A WELLINGTON SENSATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3776, 19 October 1907, Page 3

A WELLINGTON SENSATION.

Edward Murtagh, jockey, was charged that on October nth, at Wellington, he did wound one Mary Lorraine Tui Leigh, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Frances Helen Leigh stated that for about four years she had been living apart from her husband. Harry Leigh, who is also a jockey. For nearly three years, off and on, she had been living with accused. Accused was the father of her child, Tui, now under two years of age. On October 6th she went to live at No. 5, Macdonald crescent. Murtagh had been living in the house before she went there. They occupied separate rooms. Between October 6th and nth she had conversation with Murtagh every evening. Latterly, accused had not been paying her any money for the maintenance of the child. On Thursday, October 10th, she was sitting in her room when accused came in. She asked him for her money, referring to £ls he had taken from one of her boxes some time before. He said he would see her in the morning about it, and it would be alright. She was afraid that he would “clear out,’’ and that evening, during his absence, she removed his clothes to another room, as she thought that she would thus have warning when he was going. The next morning, about 11 o’clock, accused asked her to return his clothes, and she took them back to his room, accompanied by the child. When she returned the clothes she asked him what he intended doing about the money, Murtagh replied that she had no chance of getting her money, as he had none to give her. Witness then said that if he would return her the ,£ls she would leave him and not come back again. Thereupon Murtagh threatened to murder her if she did not go and stay away. Witness asked him then what he was going to do about the child. “Give her away, or put her in a home,” replied accused. Witness told him she would do neither, and accused threw her on to his bed, and punched and kicked her, so that she still bore marks of the assault. Witness cried, and this caused the child to cry, too. Upon this, Murtagh caught hold of the child, lifted its dress, and cut its leg with a razor. Witness did not realise what he had done until accused put the razor, which she had mot seen in his hand before, on the chest of drawers. Then she saw blood on the child. Accused said, “ That’s what I think ot the both of you. Now perhaps you have had enough. Attend to your kid,’’ and walked to the door. Witness picked up the infant, but Murtagh came back and pulled it away, saying—“ Tell those people nothing. Say she did it herself.” Witness went out of the room, crying, met the landlady’s daughter, Miss Graves, in the passage and told her that Murtagh had cut Tui. Accused then came out of the room with the child in his arms, and said he was going to take it to a doctor to have the wound stitched. Miss West, a nurse who was in the house at the time, carried the little girl downstairs to one of the front rooms. Witness went out to summon a doctor, but was called back to get her hat and coat, and while she was putting these on accused passed her. She passed Murtagh around the corner of the street, and he then remarked, “ I suppose you are going for the police,” but she did not answer. Accused followed her to the residences of several doctors, who, however, were out. At last she found Dr Agnes Bennett, who went to Macdonald crescent, and bound up the wound to prevent hemorrhage until Dr Pigeon could arrive to stitch it up. Accused followed her to Dr Bennett’s, and then returned to Macdonald cresent. Witness returned to the house and knelt down by the child. _ Murtagh stood b3 T its head and said “ Never mind, Tui. Soon be better. I wonder how she got hold of it.” There were several others in the room then. Accused had left the house when she went for the police. When she returned with a constable Dr Pigeon was attending the child. She went to accused’s room with the constable,. but could not see the razor there. That evening accused returned to the house, but did not inquire about the child. In cross-examination by Mr Herdman, witness stated that on the Thursday evening accused had not told her that he was going to be married. She had never seen accused take the referred to, but she had received a note from him admitting that he had taken it. This note was destroyed and now she has no evidence against him.

Dr H. W. Pigeon deposed that he was called to No. 5, MacDonald crescent about 2 p.m. on Friday, October 11, by Dr Agnes Bennett. He examined the child, Tui Leigh, and found a wound about three inches long and an inch deep in the child’s left leg, just above the knee, at the back and side of the limb. It would be difficult to say exactly what position the child was in when it received the wound. He did not think it had been selfinflicted. The wound, which must have been done with some very sharp instrument, was in a dangerous position. The child was now out of danger. No arteries had been cut.