Thomas Nicolle

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Maureen Withey on 10th October 2025

MURDER AT JERSEY.- On Wednesday last, Thomas Nicolle was tried for the murder of Simon Levy, on the 9th of January last. The particulars of the case appeared at the time. It will be recollected that a quarrel had taken place between the prisoner and the deceased ; and that on the day in question the prisoner fired at the deceased, who was at a cafe called Seward's Cafe, at St. Helier's. The balls from the musket also inflicted serious  injury upon Mary Cooke, the housekeeper of Mr. Seward. The counsel for the prisoner endeavoured to show that he was insane. The jury retired, and after an absence of nearly an hour, the foreman announced to the court that their opinions were divided.  According to ancient custom in such cases, the jury individually then delivered their opinion in a whisper to the bailiff. This ceremony having been gone through, it a was found that ten were of opinion that the prisoner was guity of wilful murder and three that he was labouring under insanity at the period of the commission of the fatal act. The Chief Judge (Sir John de Veulle) announced to the prisoner  that this was a verdict of guilty. The prisoner then claimed the benefit of the grand jury, which was to be immediately convened. ...   Daily News, 25 March 1846.  THE JERSEY MURDER. On Wednesday, the 18th inst., Thomas Nicolle was arraigned before the Royal Court of Jersey for the murder of Simeon Levi, and for dangerously wounding Mary Cook. The trial lasted till ten o'clock on Friday night. The prisoner was  first tried, agreeably to Jersey law, by thirteen jurats, selected from the inhabitants of St. Heliers: Sir John De Veulle, the bailiff, presiding, and seven other judges on the Bench. The Attorney-General and Solicitor- General conducted the prosecution ; and Mr. Advocate Hammond made a long defence, with much eloquence and ingenuity. He argued that the prisoner was suffering under monomania ;that that he was drunk; that he was angry only with the landlord, and could not have wished to shoot Levi; that there was no proof of his being the person who committed the act. He had been known to fight with his own shadow, and had once been found vacantly staring at a door, on which he had written the words ''Mad Nicolle  On that fatal night, he had drank three glasses of gin and water, and his share of two bottles of Champagne. The counsel for the defence did not call any witnesses; but the Attorney-General was permitted to reply, dwelling principally on the evidence of the identity of the prisoner, and his expressed intention to commit murder. A majority of the jury found him guilty on both counts of the accusation. His counsel then claimed the privilege of the grand inquest ; and accordingly on Friday morning, the prisoner was again arraigned before that tribunal, a sort of special jury of gentlemen from the whole island. The official prosecutor read the Acte d'Accusation, and the written depositions of the witnesses. Mr. Hammond again spoke in defence ; the Attorney-General again replied ; the presiding Bailiff summed up, and the jury unanimously found the following curious verdict. That the prisoner was more guilty than innocent of the charges brought against him. Mr. Hammond addressed the Court in mitigation of sentence ; the Attorney-General formally demanded that he be sentenced to death, in the sanguinary spirit of the old law, which regards the prosecutor as the avenger of blood. The Bailiff then passed sentence of death, and the prisoner was removed in irons. The trial excited great interest in the island, and will in  this city, where the deceased Levi was well-known and respected. Western Times, 28 March 1846.  Jersey—The trial of Thomas Nicolle, for the wilful murder of Mr. Simson Levy of Exeter. the optician, took place before the petty jury of St. Helier, in the Jersey Royal Court, last week: It continued throughout the day. Longford Journal, 18 April 1846. Case of Thomas Nicolle, of Jersey.—lt will be remembered that this individual was lately found guilty of murder at Jersey, and is now under sentence of death. His case appears to excite considerable  interest in the island, and a petition has been forwarded to Sir James Graham, reciting no fewer than 12 allegations of irregularities in the proceedings, and impeaching generally the legality of the verdict and sentence, a difference of opinion amongst the Jurats, and the absence of some of the number, constitute the main grounds of Appeal to the Home Secretary, whose decision upon the subject is not known. Morning Advertiser, 7 April 1846.

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Dianne Nicholls-Bull on 10th October 2025

Born St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 1819 Married Charlotte Shaw, Launceston 7 Feb 1859