Wednesday, 6th February 1857. Before His Honour, Sir Valentine Fleming, Chief Justice. The Solicitor General conducted the prosecutions.
Stabbing and Wounding - Henry Craig, a respectable-looking young man, was capitally charged with feloniously stabbing and wounding John McGinnes, on the 11th of November, with intent to murder him. A second count charged the prisoner with the intent to do him some grievous bodily harm. The prisoner was defended by Mr Knight.
From the evidence of the prosecutor, who is the Chief District Constable at Bothwell, it was shown that the prisoner came to his house, about 11 o’clock on the night of the day mentioned, and told him that he had been insulted by two men, and had called for the Police, without effect; witness went with him to the constable on the beat, who said he had heard no calls for assistance; witness then told the prisoner not to humbug the Police, when he went away singing, swearing, hallooing, and making a great noise. Witness, with constable Earley, went after him to take him into custody, when a scuffle ensued, and the prisoner stabbed witness in the back; the prisoner was very violent, and his wife coming to his assistance, he escaped; witness afterwards went to his house with four other constables, and took the prisoner into custody. When his wife came up, she took something out of his hand, but witness did not see what it was.
Cross-examined by Mr Knight: Witness was attended by Dr Teush, whom he did not see till about two hours after he was stabbed; he did not see any blood on his shirt before he went to Dr Teush; he did not tell Mr McWaide that the prisoner snapped his fingers at him, and that he then told Earley to take him into custody; witness knew the prisoner, and the prisoner knew him: he was very much under the influence of drink.
The witness’s depositions at the Police Office were read, and Mr Knight cross-examined him on a portion of his evidence. The witness stated that he had been in the Police 12 years, and in the Colony between 15 and 16 years.
By His Honour: The prisoner first began to sing, and then to swear in a very loud voice; he also used indecent language, and acted in such a manner as to disturb the public peace.
By the Foreman of the jury, Mr Wilson: witness had never any quarrel with the prisoner: the night was moonlight, but not very bright; witness did not, at first, feel much pain from the wound, but it afterwards became very painful.
By a Juror, Mr W. Waterhouse: witness could not account for the hole in the lining of the coat being larger than that in the coat itself.
Constable Earley gave corroborative evidence: he stated that had the prisoner called out, he, witness, must have heard him; when McGinnes was struck by the prisoner, he called out, ‘Mind that hand; he has got a knife: I am stabbed.” Witness caught the prisoner’s hand; he had a small pen-knife in it, which witness endeavoured to get but, in the struggle, they all fell down; the prisoner’s wife then came up, and witness told her to stand back, as the prisoner had a knife in his hand; the wife threw herself upon witness, and said to her husband: “Husband dear, give me the knife,” she, then, got the knife out of his hand, shut it, and put it into her gown pocket, as witness thought; the prisoner, through the violence used, got away, and was afterwards apprehended in his own house.
Cross-examined by Mr Knight: It was a light night, and the moon shone bright; the prisoner said he had been assaulted; it might have been six or seven minutes before the wife came up; it might have been four or five minutes before the wife got the knife; no one, except Mr McGinnes, was hurt with the knife; they did not follow the wife to try and get the knife; it had not been found; while they were struggling, witness told the prisoner to give up the knife.
By a Juror, Mr White: witness did not think that McGinnes could have seen the knife, as the prisoner held his hand back.
Dr Teush described the nature of the wound: it was a slight punctured wound, but not in any way dangerous or serious; had it been an inch and a half deeper, or had not the bone intercepted the weapon, it might have proved fatal.
Mr Knight addressed the Jury for the prisoner; he adverted to the discrepancies in the testimony of D.C. McGinnes and Earley, and conjured the jury give the case their most serious consideration, as the life of the prisoner was at stake. The learned counsel repudiated the idea of any intent by the prisoner to murder the prosecutor, or, even, to do him some grievous bodily harm; he used no expression indicative of such intent, and the very nature of the wound refuted it; he laid great stress on the circumstance of no person being hurt by the knife, during a struggle of some minutes, and even doubted the existence of a knife at all: he, also, called the attention of the Jury to the fact of the brutal treatment of the prisoner by McGinnes and Earley, and submitted, that the charge against him might have been made, to exonerate the conduct of the police; he left the case under the direction of His Honour, to the serious consideration of the Jury, who would, he had no doubt, render it every justice compatible with the evidence.
His Honour summed up with his usual perspicuity, explaining to the Jury the law of the case; they were to consider the charge in four points of view; first, whether the prisoner stabbed the prosecutor with intent to kill and murder him; second, whether he so stabbed him with intent to inflict some grievous bodily harm; third, whether he stabbed him without any such intents, and fourth, whether he had committed a common assault. Having adverted to the evidence, and pointed out the main facts adduced by it, His Honour left the Jury to decide upon their verdict.
The Jury retired, and in a quarter of an hour, returned into Court, finding the prisoner Guilty of a common assault, and not guilty of the other charges laid in the information.
The prisoner was remanded for sentence. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3242848

Henry Craig, convicted of assault, was sentenced to imprisonment and hard labour in the Gaol at Hobart Town for three years. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2457928