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Serious Assault near Conway

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Serious Assault near Conway AN ITINERANT MUSICIAN'S RUFFIANLY ACT A SENTENCE OF SIX MONTHS' IM- PRISONMENT. THE PRISONER'S DIARY. Aa Winifred Williams a parlourmaid, Who. has boen in the employ of Councillor James Porter, at Berthlwvd, Conway, for several years—was on her way to Church on Sunday evening, she met an itinerant vocalist, giving the name of Arthur Sandy, as she approached Bryngvuog Farm, just outside Conway town. Tho man, who wa.s quite a stranger to her, made some in- quiries with reference to the different places of worship and the roads in the district. The maid formally answered his questions and proceeded T; her way. The ctranger followed, however, and, after addressing a few more words to her, he apparently dropped behind, crept up to her (juietly and, before she could give utteranco to her alarm, he put one hand to her mouth and applied another to her nostrile, thereby effectively preventing her screaming. A struggle ensued, the man exerting his utmost endeavours to drag her into the old disused quarry near Caegilod. Miss Wil- liams made a desperate effort to pull her assailant's hand off her mouth, and in the Struggle both fell to the ground. Eventually, just as she was fast reaching a state of suffocation, she managed to wrench the hand away. She promptly cried out for help. Sandy is alleged to have threatened to kill her if she repeated the cry. The maid oried again, however, and a farm hand who fortunately happened to be passing at the time, heard her. He at once ran to her rrscue and Sandy took to his heals. By this time the girl was in a very exhausted state. and her rescuer, seeing her distress, gave u-n the chase after the offender, who soon disappeared in the darkness. A MAN HUNT: TOWNSPEOPLE IN PURSUIT. Supt. Rees was soon afterwards informed and he at once proceeded with the girl in search of Sandy. They met him in due course as he was making his way back into Conway. The Superintendent spoke to him, but before Mr Rees could get a grip of hi6 arm, Sandy darted away into the ccrtmtry at top speed. News of the outrage circulated through- out the town in a remarkably short space of time the police were soon in command ja OTOr a dozen civilians, who had volunteered to take part in the man- hunt. They scoured the whole neighbour- hood between Conway and Sychnant Pass several hours being industriously devoted to the work. Meanwhile, however, P.C. Jones whose suspicions had been aroused proceeded to a house in Berry-street, where Sandy was known to have lodged on the previous even- ts- It then transpired that he had doubled back on his pursuers, and sought shelter in his anartmenfc. A sharp scuffle took place between him and P.C. Jones, but he was duly taken in custody to the police station. BEFORE THE MAGISTRATES. The sequel was heard before his worship ^r' Arthur Prichard), and Mr Wm. Bevan, at a special sitting of the Conway court on Monday. Sandy, who was described as a son of bamuel Sandy, of St. James' road, Shir- ley ne-ar Southampton, proved to be'a tall, slightly-built man of about 3D years of age wearing a comparatively neat suit of black clothes. His face was ashenly pale. and this was emphasised by the fact that his plentiful crop of hair and heavy moustache were raven black. He was charged with assaulting Winifred Williams, and also with assaulting P.C. Jones whilst in the ex- ecution of his duty. The proceedings, which were oonducted by Superintendent Rees were attended by as many of the pub- lic as could be admitted into the limited space afforded in the court room. Superintendent Rees briefly outlined the nature of the case at the outset, and stated that the prisoner, when formally charged that (Monday) morning, replied "Yes, I admit it. I must have been Concluding, Mr Roes said: This your worships, is one of the most serious charges of assault. The maid in question is a most respectable girl, and as I have already indi- cated she was on her way to Church when this happened. In justice to the public genorally, I ask vou to impose the maxi- mum penalty the law allows. Of course, I look upon the assault upon the girl as more serious than the assault upon the police. THE COMPLAINANT'S STORY. Winifred Williams, the complainant, was then put into the witness-box. A good- looking