Albert Samuel Chenard

Albert Samuel Chenard died after being kicked in the stomach in a park.

A 41-year-old man was tried for his manslaughter but acquitted.

It was heard that he had attacked him after thinking that Albert Chenard had interfered with his 7-year-old daughter.

He was tried at the Durham Assizes on Wednesday 13 November 1918.

Albert Chenard had lived in Hope Street, Jarrow.

The man had lived at Cliff villas near the Quay Corner, Jarrow and had been a miner.

Albert Chenard's wife said that Albert Chenard had been a native of South Africa and had been a sea going engineer, but that he had latterly been working at Messrs Palmers as a fireman.

She said that he had been in the habit of going daily to a garden at the Quay Corner, but that after having gone there on 21 August 1918 that he had gone home and complained of having been kicked in the stomach by a man.

It was also heard that on 20 August 1918 that the man had made a complaint to the police about a man having interfered with his 7-year-old daughter. He said that she came home on 16 August that she had had a penny with her and that one 20 August with twopence.

When her mother questioned their daughter over the money, the girl first told her that she had got the money for nothing, but then said that a man who looked like a foreigner, had taken her into a garden and assaulted her.

After receiving the complaint the police constable advised them to take their doctor to see a doctor.

A woman that lived at Quay Corner said that on 21 August 1918 that whilst in her kitchen that she heard the man shouting, and that when she looked out of her window that she saw him standing at a garden gate with a man who she took to be a foreigner.

She said that the man had been very excited and heard him say to the foreigner, 'You are the man who insulted my daughter'. She said that the foreigner replied, 'I would not insult your little angel. I have a girl of my own'.

She said that the man then struck the foreigner in the face with his fist and kicked him in the stomach.

She said that the foreigner then fell down beside the garden railings and that whilst he was in a crouching position that the man struck another blow on his face with his fist, saying that he had a good mind to knock his head off.

She noted that the mother and the little girl had also both been present when the man struck the foreigner the second time, but said that she didn't hear the girl make any accusation against the man.

Another man that had also been in the woman's house gave similar evidence, but added that after the foreigner was kicked that he was hanging on to the garden railings.

When the man was questioned by a police inspector, he said that he had been in bed on the afternoon of 21 August 1918 when his wife told him that the foreigner that had interfered with their daughter was in the garden.

He said that he got up and went to the foreigner and said, 'You are the man who interfered with my daughter', to which he said that Albert Chenard replied, 'Me no do it. Me have daughter myself'.

The man said that he then shouted for his wife and child to come and that his girl then told him that Albert Chenard was the man. He said that he then struck Albert Chenard several times with his fist and that he fell over the railings and that he lost his temper and kicked him in the stomach.

He said that about half-an-hour later that he saw Albert Chenard lying about seven or eight yards from where he left him and told him to go away, but said that he made no reply.

At the end of his statement to the police he said, 'I am sorry for the man now. I have no ill-feeling towards him, but I lost my temper for what he did to my little girl'.

A doctor at the Newcastle Infirmary said that Albert Chenard's death was due to general peritonitis, consequent upon a rupture of the small intestine, the result of external violence.

However, at the inquest, the Coroner noted that although it was not before the jury, that the medical examination of the child did not bear out the allegation. However, he noted that that was not material to the case.

The inquest returned a verdict of manslaughter against the man, adding that the jury were of the opinion that the kick weas delivered by the man while in a state of excitement being under the impression that his daughter had been interfered with by Albert Chenard.

The man was tried at the Durham Assizes on Wednesday 13 November 1918 but acquitted and discharged after his defence stated that he had lost his temper in view of what Albert Chenard had done to his little daughter, and struck and kicked him.

It's not exactly clear where the Quay Corner was, but it is thought it was the area around the allotments bound by the Tyne and the Don.