Shortly before midnight on Friday 17th June, 47 year old Gladys Galloway, was found lying unconscious at the corner of Park Hill Road and Beloe Street. Initially, it was thought she was the victim of a traffic accident, and she was rushed to the Royal Southern Hospital. She was dead on arrival, and when stab wounds were discovered in her back, a murder investigation was launched.
Gladys, who was unmarried, lived at 61 Loxdale Street, which had been her now-deceased parents' home. She had spent the evening with her friends, Mr and Mrs Ford, in Morton Street and had been walking the half mile route home. One of her staff at the Scott's store in Mill Street described her as a wonderful boss who didn't have an enemy in the world. With there being no apparent motive, police warned that the killer may strike again as drains and grids were searched to see if the murder weapon had been discarded there.
Over the weekend, senior detectives visited pubs in the area, appealing for public cooperation in finding the culprit. More information was also revealed about the murder weapon, which was a knife seven and a half inches long, 3/4 inch wide blade and one cutting edge. It had penetrated the heart, and Detective Superintendent Ernest Richardson said that the killer had made a single death thrust with an upward lunge, which commandos were taught to use.
Exactly one week to the minute after the murder, a reconstruction took place in which a female detective walked from Morton Street to Beloe Street, retracing the route taken by Gladys. Two days later, on Sunday 26th June, police swooped at 10 Beloe Street to arrest 24-year-old labourer John Henry Smith, who had already been interviewed twice during house-to-house enquiries. He was charged with the murder and said nothing as he appeared in court the following morning, where he was remanded in custody for eight days. Gladys was laid to rest in Allerton Cemetery on 30th June.
Committal proceedings were opened on 27th July at the police court. Witnesses described how a man fitting Smith's description had been seen shaking a grill in Park Hill Road shortly before Gladys had walked down there. A friend of his also confirmed that he had drunk two beers with him in the nearby Prince of Wales pub in Wellington Road. Detectives who searched his home had found fragments of a knife which had been broken up, in a refuse bin and behind a fire grate. A forensic scientist said that he had pieced this knife together and believed it matched the murder weapon, but it had been cleaned up.
Prosecutors acknowledged that nobody had seen Smith and Gladys together, but referred to the statement Smith had made at Essex Street police station. This said that he had been out drinking and gone home with some chips, then back out again with the knife, when he was admonished by Gladys for shaking the grill and stuck the knife in her back, not intending to kill. An objection was raised by his solicitor, who said that the statement had been made under the inducement of being able to see his mother, but this was denied by detectives. This was overruled by the presiding magistrate and Smith was committed for trial at the Crown Court.
On 24th October, Smith pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Justice Fenton Atkinson. For the prosecution, Mr Bingham acknowledged there was no apparent motive. Detectives acknowledged that Smith had was below average intelligence and had a mental age of only eight or nine. They denied that he had only made a confession after he was told about being seen shaking the grill. His mother, however, testified that he had come home at 11pm and fallen asleep on the couch almost immediately, without eating the chips he had brought in. On the fourth day of the trial, the jury retired and, after deliberating for an hour, found Smith not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The judge then ordered him to be detained at Moss Side Hospital.
