Police Constable Golding

Police-constable Golding is mentioned on page 123 of the "Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia."

A TROOPER'S MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

Mystery surrounds the case of a man who was found dead on Friday morning at the Gordon Hotel, Catherine-street, Strand. An inquest was held, last night, at the St. Clement Danes Vestry Hall. - Corporal Middleton, of the 2nd Life Guards, stated that a man named Houghton, had been missing from his regiment for three or four days. He was a recruit transferred from the Army Service Corps, and he had only belonged to the regiment five days. The body of the deceased bore some resemblance to the man, but witness had some doubt as to the identity. -
Caroline Wilkins, waitress at the Gordon Hotel, Catherine-street, Strand, deposed that the man came to the hotel on Thursday night. - Police-constable Golding stated that he was called to the hotel on Friday morning. He forced the door open, and found the man lying dead in bed. An empty laudanum bottle was found in a coat pocket, and another laudanum bottle on the dressing-table. Under the washstand was found an envelope addressed to Mr. French, 2nd Life Guards, St. John's-wood. That gentleman was the captain of Houghton's regiment. - Dr. Ryan said death was due to laudanum poisoning, which would have the effect of altering the deceased's face so that he might not be identified. - The jury returned an open verdict, and wished the police to take steps to obtain proper identification.

Source: The Echo, Tuesday April 11, 1893, Page 3

MARLBOROUGH STREET.
DISPUTE BETWEEN STRONG MEN.

Charles August Sampson, 36, described as an athlete, of Vauxhall-bridge-road, was charged with behaving in a disorderly manner and assaulting Constables Golding and Cowdry, of the D division; and Edward Baxter Vansitters, 30, of Clifford-street, Bond-street, was charged with attempting to rescue Sampson, and with assaulting the officer Cowdry. - Mr. Bernard Abrahams, solicitor, appeared for the defendants.
Constable Golding deposed that at a quarter-past two o'clock on Sunday morning he saw the prisoners and some others leave the Supper-club, Percy-street, Tottenham-court-road, and commence quarrelling outside. Suddenly Sampson knocked one of the party down. He (the officer) then stepped between the two men, and requested the whole party to go away. The man who had been knocked down obeyed him. Sampson, however, rushed after the man, and was about to strike him again, when he (the constable) stepped in between them. Sampson then deliberately struck him on the ear, and knocked him down. He then took hold of Sampson, when Vansitters tried to drag him away. - In defence Mr. Abrahams said there had been a little festivity over the lifting of an elephant at the Aquarium. The officer was struck by accident.
Mr. Hannay: It is evident that Sampson could not have put his full strength into the blow. He will have to pay a fine of 3 pounds. You, Vansitters, ought to have known better than to interfere with the police when they were performing their duty, and you will have to pay a fine of 2 pounds.

Source: Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, December 27, 1891, Page 4

MURDERED CRIPPLE.
Accused Mother Swoons and Has to be Sent Away.

POLICE CHAIN OF EVIDENCE.
Chest of Drawers and Broken Lock Shown at Inquest Yesterday.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)
SALISBURY, Saturday.

There was the most intense excitement this morning when the inquest was resumed on the little cripple Teddy Haskell, who was murdered at 40, Meadow-road on the night of Saturday, Oct. 31.
It transpired that the police had asked the widowed mother whether she was courting anyone. They subsequently saw a steward on the Adriatic, and took a statement from him.
Mrs. Haskell, who is charged with the murder, sat in court this morning between a warder and wardress. At the end of half an hour, while the Chief Constable of Salisbury was giving evidence, she swooned, and was carried from the court. She did not return, and it was stated that she was hysterical. Accordingly, under medical advice, she was taken back in a motor-car to Devizes Prison.
Giving evidence, the chief constable, Mr. Frank Richardson, stated that immediately on learning of the murder, he proceeded with Superintendent Stephens of the County Constabulary, to the house in Meadow-road. He went into the front room and saw Mrs. Haskell with several other women around her. She appeared greatly distressed, and he was talking to her for some time before he could get anything out of her. Eventually she said that there was some money in a drawer upstairs, 8 pounds in gold and a two-shilling piece. They looked for it, and not finding it at first, Superintendent Stephens went downstairs. On his return they examined the top left drawer, and there in the folds of a small table-cloth they found 3 pounds 10s. Mr. Richardson said he found no mark on anything to indicate that the drawer had been forced.
At this stage the witness exhibited the drawer for the inspection of the jury.
The lock, he said, was hanging on the bottom tack with the bolt thrown. There were two other tintacks in the drawer together with the head of the bottom tack on which the lock was hanging. The fourth tack was still in the wood in position, but the lock had come away from it.
"Did Mrs. Haskell give you a description of a man who had called the previous evening for lodgings," asked the coroner, Mr. Buchanan Smith.
"She did," was the reply, "and she stated that he had said he had left his luggage at the station."

