A Fight Between Two Colliers, Alleged Use Of The Knife

Wm. Stokes, collier, Denaby, was charged on remand with assaulting Isaac Gregory, also a collier, on the 23rd ult. Mr. F. Parker Rhodes appeared for the defendant.

Isaac Gregory said on Sunday week, I was returning home from Conisbro’ when I saw the defendant on the road, without any provocation whatever he began at me, and called me a “b—— blacksheep.” I had not been in his company that night, nor had I seen him before. He started on me because some few months ago I had to give evidence against him in this court. He struck me in my face with his fist, and then I took hold of his neckerchief and held him. He came at me a second time, and cut me on the eye with some thing sharp, at the time still holding his scarf. His wife pulled the scarf from his neck, and it was then that I received the wound. After that we proceeded along the road and we went home.

Cross-examined by Mr. Rhodes: Mr. Kilner’s groom, Jno. Hewitt, was in my company, but there were no others. I was not the worse for drink when the assault took place. I do not remember being half drunk in this court last Monday, and I do not remember being frequently ordered by the police to keep quiet. I remember that Inspect. Parker told me to go away or I should be getting before the bench. A man named Barlow was not present at the time of the assault; I never saw him that evening, the defendant spoke to me first. He did not say that he did not want to have any talk with me. He quarrelled with me at two places on the road. He struck me the first time and then I stepped back. He walked away with his wife, and went towards home, in the same direction as I was going. I followed him because I had to go the road home. I stayed behind three or four minutes, and they had got on 30 or 40 yards before me, and I ran after them. I left his wife and the groom. I ran to overtake my friend the groom, and not the defendant. I did not then take hold of the defendant by the scarf, but I did it afterwards. I did not say “Is not my talk as good as yours?” I did not try to kick him in a vital part; I did not attempt anything of the kind.

He did not catch me by the heel when I lifted my foot to kick him, and throw me over on my head backwards on some cinders. I struck him after he struck me, that was when he would not let me alone and when I had hold of his muffler, I had to take hold of him to prevent him striking me, but I did not see that he was black in the face. I did not kick the defendant on the back of his hand. We separated and got hold of one another two or three times; he did not let me alone. I did not hear him cry “He’s trying to gouge my eye out;” neither did I see at the court last week that one of his eyes was full of blood. His face was not so badly marked as mine. I saw a few scratches on his face, caused by going into the hedge bottom. I had to put him there and to hold him down nearly three minutes before he would give in, I held him down and asked if he would let me alone, and at the same time I held his scarf round his neck. That was the second or third time he had been at me. His wife was close by and he called to her, “Let him have it,” and just at that moment I was cut in the eye.

John Hewitt, groom to Mr. Kilner, said I was going along the road when the complainant and defendant had a few words, and then the defendant struck him in the face, after which they commenced to fight. I stood and saw them fight, but I do not know who got the best of it, they were both down. I was not aware that any of them was the worse for drink.

By Mr. Rhodes: A man named Barlow was not there. The defendant first called the complainant a “black sheep,” and then struck him in the face. The complainant stood in his own defence and collared him taking hold of his scarf, and they struggled on the ground but did not separate, they got up and started again. I cannot say how many rounds they had, but they had three or four sharp ones. I remember the complainant having the defendant in the hedge bottom. No one pulled the complainant off; they separated themselves. The woman took the scarf from the defendant’s neck, but I am not aware he used a knife or a pair of scissors. The complainant was tipped over by the defendant catching hold of him by the heel. He was on the ground when he was tipped over. (Laughter.)

Mrs. Hewitt, wife of last witness, was waiting for her husband on the road, and she saw the defendant and his wife (she supposed she was) come up. The defendant called the complainant a “b—— black sheep.” The defendant said, “I will give thee half-a-crown and fight thee in this field.” The defendant commenced using bad language towards the complainant. That was after the assault. A doctor’s certificate was handed to the bench, stating that the complainant was suffering from an “incision over the eye,” and was unable to follow his employment.

Mr. Rhodes, in defence, said the two men quarrelled and they fought. Gregory kicked at Stokes several times, and on one occasion Stokes took hold of his heel, spun him over, and pitched him on his head on some cinders, and that was how he sustained the cut on the eye. He urged that none of the witnesses had spoken of having seen a knife or any sharp instrument, and said that if anything of the sort had been used, some one would surely have seen it. He maintained that there had been no serious assault, and that the complainant had received no hurt except in struggling with the defendant.

Joseph Barlow said he saw the complainant and defendant fight. Stokes was walking along the road with his wife and the groom, when the complainant galloped up to them and said, “Is not my conversation as good as his?” He struck the defendant in the face, and the defendant struck him back and they fought. They got down and then up again two or three times. In the last round, the defendant called out that the complainant was gouging his eye out, and I subsequently saw that his eye was bleeding at the corner. Defendant’s wife assisted him by tearing the muffler round his neck with her hand, to enable him to breathe, as the complainant had twisted it round the defendant’s neck until he (defendant) was black in the face. At that time they were in the hedge bottom. The complainant got up and walked away, leaving the defendant, his wife, and me on the spot. He tried to kick defendant, who got hold of his foot and turned him over into the cinder heap.

The Chairman said there was no evidence to prove that a knife had been used, or the sentence would have been different, but the defendant would be fined 20s. including costs, or 14 days’ imprisonment.