Drunk Taxi Driver Guilty of Manslaughter

A taxi driver that knocked down a pedestrian whilst under the influence of alcohol was convicted of manslaughter when the victim died of her injuries.

On Christmas Eve 1952 Martha Bretherton, did some last minute shopping but was knocked down as she crossed West Derby Road heading for her home in Schomberg Street. The vehicle that struck her was a taxi cab with two passengers inside and was being driven by 61 year old William Herbert Watts, who immediately pulled over. 

The police were sent for and Watts was taken into custody, where a doctor deemed him as unfit to have proper control over a vehicle. By the time he was fit to be interviewed, he had little recollection of what had happened. The passengers, one of whom had arrived at Lime Street on a train from London, said that earlier in the journey he had mounted a pavement and nearly collided with oncoming traffic whilst overtaking a tramcar.

Martha, who was 71, remained in hospital for five weeks with fractures to her leg, arm, jaw and a haemorrhage. She passed away as a result of her injuries on 30th January 1953. Watts, who had already been remanded on bail charged with drink driving and dangerous driving was rearrested and placed before the magistrates court charged with manslaughter. He was remanded on bail again, but this time with a surety of £20.

At the Liverpool Assizes on 2nd April, Watts pleaded not guilty to the charge. Rose Heilbron Q.C. prosecuting told the court that on getting out of the taxi Watts was unsteady on his feet and smelt of drink. In his own evidence, Watts claimed that Martha had dashed from the pavement in front of his taxi and he could do nothing to avoid her. However he was fond guilty of manslaughter, with the charges of drink driving and dangerous driving remaining on file. 

As he was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for fifteen years, Watts was told by Mr Justice Cassells "You drove your taxicab when You were not fit to drive, and unfit to keep up with the ordinary happenings on the road. It is a pity that you, with your long experience of driving, should have indulged as you must have done in order to get into that state. By your conduct an elderly woman has had her life brought to an end. The court cannot, pass lightly over such conduct."

Boy Killed By Car As He Played

The driver of a car that killed a seven year old boy was jailed for a year after being cleared of manslaughter but convicted of dangerous driving. 

On 4th June 1945, three young boys were playing at the corner of Dingle Lane and Dingle Mount when a car came careering out of control towards them. Rather than turn the corner into Dingle Lane, it carried on straight and collided with a pillar box, trapping seven year old Leslie Stockton. 

The driver of the car was 31 year old Sidney Davies, an insurance agent who lived at 18 Corinthian Avenue, Stoneycroft. On getting out of the car he immediately fell to the pavement and said to a police officer who attended "I am sorry old man, I have had a good night." Leslie, who lived in Dingle Mount with his parents, was taken to hospital but died from his injuries. Sidney was charged with manslaughter and dangerous driving and committed for trial. 

 The following month at Manchester Assizes the prosecuting counsel was Rose Heilbron, who went on to have a number of legal firsts for a woman. She told the court that he drove the car recklessly and under the influence of drink, but acknowledged his staggering may have been made worse by having a wooden leg. Sidney's defence was that his wooden leg had slipped from the brake onto the accelerator and that if he appeared drunk, it was due to the shock of the accident. 

The jury found Sidney guilty of dangerous driving but cleared him on the manslaughter charge. He was then jailed for one year and banned from driving for ten years. 

Scotland Road Hit and Run

A driver who knocked down and killed a man in Scotland Road fled the scene but was brought to justice when he failed to convince police of his alibi.

On 5th October 1964 John Fitzsimmons, a sixty two year old factory worker, was knocked down as he was crossing Scotland Road on his way to his home in Newsham Street. 

The car involved stopped for a moment before driving off, but it was time enough for a passer by to note down the registration number.

The following day the owner of the car, thirty four year old lorry driver Charles Fearns, walked into Prescot police station and made a statement. Fearns, who lived in nearby Sutherland Road, claimed that his car had been stolen the previous evening and that he hadn't been at the scene.

Fearns's account was soon discredited and he eventually admitted being the driver, but claimed he did not know he had hit anybody. 