The Mother's Statement.

Mr. Richardson said he gave instructions to constables to search for that man, and, returning to his office, he telephoned the description to other stations. Shortly after one on the Sunday morning he went back to the house. Mrs. Haskell then told him about a man asking Teddy on the previous Wednesday for his name and address, what his mother did, and whether or not he had any brothers and sisters. She also said that the man had given Teddy twopence, and she had seen the boy writing his name and address on paper.
The chest of drawers itself was now brought into court and placed on the table in the well. It was closely scrutinised by the jury and the coroner.
In reply to Mr. Parr, who represented the Treasury, the chief constable said that Mrs. Haskell made a number of statements to himself, and Chief Inspector Dew, of Scotland-yard. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, they showed the skirt and blouse which she had been wearing to Dr. Kempe, the divisional surgeon. About eight that night they received his report, and at half-past ten they arrested her.
Mrs. Haskell had stated that a man rushed downstairs and threw something at her. He asked her if that was the blouse she was wearing at the time. She said, "Yes." Then she took it off and handed it to him. Sergeant Golding showed him the blood-stained knife which had been found in the kitchen doorway. At witness's request Mrs. Carter, mother of Mrs. Haskell, pulled out the drawer in which the knives were kept. He then asked if one was missing.
After looking through them, Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Haskell both said that the knife which Teddy used had gone.
At this stage the jury wanted to know something more about the drawer where the money was kept upstairs. Was there any damage to the front part of it?
Mr. Richardson said, "There was a little roughness," and added that apparently the lock had been displaced through someone pulling out the drawer.
Then the jury put this further question:
"Was any money found in the house or on Mrs. Haskell, in addition to that left in the drawer?"
The Chief Constable stated that ten shillings in silver was found in the front room.
Cross-examined by Mr. Trethowan, the Chief Constable said that the lock on the drawer was a very common one. Very little force would be necessary to pull out the drawer when locked.
Then reference was made to the knife. The Chief Constable, in regard to this, said that Mrs. Haskell made this statement: -

On Thursday last my son was sharpening wood, making a tip-cat, and I have not seen the knife since.
"Did she tell you the knife had been sharpened on the father's whetstone?" asked Mr. Trethowan.
The Chief Constable replied, "She stated that her boy said to her, "Mother, this knife won't cut, and I will sharpen it," and she added, "I believe he sharpened it on the whetstone, which was kept in the tool-basket. I did not see him sharpen it."

The Man on the Adriatic.

Then the cross-examination took an interesting turn.
"Did you and Mr. Dew ask Mrs. Haskell about a proposed marriage," inquired Mr. Trethowan.
"There is something about a man on the Adriatic," replied Mr. Richardson, referring to a statement which he held. "She was asked whether she had a young man, or words to that effect."
Where he was? - No, sir.
When he was last there? - No; I asked her mother that.
Mr. Parr, intervening, read from a statement made by Mrs. Haskell, the following: -

