Baby

The newly-born female child of a laundress was found dead and the mother was charged with its murder.

The child was seen dead by a policeman at her address on St Bedes Road at 9.15am on 7 August 1935. The laundress was not there at the time and a warrant was made for her arrest and she was later arrested at 9.40am the same day.

However, at her trial the judge asked why she had been charged with murder by a bench of magistrates and was told that the prosecution was instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The judge said that he was not in possession of all the facts and said that after hearing the doctors evidence suggested that it might have been an accident and the laundress was acquitted of murder, infanticide, manslaughter and destruction of infant life and discharged.