When he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 26th May the following year Fearns said that his windscreen had been hit by a large object and smashed, impairing his vision. Fearns then suggested that Fitzsimmons could have been hit by the vehicle in front and thrown up into the air, landing on his own vehicle.

After being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving Judge Stable did not mince his words. He told Fearns, a former driving instructor 'If you had come here and said "I realise what I have done and I will never do it again" I may have taken a different view. But what you did was try to defeat the course of justice by putting up certainly one, and possibly two, lying stories. This is one of those rare occasions when I think a bad driver must go to prison.' 

Fearns was then sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment and banned from driving for seven years.

The Twelve Year Old Cart Killer

The dangers of employing child labour were demonstrated in 1848 when a twelve year old boy caused the death of a girl when he ran over her whilst driving a horse and cart.

On Monday 7th August that year a four year old girl named Sarah McClusky was crossing Edmund Street when she was run over by a horse and cart. After being knocked down by the horse the wheel passed over her body and despite a passing police officer rushing her to hospital she died three hours later from ruptured blood vessels.

The driver of the cart was twelve year old Cornelius Jones, who carried on driving until a local bookkeeper managed to stop him and keep him detained until a police officer took him into custody.

An inquest took place before the Borough Coroner the following day, with the Liverpool Mercury describing Sarah's parents as 'poor but industrious'. Witnesses said that the horse was in a sharp trot and going at about ten miles an hour, with Jones not pulling up for another twenty yards after the cartwheel had tun over Sarah's body. 

When questioned, Jones said that the cart was owned by an Irishman named Michael McKenna, who was paying him 1 shilling and 4 pence to drive it, less than half the daily rate for adults. The Coroner commented that this was a disgraceful practice merely to save money. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, but commented that McKenna was more culpable than Jones, who they referred to as 'the poor prisoner'.

There was nothing the coroner could do about the verdict and he was obliged to commit Jones to Kirkdale gaol for him to await trial at the assizes the following month. Jones was found guilty but treated sympathetically by Justice Cresswell, who sentenced him to fourteen days imprisonment. This was equivalent to time served on remand and Jones was released, with the judge saying that 'those who entrusted him to drive the cart were the more culpable parties'.

Anger At Inquest Into Julia Lennon's Death

When the mother of Beatle John Lennon died after being knocked down on Menlove Avenue the inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure, much to the disgust of his Aunt Mimi.

In his mid teenage years Lennon began building bridges with his mother Julia, having been brought up largely by her sister Mimi at 251 Menlove Avenue.  On the evening of 15th July 1958 Lennon was at Julia's home in Blomfield Road while Julia visited Mimi. At around 930pm she left to catch a bus but as she was crossing Menlove Avenue near its junction with Vale Road she was hit by a car and thrown 100 feet down the road.

Mimi raced to the scene but Julia was dead on arrival at Sefton general hospital and Lennon was so distraught her was unable to look at her body. She was buried at Allerton cemetery, after Lennon had cried throughout the funeral service with his head on Mimi's lap.

The Standard Vanguard car which had hit Julia was drive by Eric Clague, an off duty police officer who did not have a full driving licence. A post mortem determined that Julia had brain injuries caused by skull fractures, but at the inquest witnesses said she had stepped into the road without looking. Clague himself insisted he was driving at less than thirty miles an hour and this led to the misadventure verdict, causing Mimi to scream 'murderer' at him. Clague lived at 43 Ramilies Road, ironically off Penny Lane which was made so famous by The Beatles in a song ten years later. 

Clague managed to avoid any publicity for forty years as he was not named in any newspaper reports in relation to the accident. It was only when a Daily Mirror journalist searched the archives at Liverpool Coroner's Court in 1998 that his identity was established. This led to him having to tell his own family of the role he played in Beatles history, but he told the reported concerned 'There was really nothing I could have done, Mrs Lennon just ran straight in front of me, I just couldn't avoid her. I was not speeding, I swear it. It was just one of those terrible things that happen.' 