The shirt, collar, waistcoat and a pair of white cricketing trousers that are upstairs belong to Mr. Alfred Mould, who is a steward on the Adriatic, which sails between Southampton and New York, and he has slept in this house twice within the last three months, once about three months ago and last Saturday week, and I do his laundry work for him, which he leaves behind when he is going on a voyage. He left here for Southampton a fortnight today, but he did not sail until the following Wednesday. He slept here on this occasion because his mother was full up.
"Did you or Inspector Dew ask her whether she was courting a man on the Adriatic?" asked Mr. Trethowan.
"We simply asked if she had a young man," was the reply of the Chief Constable, "and then I asked Mrs. Carter to come in. I asked her whether her daughter was courting a young man, and she said she did not know."
"What made you and Inspector Dew go to Plymouth on Wednesday, Nov. 11, to meet the Adriatic?" was the next question.
"We went in the course of our inquiries," said Mr. Richardson.
What for? - To interview Mould.
Mr. Richardson further said that the boat arrived late at night, and Mould had to be got out of his berth.
Mr. Dew asked him whether he knew anything of a serious matter that had happened in Salisbury. He said he did not.
Mr. Trethowan suggested that the statement made by Mould should be put in. It was accordingly handed up to the coroner, who remarked that there was nothing in it to connect the man with Mrs. Haskell, except that they were on friendly terms. The statement was consequently not read.
"Did you tell him of the murder?" continued Mr. Trethowan. - The Chief Constable replied that he did.
Did you and Mr. Dew say he must have seen it in the New York paper? - It is absolutely untrue.
Did you say he ought to come forward and help the poor woman? - Nothing of the sort was said.
Did you ask him how intimate he had been with this woman? - No.
Did Mr. Dew ask him? - Not in my presence.
Did you come with him to Cherbourg? - Yes, we could not get off the boat.
Did he ask whether he could sign on for the next voyage or not? - No, he did not.
Do you know that he did not sign on without the permission of the police? - No, that is the first I have heard of it.
At all events you raised no objection to the signing on? - There was no occasion to.
In reply to the jury the Constable said there was no trace of blood-stained hands having been washed in the house at Meadow-road. He did not find any towels that had been used. Finally Mr. Richardson stated that during the four days that Mrs. Haskell was seen by the police there was no thought in his mind of arresting her.
The Chief Constable concluded his evidence at about a quarter to two, and the court then adjourned until Thursday next at half-past ten.
Earlier proceedings are reported on Page Six.

TO THE EDITOR OF "LLOYD'S NEWS."

SIR, -
Please allow me to express my gratitude to "Lloyd's News" for its efforts to raise a Defence Fund in my sister's (Mrs. Haskell) behalf. My mother and the family generally are deeply sensible of the great services being rendered. The conviction of our sister's innocence is absolutely unabated, and we trust to establish this eventually beyond all doubt. While the public are so kind in assisting us in the defence, may I be allowed to state what Mrs. Haskell's immediate relatives are doing in that direction.
Having no husband, and no source of income beyond that of her own labour, Mrs. Haskell was, of course, totally unprepared to meet the financial requirements; hence we immediately assumed entire responsibility. We have met all the preliminary expenses, we have severally made the journey to Salisbury (a 12s. fare) on every required occasion; and one of her brothers has left his work for three weeks in order to watch her interests, and give our mother that comfort and moral support so necessary for one of her age during this terrible ordeal.
We at once secured the best of legal assistance locally; we are still doing everything possible to help; and eventually we hope that the best of advocacy will be available. A great issue is involved - the life of a sister who we cannot believe guilty of killing her idolised child.
With the consciousness that we are doing our utmost, we may, we think, rely on outside help, in order that nothing may be left undone to have our sister's case fairly and ably presented.

Yours faithfully,
THE ELDEST BROTHER.

THE MRS. HASKELL DEFENCE FUND.

The following amounts came to hand yesterday: -
"Dick and Albert," 25s.; "A Salisbury Sympathiser," 10s.; "T.J.F.," 2s. 6d.
Mr. Frank Baker, a former Mayor of Salisbury, whose address is "Sturminster," Victoria-park, Salisbury, will be glad to receive local contributions (which will be duly acknowledged) in aid of the Fund.

Source: Lloyd's Weekly News, November 22, 1908, Page 4

SALISBURY MURDER.
Magistrates Leave Bench to Condole with Accused Mother.

COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.

The unusual spectacle was witnessed yesterday of magistrates leaving the Bench and condoling with a prisoner accused of the most serious crime in the calendar.
This occurred at the resumption at Salisbury of the charge against Mrs. Haskell of wilfully murdering her son Teddy on the night of Saturday, Oct. 31.
The court sat an hour earlier than usual, in order, if possible, to finish the case.
The accused woman seemed in much better health and smiled at her two brothers, one of whom has been in constant attendance during the trial.
The chief constable of Salisbury, answering Mr. Parr (for the prosecution) said there were no signs of the drawer in the bedroom, from which money is said to have been stolen, having been forced by any instrument. When he got to the house on the night of the murder Mrs. Haskell gave him the description of a man who had called for lodgings on the previous evening. The neighbourhood was searched, but no one was found.
Witness added that Mrs. Haskell also told him of a man who, on the previous Wednesday, asked Teddy what his mother did, whether he had any brothers or sisters, and gave the boy twopence. She also said she saw Teddy writing his name and address on a piece of paper, and she told witness that the blouse she was wearing was one she wore when the man threw the knife at her. It was bloodstained. He asked if she would mind letting him have it, and she took it off and gave it to him.
The Chief Constable then spoke of the arrest of Mrs. Haskell.
Mr. Parr: What was the charge? - I charged her with murdering her son. She said, "No, No."
At this stage the accused sobbed bitterly. Nothing could pacify her. Some of the magistrates left their seats and endeavoured to soothe her, but without avail, and she was taken out of court. After a ten minutes' interval she returned, and the Chief Constable resumed his evidence.
At the second remand of Mrs. Haskell he said he handed her a letter which she read and returned.
On Nov. 11 witness and Chief Inspector Dew went and saw Alfred John Mould on board the Adriatic, off Plymouth. The letter was in Mould's handwriting; it was dated New York Nov. 3, and bore the Salisbury postmark, Nov. 11. It was as follows: -

