Killing of an Unknown Seaman

In 1873 a man was convicted of manslaughter after causing the death of a seaman whose identity was never established.

On the 23rd November that year the schooner Emma was lying in Garston Docks when William Sargent, a 32 year old ship's mate, got into a row with a fellow crew member over a flannel shirt. The other seaman, an Irishman who had joined that day and whose name wasn't even known, struck a blow on Sargent and mentioned that he had a knife.

Sargent, who was scrubbing the deck at the time, then hit back with his brush and inflicted a wound over the right eye. This was not thought to be serious and was dressed by a chemist, with the man then going to bed but he died in the night. 

The following month Sargent found himself up before Justice Quain at the Liverpool assizes, charged with manslaughter. Witnesses agreed in cross examination that the deceased was drunk at the time and had said on shore that it was his fault he was attacked. However in summing up the judge said that there was no evidence a knife was produced and Sargent had time to escape the situation.

After the jury returned a guilty verdict, his defence counsel passed a reference from Sargent's officer at the Royal Navy reserve, saying he had been a member since 1867 and always attentive at drill. Justice Quain then said that due to the previous good character and the rashness of the act which he acknowledged did not intend to cause serious harm, he would be lenient. He then sentenced Sargent to three months hard labour.

Grandson Killed by Flying Poker

A man who threw a poker at his wife when she hit him was found guilty of manslaughter and gaoled for five years after his grandson got in the way and died from the injuries. 

On the night of 29th June 1880 John Grant Murray returned to his home in Talbot Street (off Islington) somewhat worse for drink and was hit with a crutch by his wife, who was also drunk. Talbot then threw a poker at her, which instead hit his nineteen month old grandson Samuel Wright on the head as he was running across the room.

Samuel was taken to the Infirmary where he was found to have a compound fracture of the skull. He died on 13th July and an inquest before the Coroner Clarke Aspinall saw evidence given by Murray's daughter in law of what had occurred. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter, but magistrates then committed him for trial on a charge of murder.

At the Liverpool assizes on 26th July the murder charge was withdrawn and Murray tried only for manslaughter. His defence counsel Mr Shand submitted that both he and his wife were drunk at the time and the occurrence was purely accidental. The judge, Mr Justice Bramwell, interjected and said that the only accident was that Murray's grandchild rather than his wife had been killed, to which Mr Shand replied that no harm had been intended.

After Murray was found guilty the judge ordered that he be stood down for a while, telling him: 'It is a most abominable offence even if no mischievous result had been occasioned. I am not sure I shall not send you to penal servitude to teach you and others not to fling pokers at their wives.'  

Murray waited on the cells whilst another prisoner James Kelly was tried for grievous bodily harm on his wife. Justice Bramwell then brought them both up to be sentenced together, saying that their conduct was 'cruel, unmanly and ruffianly.' He then sentenced both to a term of penal servitude, which in Murray's case was five years. 

Stepdaughter Killed By Poker

A woman whose stepdaughter died after she had hit her over the head with a poker following a row was sentenced to just eighteen months imprisonment.

On the evening of 24th January 1880 David Edwards and his wife Margaret returned to their home at 29 Major Street, Kirkdale, after a visit to the market. Soon after Margaret's stepmother Catherine Clements, with whom they lodged, came in and began arguing with them. David pushed Clements into her room but she came back out and resumed the argument. 

Margaret went out to try and find a policeman but wasn't able to and when she returned, Clements was stood on the step with a poker. She struck Margaret three times with it before David managed to get it from her. The injured woman went to the Stanley Hospital for treatment and arrived back home after midnight, when she was punched twice in the face by Clements, who then threatened to smash a jug over her head.

About a month later erysipelas set in and Margaret was taken to the Stanley Hospital and then the Walton Workhouse. Whilst there she entered a state of delirium, leading to her transfer to the Rainhill asylum. On 4th April Margaret died and Clements was arrested and held on remand for a week whilst medical opinions were sought. It was determined that Margaret's death was as a result of blood poisoning and Clements was committed for trial at the next assizes on a charge of manslaughter.

On 21st April Clements, who was 44 years old, appeared before Mr Justice Denman. After she was found guilty he sentenced her to eighteen months imprisonment with hard labour.

Christmas Killing of a Cousin

A man who killed his teenage cousin at a Christmas party by stabbing her was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for twenty years.

On Christmas night 1879 a family gathering was held at the Gibbons household in Midghall Street, off Vauxhall Road. After too much to drink by younger members, Patrick Gibbons said it was time for them to make their way home. A row broke out, leading to his eighteen year old nephew Patrick Kelly lashing out at him with a knife, cutting the face.