Speeding Solicitor Guilty of Manslaughter

A solicitor who knocked down a pedestrian and failed to stop was sentenced to six months imprisonment after being found guilty of manslaughter.

At 5.40pm on 17th December 1940 sixty four year old Margaret Kearns was crossing Princes Avenue during the blackout when she was knocked down by a car which failed to stop. In the driver's rush to get away from the scene, he collided with two parked cars but managed to escape in the direction of Princes Park, knocking a man off his bike in Croxteth Road. Kearns, who lived in Eversley Street, died from her injuries and the hunt was on for the car and its driver.

A headlamp was found in the road which was believed to have come from a dark coloured Rover saloon car, while a hubcap was found in the road next to one of the cars that had been hit. Extensive police enquiries eventually led them to a garage in Allerton Road, which had been asked in mid January to repair the headlamp, hubcap and bonnet on a dark saloon car. When the driver returned to collect it, he identified himself as sixty year old solicitor William Jones, a partner in the firm Giles and Jones based at Union Court. 

Jones made a statement to the police admitting failing to stop, but saying he only knew he had 'hit an object'. After being charged with manslaughter, dangerous driving and failing to stop after an accident Jones was granted bail by the police court and committed for trial at the next Manchester assizes. On 13th March Jones appeared before Mr Justice Hallett and was found guilty. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, banned from driving for five years and ordered to pay all prosecution costs. However an appeal was lodged and he was granted bail and allowed to return to his home at 23 Harthill Avenue in Allerton.

The appeal was heard by the Lord Chief Justice and two other judges on 20th May. Jones claimed to have been ill through overwork at the time of the accident and gave that as the reason why he didn't stop. Jones also claimed that the trial judge had misdirected the jury but the appeal was dismissed and he was returned to prison to serve out his sentence.

Road Killer Denies Drink to Blame

A man who was charged with manslaughter after knocking down a pedestrian denied that the crash had anything to do with drink.

At around 10.15pm on 5th June 1944 Agnes Brown was returning to her Oakhill Park home after visiting her daughter. At the junction of Queens Drive and Edge Lane Drive the sixty one year old was struck by a car being driven by Edward Formby, who was driving to his home at 46 Childwall Priory Road. Agnes was thrown in the air and landed on the tramlines, from where she was picked up and taken to hospital with serious injuries.


A man named Timothy Sullivan had seen Formby's car zig-zagging in the road and confronted him, only to be told that he had swerved to avoid a dog. Other witnesses gathered around only to be told by Formby, a thirty four year old butcher, that he was only doing twenty miles per hour. 

When Formby was arrested he was so unsteady on his feet that he had to be assisted to the police station. When examined by a force doctor at midnight, he was showing signs of having been drinking but not necessarily drunk. Agnes died from shock at around 3am but initially Formby was charged with driving a motor car whilst under the influence of drink and granted bail. Agnes was buried in Allerton cemetery.


A committal hearing took place at the Magistrates' Court on 17th July, by which time the charge had increased to manslaughter. A police officer said he had seen Formby being held up by two men earlier in the evening, but didn't realise he had a car. The officer who arrested him described him as unsteady on his feet, but the defence solicitor put this down to the shock of the accident.


On 30th October Formby appeared at the assizes, where he was defended by Mr Edward Hemmerde, the prosecutor in the infamous Wallace case thirteen years earlier. The police doctor stated that although not drunk at midnight, Formby would certainly have been incapable of driving at the time of the accident. 

In giving his own evidence, Formby claimed that he had only drank two and a half pints of beer and that he was swerving as he was trying to fix a mat and then saw dog. Nobody else was able to say they had seen a dog, even though the incident happened in clear daylight.

Formby's friends denied helping him to his car on the night of the crash and he was given an exemplary character reference by a colonel for the Home Guard, with whom he served as a caterer for three years. After the jury returned a verdict of guilty Mr Justice Stable sentenced him to nine months imprisonment.