Dear Flo, - I shall try to get home on Friday evening, Nov. 13. I hope you are well and mother improved. Thanks very much, dear, for looking after her. I am very well and looking forward to seeing you again. I am sending this by the Lusitania, so that you ought to get it on Thursday. Much love, dear. - Sincerely yours, ALF.

Cross-examined by Mr. Trethowan (defending), witness said before he got to the house on the 31st several persons, including the doctors, had been there. He was certain, however, that he saw the streak of blood on the kitchen floor when he first went in, and that it was dry. As to the lock on the drawer there was nothing inconsistent with its having been forced.

How a Statement was Secured.

Mr. Trethowan pressed witness on the subject of the knife, great importance being attached to the blood marks on the handle. Witness said he did not examine the knife until five hours after the murder. He had previously told Sergeant Golding to take care of it. It was wrapped up in brown paper, and carried about in Golding's pocket.
Mr. Trethowan: Don't you realise that if that knife had been examined at the first time a great amount of this inquiry might have been unnecessary.
Witness made no reply.
Answering further questions from Mr. Trethowan witness said Chief-Inspector Dew did not ask Mrs. Haskell anything about Mould. He asked if she had a young man. They went to Plymouth in the usual course of inquiries.
Did you get a statement from Mould? - Yes.
And was Mould's signature at the bottom of that statement? - Yes.
Mr. Trethowan claimed to have the statement put in, but the Bench decided that the document could not be put in unless it was folded so as to expose only Mould's signature.
The chief constable, who is also coroner's officer, replying further to Mr. Trethowan, said Mould was not directed to attend either the inquest or the present inquiry. Witness admitted that questions were put to Mrs. Haskell by Chief-Inspector Dew, so that the language of the statement was not wholly hers. That might certainly account for the discrepancies. She was not warned that the statement might be used against her, and she fainted away almost immediately after the statement was completed.
Chief-Inspector Walter Dew, of Scotland Yard, said on the day following the murder, he went over the house, and afterwards saw the accused in the presence of the Chief Constable of Wilts, Supt. Richardson and Supt. Stephens. He took a statement in writing from Mrs. Haskell, she having told him that she would "tell all she knew."
Mr. Parr: Did you ask her any questions? - I had to ask some questions, as I knew nothing about the case.
Continuing, witness said Mrs. Haskell offered to give him the skirt she was wearing, and later on it was handed to him.
While Inspector Dew was telling the court of a statement made by the accused as to a man asking Teddy for his name and address, Mrs. Haskell again fainted, and was carried out of court. She was still in a fainting condition when the magistrates decided to commit her for trial.

MRS. HASKELL'S DEFENCE FUND.

We have received a strong local appeal to invite our readers to assist the Mrs. Haskell Defence Fund. The case is likely to be a long one, and a considerable sum of money will be wanted to ensure a proper defence for the accused woman at her trail.
Her family are doing all they can in the matter, but outside help is urgently needed. Contributions may be sent to the Editor, "Lloyd's News," Salisbury Square, E.C.
Mr. Frank Baker, of Sturminster, Victoria-road, Salisbury, a former mayor of the city, who is kindly interesting himself in the case, sends us the following further list of amounts which have been received by him: -
Sir Edward Tennant, Bt., M.P., 2 pounds 2s; Mr. T.B. Bennett, C.C., 1 pound 1s.; Mrs. C. Peacock (Freshford), 10s.; A Friend, 6s.; M.A.P., 5s.; A.P., 5s.; Miss J. Baker (Southampton), 2s. 6d.; Mr. F. Prince, 2s.; A Mother, 1s.; total, 4 pounds 14s. 6d.
In addition, we have received the following: - A Few Friends (per F.E. Lyne), 6s. 1d.; Portsmouth, 1s.; W.P., 10s.

Source: Lloyd's Weekly News, December 6, 1908, Page 4

COMPLAINT AGAINST THE GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL.

