Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

The following Thursday at The Black Bull Inn in Ecclesfield, Mr. B. Badge, Coroner for that
district of Yorkshire, conducted the inquest. The body of the child was on full view. The
various witnesses gave evidence, the Coroner summed up, the Jury retired and a few minutes
later they returned with a verdict of wilful murder. The Coroner then issued a warrant for
Esther Dyson’s committal to York Castle for trial at the following Lent Assizes and on a
charge of the wilful murder of her female bastard child. The local Sheffield newspaper
commented not only on Esther Dyson’s good looks but also on the observation of the coroner
that she was very shrewd and cunning.
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It is likely that she walked from Ecclesfield to York where she was remanded in custody in
the Women’s Prison, the cells of which, as you see here, now form part of the York Castle
Museum.
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At the 1831 York Spring Assizes, held in the 18 th century court house which is still in use
today, Esther Dyson, was indicted for the wilful murder of her bastard child by cutting off its
head. As she had been born ‘deaf and dumb’ the case excited the greatest interest and the
galleries were crowded. She was dressed in a coloured silk bonnet, a light calico printed dress
and a red cloak. She had the appearance of a respectable female in the lower walks of life.
James Henderson, the overlooker from the mill, who had known her for ten years said that he
could communicate with her by signs. However, he said that it was impossible to make her
understand by signs that she might object to any gentlemen of the jury as she pleased and,
although she had been instructed in the ‘dumb alphabet’, she could not put words together.
The jury was told that, if they were satisfied that she had not then, from the defect of her
faculties, intelligence enough to understand the nature of the proceedings, they ought to find