Baby

A baby died from asphyxia.

Two women, sisters, were tried but acquitted.

It was charged that they had, between 16 and 30 September 1921, at 8 Newton Street, Partick, compressed the throat of the child, the newly born of one of them, and asphyxiate and murder her.

The pathologist that carried out the post mortem said that he was of the opinion that the cause of death was asphyxia and that the cause of the asphyxia was probably associated with the marks of compression on the neck of the child.

He added that he was further of the opinion that the child had breathed freely after birth.

Part the way through the trial the Crown reduced the charge against the mother from murder to culpable homicide and intimated that they didn't want to press for a conviction against her sister. However, after a short absence, the jury found the charge against the mother not proven and as directed returned a verdict of not guilty against her sister and they were both discharged.

Newton Street has since been demolished, but was roughly where the end of Sauchiehall is, to the west, today. The A804 by the M8 is now called Newton Street but is some meters west of where Newton Street had originally been.