Drunken Stabbing of a Son in Law

In 1901 a man who killed his son in law during a drunken fight was told by the judge that his crime was 'as near as to murder as could be' after being convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. 

Patrick Finnegan, a 47 year old labourer, lived with his wife in Back Portland Street, off Scotland Road. His daughter was married to a marine fireman named William Carr and they lived in Portland Street, the two houses being separated from each other only by a yard. 

On the evening of Saturday 23rd March that year Carr returned home drunk and then went into the yard towards his parents in law's house looking for his wife. A quarrel broke out between the two men leading to Finnegan having cuts to his face and he went off in search of a policeman. 

An officer was located in Limekiln Lane and brought back to Back Portland Street, where Carr was talking to Finnegan's wife. The policeman persuaded Carr to return to his own home then took Finnegan to a dispensary for some treatment to his face wound. After this he went to the police and demanded that Carr be arrested, but was sent on his way.

At around quarter to one in the morning, Finnegan and his wife knocked on Carr's door and were let in by a lodger called Mary Uriel. Finnegan went upstairs to see Carr leaving his wife downstairs talking to the lodger, then soon afterwards the couple left. They were soon joined by their daughter Mrs Carr, who had been too afraid to return home to her husband and had gone to sleep on a step in Portland Street before being woken by a passing policeman.

At around 5am Mary heard moaning noises coming from Carr's bedroom which was directly above hers. She went to the Finnegans for help and Mrs Carr returned with her, finding her husband on the landing with a wound on his neck. The bedclothes were bloodsoaked and there was a trail of blood leading to where he had fallen. He was rushed to the Northern Hospital but pronounced dead on arrival, an artery having been cut.

On being questioned Finnegan claimed he had only gone to Carr's bedroom to look for his daughter, but he was unable to explain the blood on his own clothes or the bloodstained knife found in his own house. 

After being charged with murder Finnegan appeared at the assizes on 10th May. His defence counsel Mr Madden said that if Carr had been arrested for drunkenness earlier on then the tragedy had not occurred. Saying that 'all parties were deprived of their reason' Mr Madden maintained that Finnegan had initially only gone to Carr's room to look for his daughter. 

It took the jury ten minutes to find Finnegan guilty of manslaughter. In passing a sentence of twenty years penal servitude, Justice Wills said that the case was as near to murder as manslaughter could be.

Light Sentence For Killing Sister in Law

A man who killed his sister in law then went on the run was given an extremely light sentence in the circumstances. The judge commented that there had been a good deal of provocation although the killing would probably be seen in a different light today.

Tailor Patrick Ryan spent the evening of 5th May 1858 drinking at his home in Hygeia Street along with a man named Kennedy and his wife's sister Catherine Fennell. Catherine asked Ryan for some money which he refused to give her, leading to her reaching into his waistcoat pocket and taking out a small photographic portrait of a young woman. Catherine then taunted Ryan about the woman, saying to him why did he need to look elsewhere when he had a wife and children at home.

After Catherine refused to give the photograph back Ryan threatened to kick her, leading to her taking a quart jug and trying to hit him over the head, only for Kennedy to get between them. 

The following day Ryan and Kennedy returned to the house and Catherine was coming down the stairs with her face quite red, but she denied being drunk. Ryan told her he didn't want her there any more but she refused to go and an argument broke out, during which Kennedy left. At 7pm, the pair were arguing in the street leading to Mrs Ryan coming to the door and pleading with them to come in and not make a show of themselves in front of the neighbours.

As Catherine was going in to the house behind Ryan he turned around and kicked her, causing her to lose her footing and fall down some steps. He then picked up a piece of wood and struck her on the back of the head. Catherine was helped into the house by her sister then her hair was cut off and the wound washed. On the Saturday evening though she began to have convulsions and she was admitted to hospital where she died on the Monday. 

A post mortem revealed the cause of death as extravasation of blood on the brain and a fracture to the skull below the wound, which was about a quarter of an inch in length. On 11th May an inquest was held before the Coroner Mr P F Curry. When the verdict of manslaughter was returned Mrs Ryan cried out, saying that her husband had been like a father to Catherine for over six years. 

A warrant was issued for Ryan's arrest and he remained at large until early 1859. When he finally appeared at the Liverpool assizes, he pleaded guilty and in light of Catherine's provocation he was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour by Justice Willes.

Child Killing at the Workhouse

The death of a one week old baby at the hands of his mother and subsequent punishment in 1859 emphasised just how little value was placed on the lives of young children then.

On 11th February that year Jane Anderson, a 26 year old pauper residing at the Liverpool workhouse, gave birth to a healthy baby boy who she named Robert. One week later on the 18th of the month the baby boy was heard to be screaming very loudly and the following morning workhouse officials noticed that he was bruised.

