The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1887-03-26 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE RECENT CASE OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  At the Borough Police Court, on Thursday, before Mr. Preston, stipendiary magistrate, an elderly man named john gutter, residing in Barnston•street, was charged with having attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.  It will be remembered by our readers that at the time of the attempted suicide it was reported that the prisoner had been driven to commit the rash act in consequence of poverty, but upon the wife applying for relief at the fortnightly meeting of the Birkenhead Guardians, on Tuesday, it was stated that the prisoner was of intemperate habits, and that several of his children contributed towards his support, and it was decided to offer Mrs. Ratter admission to the workhouse. P.C. 37 (Connah) stated that about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th of the present month he was called to the prisoner's house, and upon going upstairs he found the prisoner lying there with his throat cut. He immediately conveyed the prisoner to the Borough Hospital where his wounds were dressed. 'When charged with the offence the prisoner made no reply. Dr. Hughes, senior surgeon at the hospital, said he saw the prisoner directly after he was brought to the hospital by the policeman. Be had a cut about three inches in length across his throat. The prisoner had evidently made two or three attempts to cut his throat. He appeared to be quite sober at the time. The wounds were not yet quite healed up, but they would be in the course of a day or two. Mr. Preston: Did you notice anything strange in his state of mind ? He seemed determined about the matter, in fact he seems to be a desperate character. Is he still an inmate of the hospital ?—No; he left yesterday. Dr. Cornwall, the police surgeon, stated that he examined the prisoner on Wednesday, but he did not think that his mind was affected. He i appeared to have been greatly excitedand as f he had had a good deal of trouble. He appeared to be a very determined man, and one who fancied he had a great many grievances. Mr. Preston: Would you say that he is sane ?—At the present time he is, but he may have been excited by starvation. He is not a temperatelman. Mr. Preston: Is there anybody here belonging to the prisoner' A man stepped into the box and stated that , the prisoner was his brother. Mr. Preston: What do you know about the state of his mind ?—I cannot say exactly. He has had a good deal of trouble. He has been out of work, and some time ago he came to me and told me he had been out of work for six or seven weeks, and the children were destitute and that he had nothing in the house for them to eat. Has he any one to take care of him 7-1 fancy there is. I will do all in my power to help him. Mr. Preston (to the prisoner): What have you got to say 7—l am very sorry, but I got low spirited somehow and could not bear to see my children with nothing to est. I could not bear it any longer. I am very sorry indeed. God has been with me in many temptations; He pulled me through and I think he will pull me through this. Mr. Preston: You know you have made yourself liable to be sent for trial for doing this rash act ?—I know I have committed a bad act, but 1 am very sorry. The prisoner's wife, who is partially blind, and had to be led into the witness-box, said she had noticed nothing remarkable in her husband's conduct except what was caused by poverty. There were several people who made them an allowance. The prisoner's daughter, who is in service with Mr. Knight, of Radnor-place, Claughton, in reply to Mr. Preston, said she did not receive sufficient wages to be able to help her father.  Mr. Preston, addressing the prisoner, said he appeared to be very sorry for the act he had committed. It was in his power to send him for trial, but seeing that he was in a contrite frame of mind and as he was pronounced by the doctors to be in his right senses he would not send him for trial, as he would certainly have done if be had found he was not repentant. He was very sorry for the prisoner's troubles, but from what he had neard he believed the prisoner had brought them upon himself by his intemperate habits. They had made his life almost unbearable and had caused him to commit that rash act with which he was now charged. He trusted that this would be a warning to the prisoner, and that henceforth he would abstain from drink, and so be able to get on in life. If he continued the course of intemperance he could not expect to be anything else but a burden not only to himself but also to his family. He had endeavoured in a cowardly way to get rid of his troubles, forgetting that he had a family and a partially blind wife whom it was his duty to support. He would discharge the prisoner and allow him to go home with his friends. The Prisoner: Thank you sir. Rutter then left the court with his wife and daughter.  The Wallasey Total) Abstinence Society held their usual weeky meeting on Tuesday, Much 22nd, when the following members were present :—Messrs. A. Halewood (in the chair), R. Ibbitson, G. W. Fidlin (secretary), T. Crawford, F. Crawford, S. Dean, and I. B. Jones. It was decided that the sth annual excursion be to Blackpool on Monday, July 25th, 1887, instead of u before, on the Club Day.