Bus Driver Jailed After Death Crash

A horrific crash between a bus and a van in Bootle left two people dead and both drivers being arrested, with one of them being sent to prison for three months. 

On 13th August 1942 at 730pm a Ribble bus and white can collided at the junction of Stanley Road and Merton Road. The impact was so great that the coach of the van was detached from the chassis and flung nearly a hundred feet down the road. 

Two people who worked for the Ministry of Labour and were passengers in the van were killed, one having been thrown from it and another crushed by the impact of hitting the ground. They were nineteen year old James Gray from Wallasey and James Cullen from Bidston.

A third passenger from the van only had minor injuries and was discharged from hospital that evening but the driver, Raymond Whalley, remained in hospital. The traffic lights had been taken out of service due to a request from the government to economise on electrical consumption. However eye witnesses said that both vehicles had been travelling at speed and neither appeared to be ready to slow down, the bus having gone straight past a bus stop. 

Both drivers were initially charged with manslaughter, with Whalley, being arrested on discharge from hospital. He claimed that he was driving slowly at the crossing and only accelerated to twenty five miles an hour in an attempt to avoid a collision. 

At a committal hearing on 19th October the case against Whalley was dismissed by the magistrates. Thomas O'Loughlin, the thirty five year old driver of the bus, was committed for trial and he was allowed bail. 

At the Manchester assizes on 9th December O'Loughlin, of Thomson Road in Seaforth, was found not guilty of manslaughter but convicted instead of dangerous driving. Mr Justice Stable jailed him for three months and told him that on account of his previous good record he would not take away his driving licence. He then commented that 'Neither the number of road casualties nor warnings have created that sense of responsibility that should be present in the mind of drivers and especially those of public vehicles.'

Cart Killer Caught a Year Later

A youth who absconded after a cart he was driving knocked down a man who died was finally apprehended a year later and brought to justice.

In 1863 Patrick Callaghan was then 17 years old and employed by Cade's ginger beer company as a general labourer. On 28th November that year he saw Mr Cade's cart stood empty while the driver was doing business at a house and decided to ride off in it.


When he got to the corner of St James Street and Duncan Street he was unable to stop as John Hughes crossed the road. Hughes was run over and crushed by the cart and died from his injuries ten days later. Callaghan disappeared and was not caught for another year, meaning it was  March 1865 when he finally appeared at the assizes.

In summing up Justice Mellor said that if the jury were satisfied that Callaghan was driving too fast whilst close to a kerb or bend then he was culpable. Foot passengers, he said, had rights and were not to be run over when crossing even though some drivers felt they should not be there at all. 

The jury found Callaghan guilty but recommended mercy. This led to the judge telling him that he was imposing a lesser sentence than he had been considering. Telling Callaghan that 'drivers should be made to understand their position if they drive recklessly' and the sentence should reflect that, he imposed a term of six months imprisonment with hard labour.  

Speeding Driver Swerves and Kills Child

In 1948 a speeding driver who careered off the road killing a ten year old girl was jailed after being found not guilty of manslaughter and instead convicted of dangerous driving.

On 14th March that year Patrick Hart, an eighteen year old timber yard worker who lived in Beaconsfield Road, Woolton, was driving his Jaguar sports car down Ullet Road at a fast speed. When a dog ran out in front of him near the corner with Alexandra Drive Hart broke sharply and skidded onto the pavement, careering into a group of children who were playing.
One of the children, ten year old Margaret Smythe was taken to hospital where she died from her injuries.

When police officers measured the skid marks they were almost sixty feet in length and Hart was arrested and charged with manslaughter, appearing in court on 21st June. One witness said he estimated Hart to have seen driving at sixty miles an hour, while another said he was overtaken by him and that he was driving 'as fast as an express train.'

Hart's defence counsel Basil Nield claimed that he was driving at a maximum of 25 miles an hour and had only acted the way he did as he wanted to save the dog. In giving his own evidence Hart said that when he braked the a rear tyre burst and he had no idea what happened after that, while another road user said he did not think the speed was unusual just before the dog ran out.