When Jane was asked how the bruising occurred she said she did not know and the baby was taken from her and placed in the charge of a nurse. A week later he died and a post mortem by the house surgeon Dr Leather revealed the cause of death to be congestion of the lungs caused by violence. 

Jane was charged with murder and appeared at the Liverpool assizes on 31st March. In summing up, Mr Justice Wills told the jury they had to decide whether Jane had used violence towards her baby with the intention of causing harm or in the hope of quietening him. After deliberation they took a more lenient view and found her guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. She was then sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment with hard labour.

The Bootle Bath Murder

The killing of a Bootle woman who was found drowned in a bath in 1951 remains unsolved after her friend was tried for her murder but acquitted. It was a case which the defence barrister described as 'the most harrowing she had ever dealt with.'

Emma Grace was just 22 years old when she separated from her husband in the mid 1930s, going on to bring three children up on her own whilst working as a clerk for a pools firm. She lived in Irlam Road in Bootle in a house that was also occupied by Martin and Anna Neary and their three children. Each family had a floor in the house and they shared a bathroom.

On 25th May 1951 Emma's nineteen year old daughter Mary, a student nurse, returned home at around 5pm to find Anna sobbing hysterically. She described how she had heard Emma go to the bathroom and then raised voices, so when she went up to see what was happening a man had threatened her with a revolver then lifted Emma into the bath and drowned her before making off. When 39 year old Emma's fully clothed body was removed from the bath it was badly bruised and there had clearly been signs of a struggle.  

Anna was questioned by the police who were sceptical about her story, as they simply did not believe that the bathroom was big enough for one person to face great difficulty in drowning another while another escaped unscathed. As some of Emma's wages were found hidden within the fireplace in Anna's room, they concluded that she had committed the murder with robbery as a motive, refusing to believe her statement that a large man with hairy hands had committed the deed.

At lunchtime the following day Anna was charged and replied 'Why should I kill her, she has been awfully good to me.' A special court in Bootle was convened and Anna was formally remanded, leading to her shouting out 'This is not justice, God help me.' She was led away to the cells on what was her 27th birthday leaving her husband in the public gallery holding a young baby

Anna was 26 years old and had been born in France to Polish parents. After growing up near Lille, she had come to Britain after the war, during which she met her husband who was a serviceman with the RAF.

Martin's sister Margaret took the couple's children into her care, telling them that their mother was in hospital.

The trial opened at the Manchester Assizes on 11th July, with the the prosecutors outlining the case that the man with hairy hands had not been traced and as nobody else was in the house or could have gained access, then Anna was guilty. 

When Anna gave her evidence on the second day she stood by what she had told the police on the fateful night, that she had gone to the bathroom where she was locked in by a man with 'big ugly hairy hands' who then threatened her with a gun before drowning Emma. Anna then went on to to describe how there were a number of unknown male visitors to Emma and her daughter, one of whom she had expressed a wish never to see again as he had a nice wife. When asked by her defence counsel Rose Heilbron if she had killed Emma she replied 'No, never' and broke down crying, leading to a five minute adjournment to allow her to regain her composure.

In her closing speech, Miss Heilbron said there was no evidence of ill feeling between the two women and that Anna was not short of money so robbery could not have been a motive.

After retiring for two and a half hours the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. There was a round of applause from the public gallery but this came to an abrupt halt as Anna fainted in the dock and it took two minutes to revive her. She was still sobbing as Justice Barry said 'You may be discharged'. Anna then turned to the jury and said 'Thank you, I swear I did not do it.'

Outside the court, Anna buried her head into the arms of her husband as she was rushed to a waiting car. Miss Heilbron said that it was the most harrowing case she had ever been involved in and family members said that Martin and Anna planned to take a holiday in France. Although Martin's four sisters and two brothers had been of great help, Anna's mother was too poor to visit England during her daughter's imprisonment and trial.

The killing of Emma Grace remains unsolved.

An Atrocious Crime in Bootle

A man who kicked a seaman to death that had insulted his wife was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a long term of penal servitude.

On 7th August 1897 Joseph Willis, a healthy 33 year old seaman, was discharged from his ship after it docked in Liverpool and left carrying a hefty pay packet. Two days later he went to a house in Millers Bridge where a woman he knew called Elizabeth Scanlan lived. She had been drinking with fireman John Smith and his wife and Willis offered to buy some more beer for them.

Mrs Smith got quite drunk and began dancing and singing, then became so intoxicated that Mrs Scanlan had to to take her home in Derby Road. Willis left soon afterwards and met Mrs Scanlan as she was on her way back, and for some reason they both went back to Derby Road, where they found that Mrs Smith had fallen out of bed. They lifted her back in and decided that she would be okay as there were several people present in the room.