At Clerkenwell, today Mr. Charles Dearing, of 61, Halliford-street, Islington, applied to Mr. Barstow for his advice under the following circumstances. He stated that, on Friday morning, a young woman who was engaged at one of the houses in Halliford-street, fell from a back window into the yard. Her screams attracted his attention, and finding she was injured he placed her in a cab and had her removed to the Great Northern Hospital, Caledonian-road. There she was placed on a bed and examined by a young man who told him he had no bed for her and he must take her elsewhere. He told the house surgeon that a notice was posted outside the doors that accidents and cases of emergency were admitted at once, but notwithstanding that he still persisted in saying he would not take the unfortunate sufferer in, and should hold him responsible for any expenses that might be incurred in providing a place for her. - Mr. Barstow told the applicant that he had done his duty as a kind and benevolent man, but he could not compel the Great Northern Hospital authorities to admit a patient. The applicant asked if the hospital people could make him liable for any expenses they might incur in the case. - Mr. Barstow said, "Certainly not," and directed Sergeant Golding to make inquiries into the matter. The officer now reported that the unfortunate woman was removed from the Great Northern Hospital in a cab, and at once admitted into the Royal Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-road.

Source: The Echo, Saturday May 11, 1878, Page 3

MURDERED CRIPPLE.
Pathetic Scenes at Trial of Mrs. Haskell

CRIME RECONSTRUCTED.
Jury's Failure to Agree Necessitates New Trial in June.

At Devizes on Wednesday the jury failed to agree on a verdict in the case of Mrs. Frances Haskell, accused of the murder of her crippled son at Salisbury on Oct. 31, and were discharged.
A new trial thus becomes necessary, and if the ordinary procedure is followed the poor woman will have to remain in prison until the next assizes at Salisbury, which begin on June 5.
The Little Assize Court at Devizes was crowded on Monday (chiefly by women) when the trial began.
When Mrs. Haskell entered the dock she appeared quite self-possessed. She is a slimly-built, delicate-looking woman, with pinched features and mild grey eyes. She was dressed entirely in black, wearing over her jacket a necklet of lambswool.
"I plead not guilty, my lord," she said, in firm tones in answer to the clerk of the court.
Mr. J.A. Foote, K.C., in quiet, even tones, sketched the story of the crime as put forward by the Crown, emphasising these three points: -

No blood marks were found on the handle of the front door. The handle being on the left side the probability was that the door would be opened with the right hand, which, of course, in the case of the murderer would be bloodstained.
One would have thought that having answered the door to Percy Noble, Mrs. Haskell would have gone upstairs to see what had happened to her boy. It was not until 11:15, however, that she expressed a desire to go upstairs.
Although Mrs. Haskell had announced that someone had murdered her Teddy, she had no means of knowing it from anything she had seen.

"If I knew why the boy was murdered," said Mr. Foote, impressively, "I should be here in a different capacity. I tell you frankly on the part of the Crown that I am not able to place before you any reason why the prisoner should have murdered this child.
"The theory of the Crown is that the woman committed this act in one of those abnormal conditions of mind which do overtake human beings sometimes, and of which neither medical men nor legal experts are able to give any adequate explanation."

Clue Destroyed.

The outstanding feature of Tuesday's proceedings was the reconstruction of the crime in court. This came during the cross-examination by Mr. Goddard of Dr. Wilks, who was called immediately after the discovery of the murder.
In his evidence Dr. Wilks had expressed the opinion that the left hand of the assailant rested on the boy's head when the throat was cut. The two bloodstained pillows belonging to the bed were brought into court and placed in position on counsel's table. Then, laying a piece of paper on one of them to represent the boy's head, and holding the bloodstained knife in his right hand, Mr. Goddard performed the motions which, in the view of the doctor, were made by the murderer, the judge and jury watching with great intentness.
Police-Sergeant Golding then gave evidence which considerably astonished the judge. This officer was left in charge of the house on the night of the murder. He told the court that he looked on while Mrs. Carter, the mother of Mrs. Haskell, washed over the floor of the passage and kitchen.
"Why did you allow her to do that?" asked the judge, in a tone of astonishment.
"I was told to allow them to do as they liked downstairs," pleaded Golding.
"Dear! dear!" said the judge, still very much surprised. "I cannot imagine such a piece of folly."
Dr. Kempe, the divisional surgeon at Salisbury, told the court the result of his examination of the blouse and skirt which Mrs. Haskell was wearing on the night of the murder.
"Do you think that the marks on the blouse have been caused by the spraying of blood from the boy's windpipe?" inquired counsel. "In my opinion, all the marks on the blouse were caused in that way," said the doctor.
Prof. Pepper thought it was impossible that the blood marks on the blouse should have been caused by someone throwing a blood-stained knife. There were nineteen blood-marks on the skirt.
After Mr. Foote had briefly summed up the case for the Crown, Mr. Goddard rose to make his speech for the defence. There was no question, he said, as to whether Mrs. Haskell was sane or insane at the time of the murder; the issue was simply - had the prosecution proved that she committed the crime?