girl, sue was becomingly attired, and gave her evidence in a "nervous though quite lucid manner. She said: I am a parlourmaid, engaged at Berthlwyd. Be- tween six and seven o'clock last night I was coming down to the Church. This side of Bryngynog I saw the prisoner. He didn t say anything at first, but went as far as Bryngynog and turned back. He asked: "Is this the main road?" I said' aj that the Bangor-road was the main road. I told him that that road went up to the mountain. He asked if there was an English service in one of the ^hurohes, and I said there was one at St. A-gnes's Church, up the road, and also that there aa a service at the Parish Church. rVi„ tU 8aj i been searching for the E0SVndbe £ ad missed i'i» w, mSf „ He alao said that 1,4 could not speak Welsh—onlv thre* words— larni ™ from the north of Eng- Terrkrxa CTIW &1°ng as far 36 J "bile* hirnl ? hoii came quietly from be- fac,~ o aRd caught hold of me across and'p,He put one hand across my mouth I wa^ n £ htimj n*Se "\th other> until trifkri <■ ear^ suffocated. I struggled and tmd to scream and to get away. He said • AT?- .or v,n H"vou- 1 k then ave ^eaid a footstep or something scream lia,nd ioo^ned a bit, and I screamed as loud as I oould. He again We f«ll Y°Uii 1 m°,lf 1 made more noise, ed TI, §ROUND, and I again scream- younJma t.hls,/oung fellow (indicating a ran Vn ? court room) came up. I I had W i was then, because then ra^n nea$,v suffocat*d. Prisoner Praver T!^l y'u- { ? man fetched my in thp o ffiW had fallen to the ground station'' X"'0 feU *> tb* by K'prboner 0a my fa<* ™ The Mayor: Where was he walking Mart he attacked you? 1 c?me "P S-i'-tly behind me. J,c! 11 hlm unlil he was close to Irian1? Ma,or: And d° recognise that Witness (decisively): Oh v^s MTOT' You sa>' i-wi^ud y°" r:rfal«d it four times. ^I c^\Sp,'Un^tu?8Sy ««• Yes, T0U camt> Qutetly bchin(, Prisoner: I was walking alongside you at tho time. TO THE RESCUE. John Parry, farm servant, at Maesllan, way lKtw«n sii anTSn night, along the upper rOad, when, just I was opposite Bryrsiriol. I heard a woman •creaming. I stopped for a e^ond W0D?an tod then walked along. I hJ2d 1 ° eacond time. Then I Sf 3 SCre4alin road in the direction from whence thp^i »nd I saw two ptiS and this young in the ■houted eaCl1^ tnem the girl Come here, man; comThlre Sd"P^5To II the £ e f T't H° Lthen ran d°^ the vouna after. him' but- h«ar- to her because c7mgl 1 went back liui t her 1° thought he might havo and UfiS' n'tL' h* M Bmo-thercd me*,J h<^ hu-li* » when lTst them yaTi^6 tJie road Ve- trying to drag her inte apP?ared t0 dose by. into the old quarry <fd her praylr bcok^and' mise' 1 it. I fhen acoo^Vnt'? "T'V f,0r poh.* ^on. Jown to ^e Tory well He is tU n«n T P^son'l• yory vrell He is t-ile r-lan I isam ing in 1 IL'ojtle-gtrewt an Saturday nii ght. | J Supt. Rees (to prisoner): Have you any questions to put? i' Prisoner: '1ho man is an utter stranger to me. I don't know him. WHAT THE LANDLORD HEARD. Plerbert Jones, billposter, of 25, Cer:.v- street, Conway, said prisoner lodged with him. About nine o'clock on Sunday even- ing Sandy walked into the kitchen and j-aid lie had been for a walk. He then ad led that he had met a young lady and haj taken her for a walk. Supt. Rees: Come now, Jones. Didn't i you tell me this morning lie had met a young woman on the road and that he had thrown her down P W itness: Yes, and he said she screamed, and that ho had run away. Prisoner (to witness): You were autho- rised by the police to use the words you have just said —— The Mayor.: That is a statement. If you have any questions you can put them to him. You can make your statement later on. The Clerk (Mr James Porter): What he suggests is that what you have said has been put into your mouth bv the police. Did he tell you what the Supt. has just put to you P Witness: Oh, yes. THE POLICE EVIDENCE. Supt. Rees then deposed to being called into the policy station about 7.30 on the previous evening. He there saw the com- plainant. Her dress was covered with dirt, and after she had made a complaint to him he accompanied her as far as Caegilod. They there met the prisoner. Complainant immediately recognised him as the man who had assaulted her. Witness asked him to to come with him to the police station as he was charged with assault. As soon as lie heard that prisoner iiiume iuteiy took to his heels, making for tire countiy Ac- companied by a