James Quantock

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 16th July 2024

1866 - 11 Jun. DIED - INTERRED in General Hospital Hobart. On Cert of Coroner 1866 - 13 Jun,. Inquest. Held. Verdict; Died of Natural Causes

Level 135

C H on 7th April 2024

Old Bailey Online JAMES QUANTOCK. Breaking Peace; wounding. 16th June 1845 Text type Trial account Defendants JAMES QUANTOCK Offences Breaking Peace > Wounding Session Date 16th June 1845 Reference Number t18450616-1277 Verdicts Guilty Punishments Transportation 1277. JAMES QUANTOCK was indicted for feloniously assaulting Joseph Dowling, on the 19th of May, and cutting and wounding him in and upon his chest, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. JOSEPH DOWLING . I have known the prisoner five or six years—about last Christmas I was taking a drunken man home—I saw the prisoner take the man's purse out of his pocket, and go away with it, and I gare information of it to the policeman—one Monday, last May, I went to tie Red Lion public-house in Holborn, and saw the prisoner there, about a yard from the doorway—directly I entered the house, he said, "You b—old rogue, I will do for you"—he caught hold of my neckcloth, and three me right down on my back on the floor—he kept hold of my neckcloth, and held it for five minutes, until I was nearly strangled—I could not get up—he was standing straight across me, leaning down towards me—a female in his company interfered, and said, "Let him get up," or he would have strangled me—she did not pull him off—she persuaded him to let me go—he let me get up, and then gave me a very violent blow in the breast, as I thought, with his fist—I did nothing to him—I found it a very curious feel, and as he pulled his hand away he cut the top of my thumb, and I saw the blade of a knife in his hand—he walked out directly—I am down on the bench, and had a pint of beer—my breast felt very painful—when I had had my beer I went home—I did not undress, it was so painful, I laid down with my clothes on—in the morning I found I wat covered with blood all over—I found it so about two hours after I got home—I complained to my brother about it—this is the coat and waistead I wore—the wound was right in the centre of the breast—here is a mark of bloood inside the waistcoat all round—it is a double-breasted waistcost—it is not cut, as it was not buttoned up to the top. Cross-examined by MR. BALDWIN. Q. What are you? A. A private watchman—I did not take the prisoner into custody when he took the purse, because I am not a constable, and I could not detain the gentleman—I had seen the prisoner many times since that, most Saturday nights—I had no occasion to give him in charge—I had given information to the policeman when I saw it, and gave him into custody in less than ten minutes—the policeman is not here—he was taken, and discharged in the morning, as nobody appeared against him—I was too late—this happened in the Red Lion, at six o'clock in the morning—I had not seen him there—I have had a good many quarrels with him about the charge of robbery—he frequently abuses me when I am in the street—he spoke first when I went in—I did not speak at all—I did nothing to him—after I was stabbed I put my arm out, and took hold of his nose and wrung it—I swear that was after he struck me the blow in the chest—my thumb was cut very slightly, but it bled very much—that was not done as I was wringing his nose. Q. You did not find out you were wounded until ten o'clock in the morning? A. I felt it very much indeed while I was going home—I was too ill to take off my coat and see what was the matter—I was exhausted, having been out all night—I was hardly able to walk home—I felt I had been hurt, but did not take off my coast and waistcoat—I have the shirt I had on—(producing one saturated with blood)—I have never looked to see whether it is cut through—I persist in saying the blow was struck before I pulled his nose. WILLIAM WARD . I am barman at the Red Lion, Holborn. On Monday morning, the 19th of May, the prisoner came in with a female—he was talking to her about the watchman accusing him of taking a purse out of the pocket of a pawnbroker—he swore against the prosecutor's life—he said the moment the watchman stopped his bread, he would stop the watchman's wind—he swore what he would do with him if he got hold of him—the moment Dowling came in, the prisoner caught hold of him and said, "Joe, you are a b----y old rogue"—he caught hold of him by the neckerchief, and held him down on the ground, strangling him, holding him by the neckerchief, and pulling the upper part of it—he held him to until he