Ingenious Defence.

Counsel laid the bloodstained pillows on the table in front of him and submitted to the jury that it was an astounding thing, seeing the amount of blood and the manner in which it would have sprayed both ways, that Mrs. Haskell had not one spot of blood on the left side of her blouse.
Mr. Goddard, by the use of a model of the house, illustrated how Mrs. Haskell heard footsteps and looked upstairs, and how, when the murderer threw the knife at her, the left side of her body was hidden by the kitchen door, and, therefore, there were only splashes on the right of the blouse and skirt.
In concluding, Mr. Goddard asked the jury to say that they believed the woman's story. If she committed the crime, her action in going upstairs and kissing the face of her murdered child, as described by the doctor, showed her to be not only a great criminal but one of the greatest actresses of modern times.
The jury retired just after two, and it was past five before they returned, announcing that there was no possibility of agreement.
Turning to the junior counsel for the Crown, Mr. Parr, his lordship asked, "What is to be done with the prisoner?"
"The prisoner must remain in custody," said Mr. Parr. "In a case of this kind I am afraid it is impossible to take any other course."
"Very well," said his lordship.
"Unless there be some further advice on the part of the prosecution the trial will take place at the next assizes at Salisbury, which begin on June 5." (The assizes are held alternately at Salisbury and Devizes.)
With a glance at her brothers, who were standing beside the dock, Mrs. Haskell passed below.

Source: Lloyd's Weekly News, February 21, 1909, Page 5

MRS. HASKELL "NOT GUILTY."
END OF SALISBURY MURDER TRIAL.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW.
CROWD CHEERS ACQUITTAL OF TWICE TRIED WOMAN.

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After the terrible ordeal of being twice tried for her life, Mrs. Haskell, the Salisbury widow who was accused of the murder of her crippled son "Teddy," was yesterday found "Not guilty, owing to insufficient evidence."
It was on the night of October 31 last year that "Teddy" Haskell was found murdered in his bed. After a few days the mother was arrested, and the coroner's jury at the inquest returned a verdict of murder against her.
Her trial began on Feb. 15 last, and ended in the jury disagreeing. Her second ordeal, as stated above, has ended in her being set free, and her son's death joins the list of unsolved mysteries.
From the first the prosecution's great difficulty was to find a motive. Mrs. Haskell all along protested her innocence, and to a "Lloyd's News" representative last night she remarked: -

"I say now, as I said then, that I am absolutely innocent."

Mr. Rayner Goddard, the young barrister who defended Mrs. Haskell, scored his first great success as an advocate.

"GLAD IT IS ALL OVER."
Mrs. Haskell Tells of Her Impressions During Her Ordeal.

A representative of "Lloyd's News" had an interview last night with Mrs. Haskell after her acquittal.
"You may be sure," she said, "that I am very glad it is all over. It has been a very anxious time, and the suspense of all these months has been awful. Of course, I do not wish to say anything about the case at all. I can only tell you that the verdict is a true one. From the very first moment that suspicion was levelled against me I protested my innocence, and all those intimately connected with me know that I was incapable of such an act.
"The details of that awful night I shall never forget. It all stands out very plainly in my memory. I have never varied what I said at the outset. I say now as I said then that I am absolutely innocent.
"Of course, I felt my imprisonment very keenly, but everyone at the gaol has shown me every consideration. Above all, my thanks are due to those who enabled me to put my defence before the jury in a proper manner. I am exceedingly grateful to Mr. Trethowan, my solicitor, and to Mr. Frank Baker, a former Mayor of Salisbury, who has exerted himself in my behalf. I am only conscious of the extreme generosity of Sir Edward Tennant, the member for Salisbury.
"To Mr. Rayner Goddard, who defended me at the trial, I owe a deep debt of thanks. Indeed, I felt today, as I sat in the dock, that whatever was the outcome of the trial justice had been done to my case in every way.
"Finally, let me say that I much appreciate the action taken by your paper months ago in starting a defence fund on my behalf. The references made in "Lloyd's News" to my case brought many good friends, and I can only repeat my thanks to you."
Mrs. Haskell said with a smile that since she had been in prison she had gained ten pounds in weight.

