Constance MALLALIEU

BRISBANE POLICE COURT. A SAD CASE.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26.

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGTHER.—Emily Penfold, aged 10 years, was charged, on remand, with the manslaughter of Constance Mallalieu, a schoolmate, of about the same age. The case attracted some attention, and there was a large attendance of the public. Mr. Randal Macdonnell, Secretary and General Inspector to the Board of Education ; Mr. J. H. Scott, J.P. ; and Mr. C. Coxen, J.P., were present during part of the proceeding. Mr. Inspector Lewis prosecuted ; and Mr. Quinn, instructed by Mr. Bunton, defended.
Emily Creed, a domestic servant in the employ of Madame Mallalieu, residing in Adelaide-street, deposed: Madame Mallalieu had a daughter, named Constance, aged 10 years, who was alive on Thursday, the 19th instant ; about 2 o'clook that afternoon, I saw her going across to the Normal School, which she attended, and she was then in good health; on her return home, at a quarter-past 4, she had one hand on her head and the other on her side, and complained of great pain; she said she had been thrown down by some one [Witness was not allowed to mention the name] and kicked in the left side ; shortly afterwards she was put to bed, and Dr. Hobbs was called in at 11 o'clock the same night; she continued ill until Saturday at five minutes before 12 o'clock (noon), when she died.—By Mr. Quinn: Her mother gave her some chlorodyne when she came home ill, and the dose was repeated either that night or the following morning.—Miss Ellen O'Flynn, a teacher in the Normal school, produced the roll-book of her class, which showed that the prisoner attended school in the afternoon in question; witness did not remember the circumstance, but was sure, from her own marking off in the book, that the prisoner was present; there were sixteen or seventeen girls in the class.—Florence Adelaide Wilson, a little girl, said she was in Miss Fletcher's class ; after leaving school on the afternoon named, she saw, not far from Madame Mallalieu's residence in Adrlaide-street, two girls turning a rope, while Constanoe (the deceased) and the prisoner were skipping ; she then saw the prisoner hit "Conny" on the shoulder, and "Conny" fell down ; and while ahe was down, the prisoner kicked her twice in the side ; she (deceased) then went home, and had " both her hands up to her eyes." A long cross examination followed, in which it was elicited that both the prisoner and the deceased had been skipping in the early part of the day, and had fallen. —Dr. Hobbs then deposed: On the 19th instant, about 10 at night I was called to see the deceased ; she told me she was suffering great pain in the left side ; her breathing was very short, and seemed to distress her very much; I examined her, and found that she was suffering from inflammation of the pleura ; I asked what bad caused it, and she told me she had been knocked down by a girl at the school, and kicked in the ribs ; that would account for the state in which I found her; she remained under my care till she died, on Saturday about 12 o'clock (noon) ; I made a post-mortem examination of the body in the afternoon of the same day ; on opening the chest, I found the pleural cavity on the left side full of water, the lung on that side being pushed upwards and backwards towards the spine ; the heart also was pushed out of its place, a little to the right side, by the water ; on the lining membrane of the ribs on the left side I found a large patch of plastic matter of a gelatinous consistency about the size of the palm of a man's hand, corresponding to the situation of the sixth, seventh, and eighth ribs; the effusion of water and the plastic matter described were produced by the inflammation of the pleura, from which she died. Witness was subjected to a long cross-examination.—Elizabeth Ford, a little girl, who also attended the Normal School, stated that she saw the prisoner hit "Conny" on the back with her hand, but saw nothing more.—On the application of Mr. Inspector Lewis, the further hearing of the case was adjourned until the following day, for the attendance of a witness. The prisoner was again brought before the Court, yesterday, and committed for trial before the Supreme Court, on July 1.

To view the original article - BRISBANE POLICE COURT. A SAD CASE. (1873, June 28). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), p. 2.