Kelly ran off but was chased by Gibbons's sixteen year old daughter Bridget. More words were exchanged and Kelly then stabbed her in the neck. Bridget was taken to the dispensary but died soon after admission. Early on Boxing Day morning, Kelly was apprehended whilst hiding under a bed at his own home which was also in Midghall Street.

After the inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder Kelly appeared before Lord Chief Justice Coleridge on 10th February 1880. With different sides of the family lined up against each other, it was difficult for the jury to reach a clear conclusion. There was no doubt Kelly had stabbed Bridget, but some witnesses said that she had been shouting aggressively at him and that Gibbons had tried to choke him in the house. Kelly himself said he had a pipes talk in his hand which must have caused the cut.

Kelly was found guilty of manslaughter but the judge said it was 'just short of murder'. Referring to the pipe stalk defence, he said it was clear from the medical evidence that a knife had caused the wound and it was no accident.  Tellin him that he had 'taken human life under the severest of circumstances', the judge sentenced Kelly to twenty years penal servitude.

Tragic Killing of a Granddaughter

A man who took his granddaughter for a walk and killed her was detained in a lunatic asylum after he was found to be not responsible for his actions.

In 1880 retired Irish born seaman Richard Maguire lived at Howe Street in Bootle with his daughter, her husband and granddaughter Catherine, who was two months short of her second birthday. He was very fond of Catherine and used to love taking her out on walks, but it was on one of these where he had an episode that led to him causing her death.

When 62 year old Maguire got up on the morning of Saturday 3rd January that year he told his daughter and Thomas that they had better look after Catherine, as he had dreamt he was going to kill her. They took no notice of this and at midday he took her out and didn't return until the next morning.

When he got to Howe Street the next morning  he was wet and wild looking and Catherine's parents were frantic with worry. When his daughter asked where she was, Maguire replied 'IN HEAVEN I HOPE' and said that a fair haired woman had taken her off him but he would go back to try and find her. After a sleep Maguire was again challenged over Catherine's whereabouts and said he was sat on a step and his deceased wife had taken her off him, with the girl saying 'TA GRAN.'

Maguire was taken into custody and told the police they would never find her. However she was found lying face down in a ditch on the morning of 6th January. A post mortem found that she had been suffocated. When Maguire was charged with murder he tried to put his head in a water closet as he was returning to his cell.

At the inquest at the Crosby Hotel on 8th January Maguire's son in law Thomas Kiernan explained that they had always had good relations and he was trusting of Maguire with Catherine. This was despite him having spent three months at the Haydock asylum before Christmas, with Kiernan believing Maguire was a bit weak minded but nothing else. When Maguire was asked if he had questions, he could only reply that he loved Catherine as if she was his daughter.

Other witnesses gave accounts of Maguire's movements on the fateful day, which had been quite extensive. One man had seen him in Sefton and Catherine was crying, Maguire replying that her mother's head was burnt. A man who had seen them in Crosby Village at 6pm asked how Catherine was so wet and Maguire replied that she had fallen into the canal. By 8pm Maguire seemed to be heading in the direction of Bootle but was alone and acting very erratically, telling a coachman that he had been conducting a christening but an unknown female had taken the child away.

A verdict of wilful murder was returned and Maguire was committed for trial at the next Liverpool assizes,
appearing before Lord Chief Justice Coleridge on 10th February. Dr Barr of Kirkdale gaol said he was of the opinion that Maguire was of unsound mind and when further historical details were given the judge stopped the case. The jury was ordered to find Maguire of unsound mind and he was sent to Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Brave Passer By Stops Killers Escape

A man who stabbed another drinker who had made inappropriate remarks about his friend's wife tried to flee the scene but hadn't bargained for a woman who refused to let him get away.

On Friday 19th December 1879 Hugh Knight, a forty year old journeyman saddler who lived in Langsdale Street in Everton, spent the evening drinking in the Great Eastern pub in nearby Canterbury Street. Whilst there he made some offensive marks about the wife of James Page, who was also in the pub, but further no words were exchanged between the two.

The following night at around 10pm Page went in the pub with two other men, William Martin and Edward Ashcroft. All three were too intoxicated for the barman to serve them and as a peace offering, Knight attempted to shake hands with Page and apologise for his words of the previous evening. Page though raised a clenched fist and replied 'I have got this for you tonight.'

A few moments later Knight left the pub and was jumped on by Ashcroft, who throttled him around the neck and threw him onto the floor. he followed this up with two kicks in the side as Knight lay on his back and Martin then kicked him in the legs but Page did nothing. A passer by named Mrs Grimes shouted to Ashcroft that he had killed a man but he shouted back 'You cow I will kill you too.' He then lifted Knight's head up and knocked it back down onto the pavement.

