to her assistance, and succeeded in getting her out while his boy secured the baby. As soon as she was taken out of the water the prisoner cried out, " Oh, my baby !" but she became insensible, and was not restored to consciousness for an hour and a half. She was taken to an inn, and when she came to herself she asked after her baby, and it was given fo her, and both of them were restored. The boy who was with the boatman said that about ten minutes after the prisoner was got out of the water he found a bonnet tied to the iron rail, and another witness said he had seen a young man loitering about with the prisoner during the afternoon, and that he had left her only a few minutes before she plunged into the water. The prisoner bad a miserable appearance, and the suggestion on the part of the prosecution was that she had been abandoned, and thrown herself and child into the water in a fit of despair. When taken into custody the policeman charged her with attempting to murder Elizabeth Withenshaw, her daughter, and after wards attempting to commit suicide by jumping into the canal. The prisoner then said two men were going into the tunnel with a boat, and one young man asked her to go with him, and she said " No.' He then asked her if that was her child, and she said it was. She then added, " As to murdering my child, I never intended to do that. I accidentally slipped into the water."  Mr. Cook Evans, for the prisoner, said there was nothing in the evidence to show that she had any motive for destroying her child, and he thought that that suggestion was negatived by the fact, that her first thought when taken out of the water and restored to consciousness was to call for her baby. He contended that the account given by the prisoner herself was the most likely one— viz., that she had accidentally slipped into the water; and he appealed to the jury not to convict the prisoner in a capital case, when her guilt was left in doubt.  Mr. Justice Keating summed up the evidence to the jury, and left it to them to say whether or not the prisoner had thrown herself and child into the water, or, as she herself had said, had slipped in. His lordship concluded by reminding the jury that they ought to discharge their duty, however painful it might be ; and that, if they were satisfied that the prisoner threw the child into the water with the intent charged, they ought to find her guilty. After considering their verdict for some time, the jury wished the policeman to be recalled and examined as to the state of the towing-path. This was done, and he said it had a coping of stones on the side next the canal, and was protected by an iron rail resting on supports at intervals. The jury thereupon found the prisoner guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy. Mr. Justice Keating said the recommendation of the jury should certainly be attended to, and deferred passing sentence till the close of the criminal business, when, after addressing the prisoner in feeling terms on the offence which she had committed, his lordship sentenced her to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. Having disposed of all the criminal business, Mr. Justice Keating proceeded this day to assist in the trial of the remaining common jury causes.