END OF AN ORDEAL.
Mrs. Haskell Weeps When the Verdict is Announced.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)
DEVIZES, Saturday.

Mrs. Haskell entered the dock at the Assize Court today for the closing stage of her trial with a smile on her face - a smile of recognition given to one of her brothers who was sitting near the dock. Prisoner, indeed, looked perfectly self-possessed as she took her accustomed seat beside a wardress.
Following the procedure adopted at the previous trial, no witnesses were called on behalf of Mrs. Haskell, and the defence, therefore, secured the right of "the last word." Accordingly Mr. Foote, K.C. (for the Crown), at once rose to make his final speech to the jury. It was a calm, unimpassioned statement.
"Did the assailant, having carried the bloodstained knife downstairs, turn to the left and enter the kitchen or rush out of the front door?" was the question that Mr. Foote put to the jury at the outset. If, as Mrs. Haskell had stated, a man ran out of the house, having apparently just committed the murder, it was at least remarkable that there were no blood marks on the handle of the front door. On the other hand, on the theory that Mrs. Haskell was the assailant, it might be supposed that, coming downstairs, she would sink into the first chair inside the kitchen with the bloodstained knife still in her hand.
At that moment, he would suggest, there came the knock of the boy Percy Noble at the back door. What would be the natural thing for her to do? Obviously she would put the knife down. And it was for the jury to judge whether the blood mark found on the linoleum at the threshold of the kitchen was not entirely consistent with that theory.
Mr. Foote proceeded to lay stress on the importance of the blood smear found on the kitchen table-cloth. It was perfectly certain that this mark was caused by a person brushing past the table, carrying something with blood upon it. If, as a witness had stated, Mrs. Haskell had a bloodstained handkerchief, it carried one a long way towards a conclusion as to her guilt.
Mr. Foote spoke next of the knife with which the murder was committed. It was not disputed that the knife was the property of Mrs. Haskell. If a strange man, for some reason difficult to understand, had wanted to cut the throat of this crippled boy, would not he have brought a knife with him?
In conclusion counsel urged that the facts were quite sufficient to bring it home to all fair-minded men that in some unaccountable frenzy, or in a morbid state of mind possibly brought on by brooding over the child's unhappy condition, prisoner committed the act with which she was charged.

An Impossible Transformation.

There was a hum of expectancy when the boyish-looking advocate, Mr. Rayner Goddard, rose to make his appeal to the jury on behalf of prisoner at the Bar. He began by admitting that a case of grave suspicion rested against Mrs. Haskell. The jury, however, were not going to commit a fellow creature to death on mere suspicion.
Counsel proceeded to draw a moving picture of the home life of the little cripple who had met with so tragic a death. Apparently he had as good a mother as any child ever had. Mrs. Haskell was a loving mother and an honest, hard-working woman. It seemed inconceivable that she could suddenly have been transformed into a monster.
Passing to the general facts of the case, Mr. Goddard dealt at length with the evidence of the bloodstains. Human judgement, he pointed out, was not infallible. It was dangerous to form a judgement on the evidence of inanimate objects; a mistake might creep in anywhere. He was well aware that a strong piece of evidence against the prisoner was the blood smear on the kitchen table cloth, but it was not certain that the blood was human blood at all. No doctor could say that.
It was remarkable that with the exception of the tablecloth there was not a trace of blood in kitchen or scullery. There was no blood on the back door, although it was known that the prisoner opened it to Percy Noble. No one saw any blood on her hands.
When he came to deal with the bloodstains on the prisoner's blouse counsel produced a wooden model of the ground floor of the house. He pointed out that if Mrs. Haskell went to the kitchen door and looked up the stairs on hearing sounds above she would expose her right side; it was the right side of the blouse which was sprayed with blood. If a man threw a blood-stained knife at the prisoner and it struck the lintel of the door the result would be a spraying. As for the blood on the skirt, there was no evidence that it all got there on that night.

Eloquent Appeal.

