“Pollard, 314 D.—‘I heard loud cries of “Oh, save my children!” and when I was in her room she said, “Has anybody caught my baby Lizzie?” One of the little boys, about three years old, and who was clinging to his mother, had blood upon his clothes. He had upon his breast some marks, which appeared to have been caused by cuts from glass. He left me to take care of the prisoner while he went for her husband. She told me she had no wish to hurt any of her children, and that it was all through a dream.’
“Mr. Henry Tyrwhitt Smith, surgeon of the Marylebone Infirmary, was next called, and said, ‘That when the infant was brought to him, soon after one in the morning, he found, upon examining it, that it was suffering from concussion of the brain. It was quite insensible, and decidedly in danger now. The parietal bone is broken, and death might ensue in the event of an effusion of blood on the brain.’
“By Mr. Lewis.—‘I cannot say that I have not heard of an instance where parties have committed acts to which a dream had impelled them.’
“Mr. Lewis submitted to the magistrate that there had been no attempt to murder the infant. The prisoner had always evinced a kindly feeling toward her children, and he (the learned gentleman) hoped that the magistrate would allow the husband to have her under his care during the temporary remand which would of course take place. The dream under which the act was committed showed that she had not, at the time, any consciousness of what she was doing.
“Mr. Tubbs said he did not attend in the capacity of a prosecutor, but he appeared on behalf of the board of guardians; and he put it to the magistrate whether there would be any objections, under the circumstances, to allow the prisoner to be bailed, her husband being security for her reappearance.
“Mr. Broughton considered that it would be a most dangerous doctrine to lay down, to say that because a person was dreaming while committing an offense, that they were not culpable for their acts. A woman, on these grounds, might get up in the middle of the night and cut her husband’s throat, and, when brought up for the offense, turn round and say that she had done the act while under the influence of a dream. He (the worthy magistrate) considered the case to be one of a serious nature; and in the event of death ensuing, an inquest would be held on the body. He could not think of taking bail in so serious a case, but would remand the prisoner till Tuesday next, and during her present excited state she would be taken care of in the infirmary.
“The prisoner was then removed to the cells by Ansted, the jailer, sobbing most bitterly.
“The recorder, at the subsequent sessions at the Central Criminal Court, in his address to the grand jury, took a somewhat more rational view of the case than that entertained by Mr. Broughton.
“‘If the prisoner,’ said the recorder, ‘really did the act under the idea that it was the best mode of insuring the safety of the child, it appeared to him that, under such circumstances, it would be a question whether the grand jury would be justified in coming to the conclusion that the criminal was guilty of a criminal act.’
“The grand jury threw out the bill.”