At the end of the trial which entered a second day, Hart was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of dangerous driving. The prosecution chose not to proceed with four other charges of causing grievous bodily harm by wanton or furious driving. Justice Byrne sentenced him to three months imprisonment, telling Hart 'You were driving at a most outrageous speed.'

Judge Jails 'Wild Beast on the Road'

A speeding driver who knocked down and killed a pedestrian on the East Lancashire Road was fortunate to have his case heard by what the judge described as an extraordinarily lenient jury during sentencing.

At around 11pm on 27th March 1937, which was Easter Saturday, 20 year old Bootle woman Margaret Traynor went on a motor coach excursion to Rainford and was dropped back off on the East Lancashire Road near Knowsley. As she was crossing the road arm in arm with another woman, she was knocked down by a car driven at speed by John Parkinson, a civil engineer from Chorley.

Margaret was killed instantly having been caught by the mudguard. Parkinson stopped his car about one hundred yards further on and surrendered to the police. The impact had been so severe that Margaret's left leg was detached from the knee down and flung over one hundred feet into a hedge, where a policeman found it the next morning.

32 year old Parkinson, son of the late construction magnate Sir Lindsay Parkinson who claimed to be the first owner of a car in Blackpool, appeared at the Liverpool assizes on 20th April. Other women in the coach party said Margaret had drank just one glass of beer that evening and that the car was like an 'express train', estimating the speed at 75 miles per hour. Parkinson said he first thought the coach was in motion and he didn't realised it was stopped until too late. He admitted driving at 55 miles per hour, still nearly double the speed limit and said that he swerved but it was too late.

Parkinson was cleared of manslaughter but instead found guilty of dangerous driving. Mr Justice Charles was not impressed with this verdict and made it be known, telling him: 'The jury have for some reason best known to themselves have found an extraordinarily lenient verdict. they would have been well entitled in my judgement to have found you guilty of manslaughter.'

Describing the driving as like that of 'like a wild beast on the road' the judge then sentenced Parkinson to a term of one years imprisonment and also banned him from driving for fifteen years. He appealed against the sentence but this was dismissed at the Court of Criminal Appeal the following month, the Lord Chief Justice pointing out that the maximum penalty for dangerous driving was two and a half years.

Mother Killed by Speeding Driver

A speeding chauffeur who knocked down and killed a mother of three was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed, while his boss had to pay out compensation.

Amelia Dean, a dresser at the Shakespeare Theatre in Fraser Street, was on her way to work on 11th June 1925 when she alighted a tramcar on London Road. As she was crossing she was hit by a car driven by 22 year old chauffeur Francis Sheppard, who lived at Potters Bar in London. She clung desperately to the bonnet but on falling off she was then run over and died under the wheels.

On 3rd November Sheppard appeared at the Liverpool assizes before Mr Justice Fraser. He claimed that Amelia had slipped and he had slowed down and beeped his horn but he was found guilty of manslaughter. Learning that Sheppard had been driving at forty miles per hour,double the speed limit the judge told him that 'the public must be protected' as he imposed a sentence of eighteen months imprisonment.

Amelia, who was 49 years old and had three children, was the principal earner in their Kensington home, with her husband George only earning a modest wage as a gardener's labourer. George successfully sued Sheppard's employer Mr Lucy for damages and was awarded £500 in compensation.

Killed by a Cart

A float driver whose carelessness caused the death of a little girl was shown leniency in sentencing on the recommendation of the jury.

On the afternoon of Wednesday 6th January 1847 Mary Ann Weldon got jammed between a cart and a wall in Paul Street. She received considerable injuries and died a few hours later. 35 year old Michael Bird, who could neither read nor write, was arrested in relation to the death.

Two days later the inquest took place and returned a verdict of manslaughter against Bird, who was committed to the South Lancashire Assizes on a Coroner's Warrant. He was kept in gaol on remand until he appeared there on 31st March, where he was found guilty with a recommendation him to mercy. As he had already been in custody for twelve weeks, the judge sentenced him to just a further two weeks imprisonment.