Willis and Mrs Scanlan returned to Millers Bridge to continue drinking and they were soon rejoined by Mrs Smith. She complained to her husband that Willis had insulted her he took little notice and when she hit Willis with a brick, John Smith knocked his wife down. Willis and Smith then began arguing themselves with Smith kicking out. When Willis fell down Smith then followed this up with a kick on the head. 

After staggering into the adjoining yard, Willis turned round to see Smith had followed him and he was punched in the head. The injured man managed to clamber onto a sofa but Smith went up and kicked him so hard he was flung from one end to the other. Willis was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, death being the result of laceration on the brain.

A number of neighbours had heard the commotion and gave evidence against Smith when he appeared at the Liverpool Assizes on 6th December, charged with murder. One testified that when Smith caught up with Willis in the yard he said 'Is he not dead yet, I will finish him.' The defence tried to say that the brick thrown by Mrs Smith could have caused death, but the medical evidence suggested this wasn't the case. In summing up the judge said that a manslaughter verdict could be returned if there were grounds of provocation and the killing had been carried out in the heat of the moment.

After half an hours deliberation the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter. When asked if he had anything to say before sentence Smith replied that he could remember nothing about the incident. Justice Ridley told him that the verdict was right but that it was an 'atrocious crime' and sentence Smith to fourteen years penal servitude.

The Park Lane Tragedy

A man who stabbed his landlord to death after being evicted for insulting his wife was told by the judge how fortunate he was to be convicted just of manslaughter.

Towards the end of 1895 Anders Janson, a 57 year old Swedish man who worked as a shipwright, lodged in Park Lane at a boarding house run by John Lindstrom. After being there a year he had gained the trust of Lindstrom and was allowed to look after his cottage in Town Green for the winter.  

By the time he returned to Park Lane in the Spring of 1897, Janson's drinking habits had increased and this led to an argument which ended up in Lindstrom dying. At around 5pm on 25th March that year Janson was drunk and abusive to Mrs Lindstrom, leading to his landlord deciding to turn him out of the house. Without warning Lindstrom went into the dining room and grabbed Janson from behind and literally took him out into the lobby. Instead of running away though Janson took a knife from his pocket and thrust a knife into Lindstrom's abdomen, causing the bowels to protrude.

The police and a doctor were sent for and Janson made no attempt to resist arrest, saying that he had been kicked and punched by Lindstrom. Janson was taken to the Main Bridewell in Cheapside and initially charged with wounded and remanded for a week. His victim was operated upon but died at the Northern Hospital on 29th March, leading to an inquest at which  a murder verdict was returned. 

Janson was initially committed to the assizes on a murder charge but when his trial opened on 11th May Justice Wills said that the jury should only consider a manslaughter verdict. His defence was that he was genuinely scared and that Lindstrom was bigger and stronger than him. Captain Patterson from the Cashmere was brought up to testify to Janson's good character but this didn't prevent the jury from finding him guilty. 

Two days later Janson was brought up for sentence, with Justice Wills saying that he was 'sorry to have to sentence a decent looking man to a severe punishment.' However the judge described the killing as 'as near to murder as it could be' and said there was no excuse. He them imposed a term of twelve years penal servitude.

Killed By a Teacup

A man who rowed with his wife threw a teacup at her causing an injury that led to her death, leading to him being convicted of manslaughter for the second time in his life. 

On 13th February 1897 Margaret Lynch was found lying in a court off Saltney Street with a cut to her head. A relative took her to the Northern Hospital where the wound was dressed and on return home she said to Margaret's husband Thomas 'this is an awful affair, her back is black and blue.' 38 year old labourer Thomas admitted to throwing a teacup at his wife during a row but denied any involvement in the bruising.

Margaret refused medical advice to stay warm and was often seen outside in the cold drinking. The wound became infected and erysipelas set in, leading to her being admitted to the workhouse hospital on Brownlow Hill, where she died on 8th March. Thomas was arrested and committed to the assizes for trial after an inquest recorded a verdict of manslaughter.

At his trial on 13th May Thomas's defence counsel put forward the improbable scenario that 24 year old Margaret had slipped and fell on some already broken crockery. Given what he had admitted to one of his in laws when it happened, this was unsurprisingly rejected by the jury who found him guilty of manslaughter.

Mr Justice Wills deferred sentence for a day as he wanted to consider how much weight to attached to a previous conviction for manslaughter. Twenty years earlier Thomas, who was then using the surname Lennon, was sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude after killing his stepfather. After receiving confirmation from the police that he had behaved fairly well since being released, the judge told Thomas that as he had not used violence or intended any great harm, he must serve a sentence of four months hard labour.