R v Richard Gilham
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1828 |
| Date | 01 January 1828 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 168 E.R. 1235
LINCOLN'S INN
Questioned, A. -G. v. Briant, 1846, 15 L. J. Ex 265 Considered, R v. Day, 1847, 11 J. P. 245. Referred to, R. v. Scott, 1865, 2 Jur. (N. S.) 1096; R. v. Gillis, 1866, 11 Cox C. C. 69
1828. rex v. richard gilham. (A confession made in consequence of persuasion by a clergyman, not with any view of temporal benefit, is admissible.) [Questioned, A.-G. v. Briant, 1846, 15 L. J. Ex. 265 Considered, R v. Daij, 1847, 11 J. P. 245. Referred to, R. v. Scott, 1865, 2 Jur. (N. S.) 1096 ; R. v. Gittis, L866, 11 Cox C. C. 69] The prisoner was tried and convicted before Mr Justice Littledale at the Spring Assizes at Tauntou, in the year 1828, for the wilful murder of Maria Bagnall at Bath, and the learned Judge passed sentence upon him, but respited the execution in order that the opinion of the Judges might be taken whether the various confessions of the prisoner, after his interviews with the chaplain, ought, under the circumstances, to have been received in evidence [187] The deceased, Maria Baguall, who was a servant in the house of Mrs. Coxe at Bath, was murdered at a late hour in the evening of Saturday the 26th of January, or early in the morning of Sunday the 27th The prisoner, who was also a servant in the house of Mrs. Coxe, was examined as a witness before the coroner's inquest on Sunday the 27th January ; and was also examined before the mayor of Bath at several different times. On Wednesday, the 30th of January, he was apprehended, and on Thursday, the 31st, he denied having any property in Bath except at Mrs. Coxe'b ; but, on the isame Thursday, eight packages of different articles belonging to Mrs. Coxe, which had been found in a room hired by the prisoner, were brought to the Town Hall, and opened in his presence. He then went into the beadle's room, and said to the gaoler, " Well, they'll hang me, for this I know , but I thank God I am innocent of the murder." The gaoler said to him, " Don't add lies to crime " He was afterwards taken to the gaol ; and the gaoler saw him the next morning, Friday, the 1st of February he was very much distressed, and the gaoler said that he should not be doing his duty if he did not tell him (the prisoner) that it was his firm opinion that he was the man who did the deed. The prisoner clasped his hands together the gaoler said It is done now, and cannot be helped " ; the prisoner said, " No, it cannot." The prisoner had the Bible and the Whole Duty of Man by him ; the gaoler pointed out several passages for him to read in the Prayer Book, particularly the opening sentences of the service, and told him if he wished to have a spiritual adviser he would endeavour to get him one , and after some conversation the prisoner expressed a wiah to have the chaplain of the gaol. [188] The chaplain, on being applied to by the gaoler, first went to the magistrates, and then to the prisoner, at about half past eleven on Friday. The chaplain asked the prisoner v\hy he sent to him ; the prisoner answered, to 1236 REX V. RICHARD GILHAM 1 MOOD. 189. read and pray with him, as he could not do it himself, or make use of the books which were lying before him, which were the Bible, Prayer Book, and Whole Duty of Man. The prisoner said he knew he was a sinner and should soon die The chaplain asked him how he knew it; he replied, he had been told at the Hall he should be hanged for taking the goods of his mistress ; and he then admitted that he had purloined a few things from her. The chaplain saw he was in a very perturbed and distressed state of mind, and asked mm if there was not something still more heavy on his conscience : he said he knew he was a sinner as other men, and he knew he was suspected of the unhappy murder. The chaplain told him if he was innocent to maintain bis innocence , but if not, his own heart would tell him. The chaplain, as the minister of God, thought it was his duty to warn him not to add sin to sin, by attempting to dissemble with God. The chaplain then asked him, as he confessed himself a sinner, and as he thought he should soon die, whether he would not wish to repent of his sins : he answered in the affirmative. The chaplain then explained to him what he considered to be the nature of true repentance, and, amongst other things, that it was not a mere acknowledgment of sin, but a deep search into ourselves, and by the purity of the Gospel, whenever we found ourselves deep defaulters, to confess the same before God, with a deep contrition on our part for having violated the law of God. The chaplain [189] told him, that before God it would be better for him to confess his sins. The chaplain also told him, that, next to confessing his bins before God, another most important part of the duty of repentance was to repair, by all possible means in his power, every injury of whatsoever nature he had done to his fellow-creatures ; he enlarged very considerably on his repairing the injuries he had done his fellow-creatures, as forming a branch of true repentance ; and he said he might say, and repairing any injury done to the laws of his country The chaplain stated that the prisoner was then extremely agitated he read to him part of the commination service, commenting upon it as he went along. He thought at one time that the prisoner wab on the point of making some immediate communication to him, and he asked him if he should send for Mr. Bourne (the gaoler) ; meaning it with a view of the prisoner making a communication to Bourne, because he considered he had made a great impression on the prisoner. The chaplain stated the prisoner's agitation and perturbed state of mind during the interview was so great, that he could not help being aware that the prisoner had something pressing on his nimd , and the chaplain said, while that was the case, he could tell the prisoner, and the prisoner would feel, that no services of his would afford him what he wished they should do, real comfort , telling him also he must be aware that he, as a minister of God, had but one object in view, to bring him to a state of true repentance ; and that he could not but himself feel sensible that he was more concerned in the dreadful deed than he had admitted ; that he did not wish him to confess to him, but to bear in mind the subject on which he had talked to him and read to him The [190] prisoner was evidently so worked upon by what had been said, that the chaplain could not but observe it to him, and asked him, whether his conscience did not bear witness to the truth of what he had advanced. The chaplain soon after left him, the prisoner having expressed a wish to see him again He then went and reported to the magistratea what had passed between them ; and having recovered himself a little from the agitation he was in from so painful an interview, went to the prisoner again a little before three on the same day, and resumed theteiiour of his conversation upon repentance, in all its several branches he entreated the prisoner to weigh what he had said to him of the duty of repentance, and confessing his sins before God, and repairing, by every possible means, any injury he had done to his fellow-creatures As the prisoner had himself...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
R. v. Church of Scientology of Toronto and Zaharia, (1987) 18 O.A.C. 321 (CA)
...[para. 237]. Wilson v. Rastall (1792), 4 Term R. 753; 100 E.R. 1283 (K.B.), refd to. [para. 237]. R. v. Gilham (1828), 1 Moody C.C. 186; 168 E.R. 1235 (C.C.C.R.), refd to. [para. Broad v. Pitt (1828), 5 Car. & P. 518; 172 E.R. 528 (C.P.), refd to. [para. 237]. Greenlaw v. King (1838), 1......
-
R v Ebanks (KF)
...on appeal, [1988] A.C. 660; [1988] 1 All E.R. 203. (7) Normanshaw v. NormanshawUNK(1893), 69 L.T. 468, followed. (8) R. v. GilhamENR(1828), 1 Mood. C.C. 186; 168 E.R. 1235. (9) R. v. Griffin(1853), 6 Cox, C.C. 219, considered. (10) R. v. HayENR(1860), 2 F. & F. 4; 175 E.R. 933, considered. ......