AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN COURT.

Evening Star, Issue 3742, 19 February 1875, Page 3

AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE IN COURT.

An occurrence, perhaps without a parallel, was witnessed at the close of the December Assizes at Chester. A woman named Vary Lancaster, aged thirty-three, was indicted for the murder of her husband. The deceased had long led the prisoner’ a wretched life, and on September 13 he came homo drunk, aid kicked over the no at which she was preparing for his dinner. He then thrashed her, and in a passion the prisoner threw at him a sharpening steel, and caused his death. The prisoner was a hard working woman, and in spite of her husband’s brutal ticatmentcf her, had done her best to make his home comfortable. The jury found the prisoner ‘Guilty.’ Mr Justice Brett, addressing the prisoner, then said : “I believe that if 1 thought it right to act according to your own feelings, I should saynothing abont this unhappy husband of yours. As far as I can see you were a respectable, hard-wevking, well-behaved wife, and I feel bound to say a greater brute than your husband was I have seldom heard of. There are circumstances in the depositions even worse than those which have been brought forward. They show that, even on the very last day you were together, you were doing all you could to make bis home comfortable, and to make him hippy. With, a brutality which made me shudder when 1 read it, he cast away that which you had prepared for him. He has been beating and ill-treating you for months, probably for years, and it is nothing but the tenderness and forgiveness of the woman and wife which prevented you from having him punished for crimes he committed again t you time after time. It was only when he had driven you to desperation by ill-treating you the whole day, and I dare say was on the point of ill-treating yon again, that you, in a moment of passion, took up a formidable weapon and threw it at him, fbeli-: w, without the intention of striking him. It did strike him, and you immediately ran for astrstance, and did all you could to save him. Ail the real right in this case was on your side—all the real wrong on your husband’s ; and God forbid that 1 should punish you. 1 will he no party to it. I will not even make this judgment complete. I will n:t allow it to be said by anybody that you are a convicted felon—(hear, hear)—for a conviction is not complete until a sentence is passed, and I mean to pass no sentence at all. (Loud cheering, which for some time the oilicLvs ol the court vainly endeavored to suppress) ] shall merely ask you to enter into your own recognisance to come up for judgment if calfed neon, and nobody in the world wdi ever call upon you-God foibid they ever should. (Renewed cheering, during which the prisoner left the dock).”