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Show , A HORRIBLE CRIME At the circuit court in Manchester, England, John Stanney, age 22 years, waSCharged with throwing oil of vitriol on his wile. The prisoner and hiB wife had beem married for about a year, and lived at Oldham; and it appeared that from five weeks before the ofleuse was committed, com-mitted, up to the very day previous to it, there had been some jealousy on his part j and that on one occasion he had told her that be "would make her so as no one would look at her by throwing oil of vitriol upon her." Upon the day in question (the 15th of March last) the two were together in the house, and the prisoner, who had purchased the oil of vitriol about an hntir ho fore., went-in tn a puekLiitoboii and poured it out i ..to L,.Lu. XXU then returned and put his arm around his wife's neck, upon which Bhe raised her face, thinking he was going ta kisa her. He then poured a portions of the liquid on her forehead k and jj when Bhe began to struggle, got her i down on the floor, and tried to puur ; it down her throat, saying, '' Whoever has you, Bhall have you. both cripple, and blind." She succeeded iu pro-venting pro-venting him from pouring more than a very small quantity down her thro.it, but he dashed the remainder in tier face and ran out of the house. The victim of this diabolical outrage yus in danger of death for some time, and when in the box presented a most shocking and painful appearance. Before this occured she had been a comely girl. When before the magistrates magis-trates he said. "It was all tier own fault; he told her hundreds ol times about speaking to Helsby, and she had said she would apeak to him. He then told her that he would throw oil of vitriol on her and cripple her, and she replied, 'the sooner the better.' bet-ter.' " The defense was that the prisoner brought the vitriol to frighten his wife only, and that it fell upon her accidentally. acci-dentally. The jury found the prisoner gu'lty, and he pleaded guilty to a previous conviction of felony. There was also against him a charge of horse-stealiug. He read a long statement. His Lordship said that he was possessed pos-sessed with the conviction that the prisoner was a man given up to the most vindictive feelings. It was the moat painful spectacle he ever recollected recol-lected seeing in a court of justice when the poor woman got iuto the witness box, and no one could entertain tho slightest Bympalhy with the prisoner, who, in the statement which he had read, had not expressed the slightest contrition. He sentenced him to penal servitude for life. The sentenoe met with tokens of approbation from a crowded court, which were immediately suppressed. |
