SAD END OF A BOSTON MAN
THE INQUEST
THE CORONER AND THE POLICEMAN
On Friday afternoon, the body of Peregrine Samuel Curtois, who had been missing from his home since the previous afternoon, was found in a field near Wyberton Church. The deceased, who was the son of Mr. F. Curtois of Sleaford-road, Boston, was mentally afflicted and subject to epileptic fits. On Thursday morning the deceased, who was 42 years of age, left home for the purpose of visiting the Rev. J. Schofield, who resides on the Spilsby - road. He did not, however, do so. He appears to have forgotten where Mr. Schofield lived, for he asked several people to direct him to that gentleman's residence. After wandering aimlessly about the town and neighbourhood, the deceased found his way to Wyberton, and then into a field some distance from any road or footpath. The deceased's body was found close to a drain, and there is no doubt that he fell into it and scrambled out again, as his clothes were wet, his hat and bag were found in the drain, and there were marks on the bank showing that some one had been in the water. The night was bitterly cold, and there seems little doubt that the deceased, after scrambling out of the drain, was in an exhausted state, and lay down in the field and died from exposure. The body was discovered by a cottager named William Burrill, and removed to the Ship Inn, Skirbeck, to await the inquest.
The inquest was held at the Ship Inn, Skirbeck, on Monday morning, before Mr. Coroner Tuxford and the following jury:- Messrs. J. Collins (foreman), G. Wedd, R. Woods, J. Ingamells, R. T. Ketteringham, T. Judson, J. Baldwick, G. Davison, W. Patchett, G. Smith, Jos. Checkley, Jno. Jackson, and F. K. Brown.
AN INDISCRETION
The Coroner, in opening the inquiry, said: Through the indiscretion - I might use a stronger term, but I don't think it right to do so - of P.c. Clift, who acted on his own responsibility in removing the body from the parish of Wyberton, you have been taken from your businesses and called to this inquisition. If the police constable had been in doubt as to what he should have done he ought to have applied to his superior officer. I asked him why he had removed the body and the answer he gave was that there was nowhere to put it and that if he had left it the rats would have eaten it. I did not think he would leave it in the field, but there are plenty of places where it might have been taken. All a policeman has to do, if in any difficulty in that respect, is to remove the body in a respectable conveyance to the house of the churchwarden, who is compelled to find a building in which to place it. I don't wish to say anything further about it, but perhaps the superintendent of police will instruct his men to act differently in future.
Frederick Curtois, of Sleaford-road, the father of the deceased man, was the first witness. He stated: My son, who had no occupation, was 42 years of age. I last saw him alive about half-past twelve on Thursday last. He was then going through the market-place.
How did he appear then in his health?- He appeared as usual. I expected he had been to the Rev. J. Schofield's house on the Spilsby-road to leave some books. He left home with that intention. After breakfast he said "I have got my books to change. I have an appointment with Mr. Schofield at half-past ten.
SUBJECT TO FITS.
How had he been lately in his general health? Had you noticed any difference in him?- Nothing but what he was generally.
He never complained of anything?- Oh, no. He had fits regularly every month. He had regularly three or four fits, and sometimes seven or eight. I saw no difference in him on Thursday morning.
Had his fits increased in severity?- Well, I thought latterly that they had not been so severe.
This last three months have you found him more mentally afflicted?- Oh, sadly no.
When was the last attack?- On December 29th and 31st he had three fits and on New Years Day he had four.
You generally went out with him?- Whenever I have had a doubt about him I have always accompanied him, but I could not always be with him. I had no idea he was worse on the day he was missing. I should have gone with him if I had thought it was not safe for him to be alone.
The Foreman: Did you hear that he had a bad fall in Emery-lane on Thursday?- Witness: No.
John Wright, labourer, Wyberton, deposed: Last Thursday night about a quarter-past six o'clock I met the deceased between Mr. Dunning's drive and the church at Wyberton. He stopped and asked me where Mr. Schofield lived. I told him that there was no man of that name at Wyberton but that a man of that name lived at Boston. I did not see him again.
What was his appearance? Did he seem excited?- He seemed as if he had had a few glasses of beer.
No, poor fellow, he hadn't. Did he seem dazed?- Yes.
Was he perfectly quiet?-Yes. His clothes were not torn.
A juror: Which way was he going?- He was going towards the schools.
The Juror: That is in the direction he was found?- Yes.
Joshua Clark, labourer, Wyberton, deposed: On Saturday I found a black portmanteau in the dike between Mr Dunning's lawn and a field. It was full of water. I found it close beside a private footbridge.
FINDING THE BODY.
