A man who suspected his wife may have been having an affair with their lodger was convicted of manslaughter after he died following a kicking.
In 1878 Daniel Burrows, a 47 year old cook lived with his wife Mary in a cellar in Blandford Street (now Kempston Street) between Islington and London Road. A French Polisher named Thomas Cropper lodged with them, but on 29th June that year Burrows got angry when his wife took Cropper with her to meet him at the Pier Head.
The following afternoon, which was a Sunday, a neighbour named Eaves heard cries of 'murder' from the Burrows house. When he went out to investigate he saw Mary running away. On going down the steps to the cellar he found Cropper lying on the floor, with Burrows stood over him kicking at the stomach. Burrows then pressed his foot into Cropper's stomach before allowing him to crawl away. Eaves found a policeman who took the injured man to the Royal Infirmary, where he died that evening. A post mortem revealed that the intestines were ruptured.
On being arrested Burrows, who was frequently described in the Liverpool Mercury as 'coloured' said he did not intend to cause harm, but just wanted to give Cropper a good hiding and evict him from the house. When he appeared at the assizes on 26th July he was found guilty of manslaughter and in sentencing him to eighteen months imprisonment, Lord Chief Justice Cockburn told Burrows that he had a reckless disregard for life.
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