18th August 1860
Soldier kills colleague with a scrubbing brush
Quite what caused the argument we might never know, but on 18 August 1860, private Thomas Lee of the 30th Regiment threw a boot at his colleague, private Denis Sloane. When Sloane dodged and it missed him, Lee grabbed a scrubbing brush and smashed Sloane over the lead. Sloane was knocked out, and when he was lying on the floor, Lee jumped on him.
Although Sloane wasn’t killed outright, he was so badly injured that nobody expected him to recover. Part of the scrubbing brush was lodged in his head, where the cranium was smashed and there were also signs of bite marks.
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Other events that occured in August
First direct rail services link St Helier to Corbière
- Jersey Railway was completed in stages, with services connecting La Corbiere to the capital not starting for 15 years.
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Parliament debates Jersey’s treatment of prisoners of war
- A Conservative MP in London was concerned that Jersey might have been treating German PoWs too leniently during the First World War.
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The King of Patagonia invades Minquiers
- French novelist Jean Raspail claimed Minquiers in the name of the king of Patagonia, who by then had been dead for a century.
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Pioneering human rights advocate John Lilburne dies
- John Lilburne was one of the most famous political prisoners of his day and inspired part of the American Constitution.
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