A CHILD CHARGED WITH MURDER.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XX, Issue 6237, 26 October 1888, Page 3

A CHILD CHARGED WITH MURDER.

A mysterious' tragedy occurred in Asylum road,- Birmingham, on Saturday . night, September Ist. Mrs AdaPereday : the wife of a working man, went out ' marketing about six o'clock in the even- ' ing, leaving her infant, six months old, : : lying in the bassinette perambulator in front of. the fire' She also left in the house two older children, her cousins, a "boy aged twelve, and a girl agen : ten. /.Mrs.Pereday's. father was also lying drunk and asleep on a sofa, .On her return the boy had gone out, but'the little . girl said, "0h,.100k at the blood on the floor!",'! She then.found that the infant had been .badly ; cut near its ankle, • and that a terrible knife was lying in the perambulator.' The girl Alice Pereday stated at 'first that she had done it, as a ; boy'm the'street had told her it would .bring her good luck., The mother took ' " the baby to a surgery, where an assistant sewed up the wound in the foot that was ,i : shown to him. Soon after, while nui'sing the infant, the mother found that the other foot was also bleeding, and on examining that found that it was nearly 1 cut off. {The infant was taken to the -.General Hospital,'where it died abou ' 'ten minutes after, The police at first suspected the mother-and grandfather, ' : but were satisfied that they were ■ innoc.entandthat the fatal injuries were iriflci- .: ted by. one or: both the children, whom they retained in custody. The boy states that he went out and knew noth- ' ing about it, and the girl, revoking .the statement first made to the matter,' also ; professes ignorance. Mr Harris, the surgeon \of the General Hospital, .. who examined the child, says it is hardly likely that., a girl . aged ten, or . ' 'even, a boy.aged twelve, could have in- | ilictod the injuries on the deceased-—; certainly not, with,,the knife,which was ] found in !the perambulator, which was an i ordinary table knife, not 'very sharp; 1 /;He. cßuld - hardly ■' have performed the , 1 work .himself, witK such.an instrument.', 'On "this' theory lie : has instructed,' tiie police to.i look.- out for another knife, with a sharper blade. ' The time in which wore inflicted , would not.be lohgi ..They seem to have ,beon .mde: iwith': a razor' so clean are - the cuts; and 1 two sweeps of such : a blade would be ! sufficient to sever .a child'sjfoot -i-thp work of a few! seconds—and i the child might not cry on account of! the force if the shock, At the time j the child was'brought to the hospital | the ' people had.no notion, apparently, that it i was dying j they brought it just to have the wounds' dressed, but he saw the j ser- j ;/ious'state of! the crises and Caused them., to beidetained.' i ,: I '