THE CUMNOCK POISONING SENSATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 8 June 1907, Page 1

THE CUMNOCK POISONING SENSATION.

Should a man who is charged with murder, who is proHoUilced by two doctors to be insane, be allowed to plead on his own assumption that he is o.f sound mind and capable of understanding and appreciating the gravity of the offence preferred against . him ?" Clothed in its legal phraseology, it was a discussion of this question so vital to the party implicated, that preceded the trial, which opened on Mon)ay at tho High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, of Thomas Mathieson, Brown, retired colliery manager, Ardnith House, New Cumnock, on the •harge of murder in connection with what has come to be known as the Cumnock shortbread poisoning case. The circumstances out of which the •ase arose caused a great sensation some three months ago. On the 23rd November Mr William I.;nnox, a retired fanner, living at Wocdside Cottage, Cumnock; his niece, Miss Grace M'Kerrow ; and an old friend, J\[rs Robert Bain, were at supper, when a cake of shortbread wliich had come addressed to Mr Lennox from im anonymous friend was broken. All (hree became ill, and Miss M'Kerrow died. Inside the tin was a card bearing the words, "Happy greetings from in old friend." For several days the police seemed baffled to solve the mystery, but subsequently a sensation, equal almost to the tragedy itself, was created by the news of the arrest, on a charge of sending tho cake, of Mr Brown, whose wife is a niece of M'jLeiinox. Mr Brown appeared at the Ayr

.' .. i . i.i».~i.*m.J .TV..1.1F. 1. «■« HlM_*.l._-iM_'_*----^^-'^^._.^^. »j,ii«i«iMr.v,iH>u>Mii j\ i tiß^_____mfriliMwiff™ Sheriff Court some days ago at a pleading diet, but, in respect of a medical certificate by Dr John Carswell, Glasgow, and Dr Donald Fraser, Riccartsbrae Lunatic Asylum, Paisley, io the effect that Brown was, in their opinion, of unsound mind, and unfit to plead, the eShcciff said he would not ' call on prisoner to plead, but would re- ! serve the matter for consideration of the. High Court. 6 . Froth a. lfigal .point Of view tho pro- " cedure which the Crown proposed to 6 adopt was regarded as somewhat unique, r although nofc without precedent, and s . the discussion upon the legal propriety ! * of such a course being followed was fraught with considerable importance. c Authorities were quoted by the Solicitor 0 ; General in extenso, and Mr Hunter fol- " . lowed. It .was a dreich, dry-as-dust 11 1 overture to the drama -tvhich was to folQ iow, and as the Lord Justice-General "i observed, "it was quite clear that _it s ] would make rio diifecence in the end." because when the trial proceeded the " jury would be able to follow one of s several courses. 3 The prisoner sat stoiidly throughout ' the discussion. ' After hearing evidence of eccentricity, j the Solicitor-General and Mr Hunter, i X.C, having, addressed the jury, the 1 Judge cfiargSa the jury, and said they [ must first answer the question — .''le the 1 prisoner insane?" If they answered 1 that in the affirmative they must not, ' whatever they might think, proceed to any of the other questions. If they ' answered that in the negative, then they must answer the question — "Did r he send this poisoned cake?" and then ' they must answer — "Was he sane or insane when he sent it?" Of course if they believed he was cane when he sent it that was equal to a verdict of guilty undo: the indictment. , Aftsi* aii absence of forty minutes, the jury returned the anticipated verdict .that, prisoner was now insane. When he heard tHe verdict prisoner only smiled faintly. He was immediately conducted below, the Lord JusticeGeneral ordaining that the usual order be pronounced. "It was not a unanimous vecdict," added the foreman of the jury, but after the prisoner had been removed the Judge remarked, though it was not usual to make any comment upon any verdict he gave it as his opinion that * their decision was a right one in the j circumstances.. I