The Herald of Wales. — 1890-04-12 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

OILL.VI/  The following gentlemen answered to their lISMee MA were ISWOIIt On the grand jury : Henry Broughton, W. S. Clarke, W. Clutterbuck, Richard Device, George Davies, 'William Georget Davies, W. J. Goldsworthy, William Hawkins, D. J. Jenkins, T. Bowen Jones, William Jones, W. R. Jones, W. Launder, Samuel Lewis, Thomas Lewis, Richard Thomas, D. Thomas Winter Yen, who was reirsan foreman. Mr. Fowler, in charging the grand jury, said he had not many observations to address them on the ealersisr, which did not contain the names of many prisoners, nor did any case present any peculiar difficulty either as to law or facts. Before, however, he came to the iltlaillltte of the aosione, he wished to refer for a moment to an important charge that had just occurred, which' affected the jurisdiction of the °minty. It had been found far some years that the criminal and appeal business from the borough of Cardiff had hero gradually increasing, and it was found inconvenient to send so much business to the motions held twice • year in the borough of Swamies. That being so, the Mayor and Corporation had petitioned Her Majesty to grant to that borough a separate COILIt of quarter sessions. Her Majesty bad been advised to comply with that request, and the result was that the caeca on the calendar arising from °Seneca at Cardiff would be cancelled and tried at Cardiff. Mr. Fowler congratulated the Corporation of Csirdiff upon securing an able and well-known lawyer to preside over their court, and went on to call the attention of the jury to one or two cases' in the calendar. There was a charge against a person named Sherrat which was a peculiar case of attempting to commit suicide. That, according to the English criminal law, was a miademeanest. The facts were very ;clear. It appeared that the defendant upon a recent day bought a revolver and afterwards -vent to the Gore Ilium Hotel. He asked for a glass of brandy, and was about to take leave of the landlord's daughter, with whom he had been acquainted for some years— whether as a lover or not he (the Stipendiary could not say). She would tell the jury that he offered her his left hand. She said "Why your left hand r, and at the same moment he raised the revolver to his head. fired it, and inflicted • very serious injury. The only queetion they would have to consider would be whether the act was done intentionally Cr accidentally. He himself had stated more than once that he had no intention of injuring hirsute-4, but it appeared to him (the chairman) that the circumstances pointed in the direction of intention. There was another ease with whir& they might have some difficulty—that in which a boy under 14 was charged wish an indecent assault upon a little girl of eight years. What they would have no consider would be whether they should administer an oath to that little girl. He knew that directions had been given that the child should,be inathaoted in the nature of an oath, and if they found that she had • fair understanding they might administer it to her. If the did not understand, it would be for them to see if there was sufficient evidence without hers to _warrant • true bill being returned. The grand jury then retired, and the magia'rates proceeded to perform their administrative functions.