The Coroner (to P.c. Clift): Have you got the servant girl here?
P.c. Clift: No, sir. I thought Wright would do as well.
The Coroner: You had no business to think. It is your duty to act. I told you to have her here, but I did not issue a summons as she lived so near. You appear to have done nothing except what you ought not to have done.
Supt. Costar: What do you want the girl for?
The Coroner: The deceased knocked at the house where she lived and she noticed that the man was excited. I wanted her to prove the state of the man's mind. I must not trust to these policemen any longer; I must issue summonses.
THE MEDICAL EVIDENCE.
Dr. Reckitt was then called and deposed: I made a postmortem examination of the body on Saturday. I found that the body was well nourished. Externally I found red patches over the front of the right leg and a small red patch over the front of the left leg just below the knee. There was a small abrasion an inch long by half-an-inch in width in the middle of the red patch. There were no other signs of violence except one or two abrasions on the knuckles of the left hand.
Do you think they had been caused by scrambling out of the sewer?- Yes. Internally I found that in the brain the blood vessels on the surface were congested, opacity of pia arachnoid, slight hyperaemia on right cerebral lobe, lymph deposits on both cerebral lobes on either side of great fissure, nothing abnormal on section, heart healthy and valves competent, lungs healthy, no mucus froth in air passages. The liver, kidney and spleen were all healthy.
What is the result of your postmortem so far as regards the cause of death?- My opinion is that the cause of death was exposure. I do not think the conditions found in his brain were sufficient to cause death. The inflammatory mischief found in the brain possibly caused him to be stranger than usual, and in that way indirectly led to his death, which resulted from exposure.
You feel certain there was no violence offered to him?- Oh, yes, no violence at all.
The Foreman:- Would a nasty fall backwards on his head cause what you found?- No. What I found in his brain had been there some time.
The Foreman:- The deceased got a very nasty fall in Emery-lane on Thursday morning. He had to be helped up and had to sit for some minutes before he could stand?- It would not cause the condition I found the brain to be in. It had existed for some time and was probably the cause of him having been a little bit queerer lately.
A Juror:- Is it Dr. Reckitt's opinion that he had a fit at the time?
Dr. Reckitt:- I can't say that.
WHAT THE CONSTABLE OUGHT TO HAVE DONE.
P.c. Clift deposed: On Friday afternoon I received information that the body of a man had been found in a field at Wyberton. I went over and found that the body was lying three or four yards from the drain. I examined the body, but did not find any marks of violence except for a few scratches on his hands and wrists. I examined the drain and about ten yards from the body I found a hat under the ice; I had to break the ice to get it out.
It must have been there all night?- Yes, it was frozen over. I examined the bank and I could see where someone had got out of the drain by the bank side. The grass was pulled about. He had slipped down where he had got out, the ground being soft. I got assistance and conveyed the body to this house.
The Coroner: You know you have done wrong?
Witness: Yes.
The Coroner: If you had any doubt about what you should do you should have consulted your superior officer.
Witness: I proposed to take the body to a building belonging to Mr. C. King, but was told the rats would interfere with it.
The Coroner: You ought to have taken the body to the churchwarden's house, and the churchwardens and overseers would have been obliged to find a place. I know of several places where you could have taken the body. If this had happened in other parts of the district where there are two coroners it might have caused serious trouble to them and othere people. For the future consult your superior officer. It appears in this case you acted on your own responsibility.
Supt. Costar (to witness): Did you search the body?- Yes. I found a £1 15s. 111/2d. in money, two knives, a bunch of keys, and a pocket book.
The Foreman, in reply to the coroner, said he did not see the deceased fall in Emery-lane on Thursday morning, but his daughter did; it was about ten o'clock.
The Coroner said he had heard that the deceased on Thursday had asked two or three people the way to Mr. Schofield's house. If he had asked him such a question he should have given warning to his friends.
Supt. Costar said he saw the deceased and spoke to him, but he did not answer him.
The Coroner, in summing up, said the deceased was what was called an epileptic, and a sudden mental disturbance was one of the sequela of epilepsy. There was no doubt about the mental aberration of the deceased on Thursday. All the evidence pointed to the fact that deceased was non compos mentis. He had visited Mr. Schofield for years, but had actually forgotten where he lived and had enquired of various people where his residence was. The deceased appeared to have wandered as far as Wyberton and fallen into a drain, and from the evidence there was no doubt he had a terrible struggle to get out again. The result of the postmortem examination showed that death was not due to violence. He did not ask Dr. Reckitt if he thought it was a case of suicide, because there was nothing to point to it.
The jury returned a verdict that death was due to exposure.
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