CO129-584-14 Commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment. Includes 9 photographs depicting- [CN 3-42] Commutation of... 22-12-1939 - 17-9-1940 — Page 34

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and I sincerely hope never will be the law and I shall

confine myself to telling you of one case decided by a

very eminent judge many years ago, because like good wine,

good law is all the better for keeping.

In this case the prisoner waylaid a man and when the

man showed fight he hit him with an iron bar across one

finger and cut it rather badly. That is all that happened.

One blow with an iron bar and a bad cut on the finger. The

wounded man went to the doctor and the doctor said "This is

a nasty wound you have got. I would advise you to have the

finger amputated. " The man said "No fear, I am not going

to have my finger amputated.“ He had a dressing applied to

the wound on the finger but lock-jaw set in and in spite of

a belated amputation the man died of lock-jaw.

When his trial

came on the Mr. Macnamara of that trial confidently advanced

the defence which the Mr. Macnamara of this trial has advanced

here today, but Justice Maule would have none of it. He told

the jury that if the prisoner wilfully inflicted the wound

which was ultimately the cause of death he was guilty of

murder. In so doing he was following the law which had

been laid down constantly and without criticism since the

days of Queen Elizabeth and it is still the law. If a man

inflicts wounds of the nature we have heard of he has got to

take the risk of the victim's not finding a skilled and

appropriate person to dress them. If there is nobody to

tend the wounds then he is answerable if death ensues.

It will be for you to say whether death was directly

connected here with the wounds but the fact that the wounds

might have been healed if a doctor had been walking round

the village that day who would have been able to give

immediate attention, you can put out of your mind entirely.