THE SENTENCE ON COLONEL BAKER.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2114, 13 October 1875, Page 3

THE SENTENCE ON COLONEL BAKER.

The following is the sentence as delivered by the Judge on Colonel Baker for assaulting a young lady in a railway carriage, the main facts of which case have already boon published in our columns. The Home News states that at the. conclusion of the evidence Serjeatit Parry summed up the case fur the prosecution and Mr .Hawkins replied at considerable length, after which. Mr Justice Brett delivered -sentence as follows :— Prisoner at the bar, when this story was first told a thrill of dishonor passed through the whole country. When it was told that a young and innocent girl, travelling by. the ordinary .conveyance of this country had been obliged to risk her life in order to save herself from a gross outrage every household in England felt as though it had received a personal in- J ju'y. And when it was heard that the hssail.ant.was' a soldier, an officer of high rank, a gentleman, the news was received with astonishment, and I may say, with disgiijvjto You have had the closest and TfiosVffl|^)asßionate consideration of your, ca.se by a jury which'has shown itself able to discriminate between the charges made against you. They have Jionestly and fearlessly and properly acquitted you-- of, ...the-.; highest and •■_.-gravest part '*" of the charge, and found you guilty of the minor off. nee, and of that, guilt ,no man: can have the slightest doubt It has been said that this young lady ought not to have remained in the railway carriage so long alone with a man; but t:-at suggests a state of society which I assert does not exist in any part of England. It seems to suggest- that adefenceless woman cannot travel alone with a man without expecting an outrage to be made upon her. That is not true of any part of society, from the highest to the lowest in this land. There may have been cases in which men have given way; to vile passions, but it h wrong to say ' that the law will not in such cases with ,an outstretched arm avenge such outrages. It has been said thit it was wrong for the young, lady to enter into a prolonged .conversation with the defendant ; but I cannot agree with that. Such a, statement suggests , a prurient fear which the self respect of every innocent woman never allows her to entei*--tain in her /heart for, a; moment. ; It may be suggested that this ■ abominable outrage on this lady has defiled her, but I pronounce that she leaves this Court as pure, as innocent, and as undefiied as ever she was in her lie—nay, more, the courage she has displayed has added a glory to her youth, and her innocence, and her beauty. You, prisoner at the bar, not only held the position of a gentleman, but of an officer, and of an officer high in command, and of all people that travelled in that train ihat day, you were most bound to stand by and defend »: defenceless woman; And even if she Jiad acted with indiscretion, you ought, considering besides the difference of your ages, to have protected her even against herself. But there is nothing in her conduct to justify the course you took. Your crime is as bad as it'could be ; but there are circumstances in your case of which the law always takes notice, and of which I am bound to take noticein the discharge of my duty. This must have been from the character you have received a sudden outbreak of wickedness on your, part. I have heard from two officers of the greatest distinction the high position which, you held, and up to this fatal day they believed you to have been an honourable man. That high position you have not owed to the accident of birth but have won it by your own individual exertions, and by brilliant services, by which you have made your country, so far as your career as a soldier is concerned, your debtor. I feel, there-fore,-1 ought to consider this outrage as a sudden outbreak in a man who up to that time had borne a character which would appear to render it impossible. If the jury had convicted you of the graver charge, I should have felt it my duty to have passed upon you the full sentence that the law imposes, which is—two years' hard labour ; but the jury have rightly anil truly not made up their minds that you had arrived at that degree of wickedness, but had hesitated at the verge of the greater crime, which you are charged of having committed on this young woman. Therefore, I shall not pass upon you a sentence which will carry with it all the personal and all the physical degradation which would follow an ordinary sentence for this offence. If I passed such a sentence, I feel that it would subject you to a penalty far greater than it might really be to persons differently situated who might be found guilty of such an offence. If that sentence were passed upon you I am aware that day by day you would be subject to a continuous torture which would possibly prevent you from the result which I hope will follow for you, that after a period of long repentance you may be reinstated in the eyes of your fellows in some position somewhat like that you now enjoy. I shall therefore spare you those physical degradations, hoping, as I have said, after a long repentajab, you may by some brilliant service, orwhich your past life shows that y6u are no doubt capable, wipe out the injury you have done to your country; but the sentence I must pass upon you will be a severe one. It is that you be imprisoned in the common gaol of this county, without subjecting you to the physical degradation to which I have alluded,, for twelve calendar months ; that y v pay a fine of £500, and be further imprisoned ti *1 that fine be paid; that you pay the costs of this prosecution, and be imprisoned still further till those costs are paid, for a period not exceeding three months. A subdued murmur of approval suffused the Court, and after a moment's pause the prisoner, who did not move a muscle, or display the least sign of emotion, was summoned by the gaoler. He stooped for his umbrella and hat, and descended at once by the stuirs within the dock to the prison beneath. "