was black in the face—I called out to him, but he did not loosen him—I called to him again, and then went to run round the bar, and he allowed him to get up—after that there was a deal of swearing, the prisoner swore two or three times over, and said several times that the moment he stopped his bread, he would stop his wind—after that Dowling moved towards a desk at the end of the bar, from the prisoner—there was a deal of talking between them about this robbing the pawnbroker, and the prisoner laid hold of Joe, and Joe laid hold of his nose—I was busy at work, and was not aware after seeing him get off the floor, that anything but angry words was going on, and did not pay attention to it—the prisoner aecused Joe of having sent him to Bow-street for taking the pawnbroker's purse—Joe said, "It served you right," and he wrung him by the nose, and at that time I certainly saw a great deal of fumbling about the chest—the prisoner struck Joe on the breast, I mean, and the moment he finished that, he ran out, leaving the woman behind—it was not a gentle blow—it was a sort of thumping with both hands, while Joe had hold of his nose—I did not perceive that the prisoner was drunk in the least—I had never seen him before. Cross-examined. Q. You do not know what he is? A. He had a cabman's badge on—by stopping his bread he meant taking away his license—it was mentioned before to the female, something about the license, because it would be put on his license about his being sent to Bow-street—Dowling took the prisoner by the nose after he got off the ground—the prisoner was striking him on the breast at the time he had hold of his nose—they were both scuffling together—I am hardly able to tell which laid hands on the other first—it was at the same time, he had hold of him by the nose, at the time he was striking him on the chest—when I saw them one had the other by the nose, and the other was striking him on the chest—he struck him two or three times—I think with both hands—it was a sort of pummelling—they were close together—I saw no violent blow. COURT Q. Did you see any knife? A. I did not—after the prosecutor got up he moved towards the desk, the prisoner went towards him, whether he caught hold of him before the prosecutor siezed his nose I cannot say—I could not say whether the prisoner caught hold of him first or the watchman of him—I had my back towards them cleaning the brass work—when I heard the scuffle I turned round, and at that time one was holding the other's nose, and the other pummelling his chest—I did not notice whether the prisoner appeared excited—I heard the prosecutor say his thumb was cut—I did not see it—a woman gave him a piece of handkerchief to wrap it up with. GRACE GIBLING I am the wife of James Gibling, a coachman—five weeks ago this morning, as I was going along Holborn at six o'clock, the prisoner called me from the opposite side of Holborn to the corner of Red Lion-street—we went into the public-house together—he was telling me he was much hurt in consequence of a watchman's accusing him of a robbery on Mr. Crocket, the pawnbroker, at the corner of Dean-street, and it was old Joe, the watchman, who caused him to be brought into the station house, and given in charge of a policeman—he said that he did not appear against him, he was too late—I do not think it was named when—we were not taking any refreshment, we had not time, for at that instant the watchman came in, and the prisoner said, "Joe, you are a d—d old rogue; if you stop my bread, I will stop your wind," or something to that effect—a scuffle ensued between them, and the watchman was knocked down on his back by the prisoner—I cannot tell how, it was done in an instant—my back was towards them—when he was down the prisoner caught him by the neck handkerchief—I was not close enough to see whether he held it loosely or tight, but I insisted on his letting him get up, which he did, and the watchman stood with his back to the door—I looked at his face, and it began to look a little black—I told him so, and he let him get up by my persuasion—another scuffle ensued, and the watchman was down again, but I did not see that. Q. Why not interfere to prevent this? A. I did interfere, because his face looked black—I persuaded the prisoner to let him get up, and he did so instantly—he let go, and let him get up—as soon as he got up he pot his back by a little desk by the door, and another scuffle ensued, but I was at a little distance, and what followed I did not see, for I was very much confused to see it—the prisoner went out directly—I went out afterwards—I was present the whole time—I cannot tell