number of civilians the police then wont in search of the prisoner, lie was afterwards arrested. P.C. Jones, of Gyffin, said he had been summoned ou duty about ten o'clock on the previous evening, and he proceeded to 25, Berry-street. He saw the landlord outside, and asked whether the prisoner was in. Jonas, the landlord, replied in the affirma- tive. Then, proceeded witness, I walked into the house where I saw the prisoner. I touched him on the shoulder, told him I was a police constable, and that I would have vour turn in a minute. Prisoner (interrupting): Don't smile, man. There's notning to smile at- The Mayor: He's not smiling- Don't in- terrupt. Go on, Jones. Witness (continuing): Ho then swore at me, took hold of me, and —— Prisoner (excitedly): Speak the truth, man. The Mayor: Be quiet, will you? You will have you turp in a minute. Prisoner. Why doesn't he speak the truth instead of telling all these .lies? P.O. Jones: He took hold of me and tried to strangle me I should say. He then hit n^ on the side of the head until my cap-I was in civilan clotlier,ivas flying. I then gripped liim and throttled him on the couch- We struggled for abooit ten minutes. I asked tlie landlord to help me and I then put the ''grip" on him, and brought him up here. He twisted my fin- gers and his nails liave cut my flesh as you can see, your worships. In reply to Supt. Rees prisoner sulkily observed lie had no questions to put to tho constable. constable. The Mayor (to prisoner): Now what have you to say for yourself? Prisoner: Well, sir, half the evidence offered is lies and the other half is truts. That is aH I have to say. The Clerk: Do you want to give evidence younself ? NO MURDER MEANT. Prisoner: All I wish to say is that there was no assault made- There was no inten- tion to murder; that was far from my mind. There was no intention to murder or commit any indecent assault. What Frompted me to do it I don't' know. As told the Chief Constable th;~ morning, I must have been mad. No sane man would have done what I did last night. All I can say is that I am very sorry, and I fully apologise to the young lady (a laugn). if she thinks it fit to rorgive me I shall be very glad—very much relieved. The Mayor: Mr Supt., do you know any- thing about the prisoner? Supt. Rees: Oh, yes, sir. In October, 1902, he had three months for an indecent assault —— Prisoner (emphatically): It was a common assault. Supt. Rees: Quite so. We know the oharge was reduced to that. Then there was another case in 1899, when he was charged with attempting to commit sui- cide. THE MAXIMUM PENALTY. The Chairman: Prisoner, your case is a very, very bad one indeed very bad. According to your own evidence you admit you were there with this young girl, and that you took advantage of her, and this on ft dark night, in a lonelv nlace. My colleague and I have discussed the matter, and we both only wish we could deal more severely with you. However, we are not entitled by law to sentence you to a longer term of imprisonment than six months. We therefore sentence you to six months' imprisonment with hard labour, and I say again I only wish we could prive you more. I hope this will be a lesson to you not to go about the country terrifying and abus- ing people in this fashion. Supt. Rees: In that case, sir, I withdraw the case against the prisoner with refer- ence to assault upon the constat^- The prisoner took the sentence very light- beartedly, and a few minutes later his laughter over an inane joke of his own rang throughout the courtroom. A METHODICAL BEGGAR. Sandy had been engaged for some timQ past in parading through various parts of the kingdom, earning a nveliho-od as a street vocalist, and, judging from the little ac- count book discovered in his possession, he must have found tho business a tolerably lucrative one. His daily takings were methodically entered, minute details boing given as to place and date of visit witn the exact sum collected and the expenses to and fro, with the cost of living, etc. There were also comparative statements bearing on the progress made from week to week. From the particulars it would appear that ho had already tramped the whole of Angle- sey, the best part of Carnarvonshire and Denbighshire, in North Wales, whilst the border counties had claimed scant atten- tion, owing, presumably, to lack of patron- age.

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