THE WIFE IMPRISONING CASE.

Evening Post, Issue 54, 11 April 1865, Page 2

THE WIFE IMPRISONING CASE.

At the Central Criminal Court, Edward Hatnniind. who pleaded guilty to an indictment preferred against liim at the November sittings of ttiis court lor unlawfully imprisoning and assaulting bis wife, came up for judgment before Mr. Baron Bnunwell. — Mr. Sleigh, with whom was Mr. Besley, appeared for the prosecution ; and Mr. Oppenbeim appeared for the defendant. Mr. Sleigh said it would be, perhaps, in the recollection of his Lordship that the prisoner had pleaded guilty before him to an indictment which was preferred against him for imprisoning his wife. Mr. Baron Bratu well— -The plea was, I believe, taken to accommoda'e the counsel. I Mr. Sleigh said it was for the purpose of avoiding disclosures which would have been painful in the extreme, and judgment had been respited for reasons which were stated at the time by .his (Mr. Sleigh's) learned leader, Mr. Huddleston. He (Mr. Sleigh) was novy instructed by the solicitor [ for the prosecution to state that the defendant had executed a deed of separation.

from his wife, and also a deed of settlement upon her, to the entire satisfaction of her legal advisers and herself, and in consequence of thia arrangement they do not desire to pres9 for punishment. Mr. Bnron Bramwell: Is that the settlement of the wife's own property ? Mr. Slei-fh said he had settled upon his wife one-half of her own properfj\ Mr, Baron Bramwell : And not any of the defendant's own property ? Mr. Wright, one ot the solicitors for the prosecution, said defendant had not any property to settle upon hen Mr. Oppenheim, upon the part of the defendant, informed his lordship that an arrangement had been made between himself and Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, who appeared upon the trial with him, and Mr. Huddleston, Q.U., by which the defendant undertook to execute a deed of separation and settlement similar to the one now produced, except as to the amount of money to be settled upon the wife. That deed, which was partly read by Mr. Sleigh to the Court, was a settlement upon her of -one-half of the property left to her by her lather's (Sir Henry Butler's) will. Mr. Oppenheim said that it was under those circutnstancis that he pleaded guilty to a common assault. Mr. Baron Bramwell said : Yes, and also to the imprisonment. Mr. Oppenheim : My Lord, there was much in the depositions which, if the trial had been proceeded with, could have been proved to be untrue; but the course of pleading guilty has been followed to save the Court an exposure which would have been most painful to all the parties concerned. I now submit to the* Court that, the matter being settled and arranged, and as the prosecution do not ask lor punishment, I humbly beg that your lordship will call upon the defendant to come up for judgment when called upon, and that the case should again 9tand over until the next session, in order that the defendant may file affidavits to show what falsehoods were contained in the depositions made by the witnesses. Mr. Baron Bramwell: I shall certainly not adopt those suggestions. Is the defendant in attendance P If so, let him surrender himself into custody. 'I he defendant, who had been standing at the back of his learned counsel, seemed much surprised at the order of his Lordship, and was immediately handed into the dock by the officer in attendance. Mr. Baron Bramwell said: You have pleaded guilty to an indictment charging you with an offence of very great enormity, and most certainly of very great rarity in this country. You kept your wife shut up in a room ibr one year, and this is almost as bad an offence as any one can well conceive, and an offence which no man can regard with other feelings than those of indignation and disgust — indignation that she should have been imprisoned by you, shut out from all communication with her friends and society ; one of surprise that she should so long have submitted to your cruel treatment. You now seem to think that you have made an atonement for her wrongs by giving her liberty from you and settling upon her one-half of her own property. Jn my opinion that is in atonement at all. You ought to have settled nil upon her, and to have given her something from your own, and have begged her pardon for the ill-treatment you have shown her. I must alsu state that a prosecution is not the property of those who institute it to deal with it as they think fit. The public hnve a higher interest in having redress rendered and wrong punched, to deter others from offending in a like manner, and men are not to think that they can treat tbeif" wives a 9 you have done, and escape without punishment. Acting U| on the depositions that I have before me, and the public object which I have mentioned, I now sentence you to twelve months' imprisonment and hard labour. The prisoner, upon hearing the sentence, seemed very much surprised, and in a positive manner, said loudly and sharply, "Yes, but I didn't do it;" and then walked smHrtly out of the d< ck. " I declare, mother." haid a pretty little girl in a pretty little way, " 'tis too bad 1 You always send me to bed when I am not sleepy, and you always make me get up when I am sleepy 1" A correspondent asks : — Does it affect the quantity of milk a cow can give, if conversation is carried on between the milkers when milking ? We do not think there U any doubt about it - especially when the dairy is made up of young cows. We would not ha^e a loud-talking milker in the shel. It would be better, without doubt, if conversation was entirely tabooed when milkine. We remember a dairyman having asserted at a meeting, of a farmers' club, that he had d schargeda man because he would talk and interrupt the milking in his dairy and that in three days the increase in milk was equal to a man's wages. This is a very important fact, it is established. The Louisiana Legislatuie has elected G ivernor Hahn as U.B. senator for the term of six years after the 4th of March, when Smith's term expire*.