Boy Sectarian Killer Never Caught

There was a tragedy in 1895 when a girl died after having her head bashed against a wall in a sectarian motivated attack by a boy, whose identity was never established.

On 17th May that year 10 year old Sarah Sigley ran crying into her home at Gay Street (situated on what is now a grassed area between Scotland Road and Comus Street) saying that a boy had been hitting her head against a wall on Blackstock Street. She said that he had done this after asking if she was a Protestant, to which she answered that she did not know.

Sarah went to bed that night feeling unwell and the following day a doctor attended to her. She died on 25th May and a post mortem revealed that she had suffered compression of the brain, consistent with a head injury.

Police appealed for witnesses to come forward but the only person who did was a girl called Harriet Roberts who saw a boy who was in the area and hit a girl's head against a wall and kicked her. However she said she didn't know either of them and wouldn't recognise the boy again. The inquest returned an open verdict and the identity of Sarah's attacker was never established.