All three men walked away but Mrs Grimes followed them, leading to Ashcroft kicking her. This was a bad move as she then struck him three or four times with her basket and the commotion allowed police to arrive and apprehend them. Knight was taken by two policemen to the house of Dr Rutherford at 155 Islington but he was pronounced dead on arrival. A post mortem revealed that he had died of effusion of blood at the base of the brain. 

After an inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder against all three men they stood trial at the Liverpool assizes on 10th February 1880. Charges against page were immediately dropped, then after hearing the evidence the defence said Martin could only be proved to have kicked Knight in the thigh. Accepting that Ashcroft was the main instigator, his counsel said it was a brawl and as no weapon was used then it should be a case of manslaughter not murder.

After the jury acquitted Martin but convicted Ashcroft of manslaughter Lord Chief Justice Coleridge was damning with his sentencing remarks. He told the 38 year old caster that his extreme brutality and deadly spirit might have justified a murder verdict. Saying that he needed to show others what he thought of such brutality in a civilised country, a sentence of twenty years penal servitude was then imposed. The judge also directed that Mrs Grimes should be paid a £5 reward for her courage and bravery.

Wronged Cook's Death Sentence Commuted

A man who killed his wife and her lover after he found out that they were living together was sentenced to death but had the sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Frank Smart came to Liverpool from the West Indies in 1947 and married his wife Cassie in 1951. They took lodgings in Berkeley Street in Toxteth in April 1956 but two months later somebody else at the house told Smart that every time he worked late as a cook, another West Indian named Fitzy Rattan would be in their room.

When Smart confronted his wife and Rattan about this they replied that all they were doing was listening to records. But on 1st July without warning Rattan told Smart that if he ever laid a finger on his wife he would kill him then the following day she went missing. When this was reported to the police, all her clothes were found in a suitcase in Rattan's room. They were traced to a lodging house in Bootle and Cassie agreed to return to her husband.

After Cassie admitted sleeping with Rattan Smart, was so demoralised that he bought rat poison and iodine, mixed it together then drank it in an attempt to take his own life. This suicide attempt failed but after being discharged from hospital he returned to Berkeley Street to find his wife had again left. 

On the 8th of October Smart headed to Preston, where he took a bus to St George's Road and found Cassie and Rattan in a bedsit along with a friend called Mr Beddoe, who had lunched with them. Taking a knife out of a suitcase, Smart told Cassie to get up and that wherever she went in England he would track her down. Rattan left the room and Cassie got dressed, but he then came back in and said that Smart had no right to talk to her like that. Smart then stabbed Rattan in the chest and when Cassie told him to put the knife down, he waved it up and down, slashing her five times in the chest and neck. 

Cassie ran out and over the road to a grocery shop and an ambulance was called, but she died soon after arriving at hospital from a haemorrhage. Rattan had died instantly and when police arrived at the bedsit, Smart handed himself in saying 'I am the man you want, I shall not give you any trouble.'

When Smart appeared in court the following February wearing a dark suit and white shirt, cutting an imposing figure at six feet tall. As was custom at the time, he was charged only with the murder of his wife. Beatrice Carson, with whom Cassie had lodged in Bootle, said that Smart had grabbed her by the throat and held up a knife saying he would kill her if she didn't return. Mr Nahum, the landlord of the property in Preston, said that Rattan had left the room to get a knife but changed his mind and put it back away. Mr Beddoe told how he had sat there for the whole incident.

When he gave his evidence on the second day Smart said that Rattan had a 'bulldog attitude' and sensing danger, he took the knife out of his suitcase. Rattan then ran into the knife and his wife screamed and believing she was about to hit him with a bottle he held the knife out to stop her. He claimed his mind went blind and he was in a tremor, that all he was trying to do was ward off the blow. When asked why he took the knife from Liverpool to Preston, he said it was because he feared what Rattan may do to him. In cross examination from the prosecution he denied that he had gone to Preston with murder in mind and also that his wife had left him as she was scared of his temper.

On the third day Dr Brisby, the senior medical officer at Walton gaol, gave his opinion that Smart was not undergoing a 'hysterical blackout' as the defence claimed. At the end of the trial the prosecution said that all the evidence pointed to Smart being guilty of murder and that he had confessed to the emergency services that he had done it, something he would not have done if his mind was blank. For the defence, Mr Crichton suggested that Smart would not have intended to kill anybody with a witness present and then made no attempt to cover up the crime. He told the jury that the proper verdict in this case should be manslaughter rather than murder.

In summing up Mr Justice Streatfield said this was a love triangle and somebody had been wronged, but that should not interfere with their judgement as to whether Smart was guilty of murder. After the jury found him guilty of murder, he was sentenced to death. However this was later commuted to life imprisonment. Within two months of his reprieve, Smart had taken his own life, throwing himself from a landing in Walton gaol.