what happened at the second scuffle—I saw nothing more than a scuffle between them—the watchman got hold of the prisoner's nose—I could not see whether the prisoner put his hand on him after he got to the desk—my back was towards them—the prisoner's back was to me, and the prosecutor's face towards me—they seemed quiet then—I did not notice whether both the prisoners hands were down—I saw no more than the prosecutor had hold of the prisoner's nose—the prisoner's back was to me—I was going out at that instant, and the prisoner went out at the other door—I did not see more than I have named—the watchman came across, and the prisoner went instantly out of the house—the watchman sat down and seemed much confused and pale—he called for a pint of porter and asked me to drink, I put my lips to it, and wished him good morning. Cross-examined. Q. You have known the prisoner some time? A. I have known the family for years—he is a cab-driver—he said his licence would be taken away on the 1st of June—it had not been taken away at this time—I know nothing about his character—I know his parents are respectable, and I never saw any harm of him. COURT Q. Did you see where the prosecutor was wounded? A. No, I saw a little blood on the left thumb—I said, "How did you happen to get that?"—he said he thought it was done in the scuffle—I tore my handkerchief and gave him a bit of it to wrap round it. MR. BALDWIN. Q. What sort of a wound was it? A. Merely a scratch—it might have been done by the teeth while he was pulling his nose. ALFRED KING . I am a surgeon and live in Gray's-inn-lane. On Monday morning, the 19th of May, between ten and eleven o'clock, 1 went to the prosecutor's and found him lying down by the side of the bed with his clothes on—he wan in a fainting state, from loss of blood—I saw blood coming from his shirt—I examined his breast immediately and saw a wound in the centre of his breast, on the bone of the sternum—it was about an inch and a half or two inches long, and went to the bone—it was not very deep—there is not much flesh in that part—it was an incised wound, such as would be inflicted by a cutting instrument—there appeared to have been a great deal of hemorrhage—I examined the surface of the bone with a probe—there were two arteries wounded—pressure stopped the bleeding—I was obliged to open the wound a little to secure the arteries—that gave me an opportunity of viewing the bone underneath, and I could see it had been wounded slightly with the point of a knife—it must have been a violent blow, going through the clothes and to the bone—it is very difficult for a knife to go through a bone—there was a slight mark as if the point of a knife had touched the bone—I looking at a knife produced by Kendall)—the wound might have been inflicted by this instrument. Cross-examined. Q. You did not find more than one wound? A. No—it was what I call a stab—if it was struck upwards or downwards, it would produce a wound of that length—if you held the knife upwards I should call it a stab—the knife is not sharp both ways, that is the reason I suppose it was given either up or down—I should say it was caused by a knife like this—I should say it was given with a thrust—there must certainly have been some cutting to make that length of wound—I think considerable force must have been used—I judge of that from the mark on the bone and it having gone through the clothes—two small arteries were wounded—they might be an inch apart—the wound being an inch or an inch and a half long there might have been two or four arteries in the neighbourhood, and the knife running down might have wounded them. COURT. Q. Did you ever know a stab without cutting? A. There must be a stab to be a cut—if I were to stab a man I should cut him—if the knife was not drawn out quite straight it would enlarge the wound. JOSEPH KENDALL (policeman.) On the 19th of May I was on duty in Gray's-inn-lane—the prosecutor's sister-in-law came to me, and I went and took the prisoner into custody, in Rose-alley, at his lodging, on Monday—I took him to the station, searched him, and took this knife out of his right hand trowsers pocket—I told him the charge at his lodging—he said he was there about six o'clock in the morning, but knew nothing of it—I have produced the prosecutor's clothes—I took the coat and waistcoat myself from his room—he was lying in the bed without his shirt—the surgeon was dressing his wound—the whole of the clothes were congealed with blood. (Caleb Robinson, of George-street, Lambeth, who had known the prisoner three years, deposed to his good character.) GUILTY .— Transported for Fifteen Years.