Sarah McCarthy, a woman in her forties lived with her husband and daughter in Titchfield Street in the Vauxhall district of the town. Sarah's mother Catherine Rice, who was aged anywhere between 70 and 90 depending on which newspaper you read, also lived with them. However by 1864 Catherine was subject to almost daily abuse by her daughter simply because she could not look after herself any more.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 10th August a neighbour Eliza Connor heard Sarah screaming at her mother, calling her a 'dirty bitch' for soiling her clothes. She then heard a thud and looked over her yard wall to see Catherine lying on her back with her head against a wall. Sarah was stood over her with a cloth which she then used to strike her mother on the face. Sarah then told her old daughter to follow her inside and 'let the old bitch stay there.' the door was then locked and Catherine was left lying there and unable to move.
The following Saturday morning a labourer named Thomas Cartello, who resided nearby in Portland Street, was walking past the McCarthy's house when some children shouted to him that a woman was inside and been killed. He forced his way into the property and was told by Sarah that her mother had been dead since midnight. Catherine's body was laid out on the sofa with the face covered by a cloth and after removing it Thomas found that there were bruises on the nose and cheek. A surgeon, Dr Prytherch, from Netherfield Road was called and he found that the collar bone was broken. A subsequent post mortem also revealed six broken ribs.
On 16th August the inquest took place before the Borough Coroner, Mr P.F. Curry. Eliza Connor and another neighbour called Bridget Connell said they had heard Sarah shouting abuse at her mother at least two or three times a week for the last three months. One night Catherine had stayed at Bridget's house and as far as her neighbours were aware she was a sober woman who had always been in good health despite her age.
A police constable said that he regularly patrolled Titchfield Street and had frequently intervened on hearing Sarah being both verbally aggressive and physically violent to her mother, usually whilst under the influence of drink. About five weeks earlier he had witnessed Sarah kicking Catherine whilst standing over her with a stick, but the old woman declined to have her daughter arrested for assault. The officer also said there had been an occasion when Catherine had asked him to watch the house as she feared being murdered.
Dr Prytherch told the coroner that the injuries were too severe to have been caused by a fall and were the result of being kicked or hit with a weapon. The broken collar bone he believed had only occurred in the hours before death, which had come about in his opinion by means of violence. The coroner summed up by saying he had 'never had a more deplorable case' under his notice. He believed it was as close to murder as possible but although he directed the jury to deliberate amongst themselves, he told them a manslaughter verdict was probably more appropriate. After the jury went along with the coroner's recommendations Sarah was told that she was lucky a wilful murder verdict hadn't been returned and she was committed to the assizes for trial.
Sarah appeared before Justice Mellor at the Liverpool assizes at St George's Hall on 13th December, where Dr Prytherch, neighbours and the police constable gave their evidence. However, Sarah's counsel was clever in cross examination and closing statements, pointing out that although death was caused as a result of injuries, there was no evidence to state who had struck the blows which ultimately proved fatal. This led to the jury finding Sarah not guilty and although the judge told her she had treated her mother 'in a most infamous manner' she was free to go having been charged with no other offences.
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