Charged with Murder
At Warwick, before Mr. Justice Hawkins, THERESA ROONEY and JOSEPH LESTER, the younger, were charged with the wilful murder of Colonel George Newton Fendall on February 26 last and JOSEPH LESTER, the elder, and ANN LESTER, the parents of the younger Lester, were charged with being accessories after the fact to the murder. Mr. Etherington Smith and Mr. Colmore instructed by the Solicitor to the Treasury appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Young and Mr. Cartland, instructed by Mr. Hebbert, of Birmingham for the defence. The deceased gentleman was in command of the regimental district at Shrewsbury, and on Saturday, February 26, he went to Birmingham with the intention of attending a performance of the Carl Rosa Opera Company there. Previously, to leaving Shrewsbury he drew a sum of £18 from the paymaster, £15 of which he left behind him, but as far as could be ascertained he was in possession of some £6 or £7 when he went to Birmingham.
He dined at the Great Western Hotel, and paid for his dinner with half a sovereign, receiving the change. He left the hotel shortly before 8 o'clock, being then perfectly sober. Nothing was known of his movements till shortly after 10, when he and the girl Rooney went together into Redpath's liquor, bar in Bull street, and were served with a glass of port each. Colonel Fendll was then still sober. He paid for the wine with another half sovereign, and as he was getting the change Rooney left the shop. She was absent for about two minutes, and then returned and joined Colonel Fendall. Almost immediately after her return, the prisoner Joseph Lester and a friend of his named Reddall entered the shop, but did not speak to her. Colonel Fendall ordered another glass of port; but did not drink it as it was accidentally upset. Colonel Fendall and Rooney soon left, and were followed out almost immediately by Lester and Reddall. It appeared that when Rooney left Redpath's she had gone to another public house, the Dolphin, 100 yards or so away, and had there spoken to Lester, who had consequently left the Dolphin and come to Redpath's.
On leaving Redpath's Colonel Fendall and Rooney were driven in a cab to Fox's wine vaults in Corporation street, a distance of some 250 yards. They both got out of the cab and went into Fox's, where a pint bottle of champagne was purchased, and paid for by Colonel Fendall with another half sovereign. He was then intoxicated. They took the bottle with them and got into the cab again, and were driven to Lancaster street, where they got out and walked up Bagot street to an entry leading to the house occupied by Rooney and the younger Lester. The cabman said that Colonel Fendall did not appear to be sober then. After some apparent hesitation, Rooney persuaded Colonel Fendall to go into the house, and no eye-witness could, of course, be called to say what took place there.
A Mrs. Jones, however, who occupies the adjoining house - the intervening wall being very thin - heard first singing, then the sound of angry voices talking and the moving of furniture, and then an exclamation of "Oh, my God." After that there was silence, and then she heard footsteps going down the entry. The next thing that was known was that shortly before 11 o'clock Rooney went to the Dolphin, without her hat and shawl and with blood on her fingers, and said to Reddall, "Have you seen Joe?" Reddall replied "No; what is the matter?" and she then said " I've pushed a man downstairs; he's very near dead, I can't make nothing on it." She wanted Reddall to go to the house wvith her, but he refused, and she left him. About half past 11 she hailed a cabman named Vernon in Lancaster-street, near Bagot street, and took him to her house. There Vernon found Colonel Fendall lying insensible and bleeding from the ear. He had on neither coat nor waistcoat nor braces, and his shirt was torn and bloody.
She told Vernon she did not know what was the matter with the gentleman, and said to him, " Don't you say where you've brought him from; say you found him in the Aston or the Lichfield road." She and Vernon got Colonel Fendall to the cab and took him to the General Hospital, where she repeated the story that she had picked him up in the road. She also gave a false address. After she had gone away the authorities at the hospital found Colonel Fendall's injuries to be serious, and the police took the matter up. About 4 a.m. two officers called at Rooney's house, and there found her and Lester. They told her, "A man has been taken from here this evening badly injured." She said, No one from here. I picked up a man in the street and took him to the hospital.' Vernon, the cabman, was sent for and confronted with her, and then she said, " I'll tell you the truth. He fell down the stairs."
The house was searched, but had evidently been tidied up before the police came. Colonel Fendall's overcoat and braces were missing, and in the ashes under the grate was found the brass part of a pair of argosy braces such as he had been wearing. Rooney and Lester were arrested. It was subsequently ascertained that earlier in the night, about 1 30 a.m., she and Lester had gone together to the house of a friend of theirs named Hardiker at Hockley, some mile and a half away. Rooney had a dark overcoat over her head and gave it to Hardiker with two sovereigns, saying "Here, take care of this; it's Joe's coat." Lester stood by and said nothing.
There was nothing to show where Lester had been between, the time when he left Redpath's just after Rooney and the time when he was with her at Eardiker's, except that he had told Reddall he was going home and had gone in that direction when he left him. When arrested he said he had not come home till close on 12.
Colonel Fendall died at 7 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, the 27th, having been insensible from the time he was taken into the hospital. The case against the elder prisoners, as accessories after the fact, was that they two days afterwards got from Hardiker the money and coat, and made away with them, so that they could not be traced.
The Court adjourned before the case was finished.
Convicted of manslaughter
'THERESA ROONEY and JOSEPH LESTER, the younger, convicted on Thursday of the manslaughter of Colonel Fendall, Commanding the Shropshire Light Infantry, and JOSEPH LESTER, the elder, and ANN LESTER, parents of the younger, Lester, found guilty of being accessories after the fact were brought up yesterday morning at Warwick Assizes before Mr.Justice Hawkins for sentence. His Lordship said he had, after the verdict returned the previous night, with which he then expressed dissatisfaction, considered seriously whether he should act upon the jury's finding. He thought, however, it would be more constitutional to do so. The jury had acquitted Rooney and Lester of murder and also of assaulting and robbing Colonel Fendall with violence, and as they did not believe that he was wilfully pushed downstairs it was difficult to understand on what they based their verdict. Perhaps they thought there was some roughness or brutality used to the Colonel while in the house without any criminal intention. Had he thought that there was he should have passed severe sentence.
As they had been in gaol some considerable time he should only sentence Rooney and Lester, the younger, each to three months' imprisonment, and the elder Lesters each to one week. The result would be that the two latter would be immediately discharged.