Mr. Goddard emphasised the "jumping sound" which Percy Noble heard while he was waiting at the back door. Did the jury think that the prisoner could have thought out such a detail as that?
While counsel was making his eloquent appeal to the jury the prisoner had sat with tears welling up into her eyes, a picture of abject misery. Her frail frame shook with emotion as her defender passed to his peroration.
He spoke of the kiss which the prisoner gave the murdered child in the chamber of death. "If that woman," he cried, "was a guilty woman, no words could describe the character of that kiss. Not only would she be one of the greatest criminals, but one of the greatest actresses who ever lived."
Did they think this laundress, this humble woman of the people, untrained to the arts of society, could have gone up and kissed that clay made lifeless by her hands? Finally, he urged the jury to remember that each had an individual responsibility. If one of them had a lingering doubt he should give the prisoner the benefit of it.
"I ask you," he pleaded, "not to take a fellow creature's life unless there is proof cogent, clear, and compelling."
Mr. Justice Darling began his summing up by paying a tribute to "the very remarkable ability and judgement" which Mr. Goddard had displayed throughout the trial. Counsel asked the jury to give the prisoner the benefit of any lingering doubt which they might have.
"I must remind you," said his lordship, "that such a doubt must be a reasonable doubt - the sort you would act upon in your own affairs."
Reviewing the case, the Judge remarked that there had been no suggestion as to whom the man was whom Mrs. Haskell said she saw rush down the stairs. Why did he go to the house? When did he go? How did he get in? What motive had he to commit the murder? According to the prisoner no one knew about the money which was kept in a drawer upstairs except herself, her mother, and her little boy. How could they reconcile that with the theory of robbery?

Judge's Ominous Remark.

His lordship glanced at the salient points of the case, discussing at some length the bloodstained blouse, skirt, and handkerchief. Then while the crowded court became profoundly hushed, he said he felt it his duty to make a statement which only the judge in such a case could make.
Speaking with great deliberation, he said, "The prisoner in a criminal charge can be called as a witness just like anybody else. It may be that the statements which she has made contain all that she knows, that she can tell us no more; but there are matters where supposition has been offered as explanation in regard to which evidence might have been given.
You must not convict the prisoner because she does not give evidence, but if there is something which admits of explanation upon oath, and that explanation is not given, it must gravely weaken the supposition which has been put before you."
The jury retired at five minutes to three, and it was a few minutes after four o'clock when the high sheriff and the chaplain quickly crossed from the court to the judge's lodgings opposite. They had gone to convey the news that the jury had agreed upon a verdict.
At 4:15 the clerk of the court stood up to put the fateful question to the jury. The prisoner looked very pale, but quite self-possessed.
"Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict?"
"Yes," answered the foreman, promptly.
"Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty, on the ground of insufficient evidence."
The prisoner smiled, and then hid her face in her handkerchief to hide the tears of relief which trickled down her cheeks amid a hum of excited comment.
The judge exempted the jury from further service for five years.
A minute later, amid half-suppressed applause, Mrs. Haskell walked from the dock a free woman, and between two of her brothers passed out into the street, where a large crowd had assembled to hear the verdict. She and her brothers went to a small house where her mother was anxiously awaiting her, and there was a joyful reunion, from which the element of pathos was not absent.

A BRILLIANT COUNSEL.

Mrs. Haskell's counsel, Mr. Rayner Goddard, has won a great forensic triumph in securing her acquittal. He is quite a young man, as lawyers go, having been called to the Bar so lately as 1899, and he looks even younger than he is.
Mr. Rayner Goddard is attached to the Western Circuit, and practises at Bournemouth, in Wilts, and at the Bath Sessions. He defended Mrs. Haskell at her previous trial, when the jury did not agree.
According to our special correspondent, Mr. Goddard's speech for the defence yesterday was a masterly one. By means of a model, he made the jury understand the position of the rooms in Mrs. Haskell's cottage, and how the position of these rooms and the staircase corroborates her story.
This is the first big case in which Mr. Goddard has been entrusted with the lead, and he has shown that he has in him the makings of a great criminal lawyer.

"LLOYD'S NEWS" APPEAL.

The happy ending to the painful Salisbury murder trial recalls the appeal on behalf of Mrs. Haskell in "Lloyd's News" of Nov. 8 last. In starting "The Mrs. Haskell Defence Fund" on that date we wrote: -

"It is not at all because we think she has been treated unfairly that we take up the matter, and ask our readers to contribute to the Fund which will enable her to get the best legal advice and advocacy. It is because of the desperate straits in which the poor woman is, and because her past life, so far as it is known to us, precludes the possibility of her being a murderess, and at most only permits of the fear that a momentary fit of madness was the cause of the tragedy."

Source: Lloyd's Weekly News, April 4, 1909, Page 2

THE POPLAR MYSTERY.
IS IT A CASE OF MYSTERY?

DR. BROWNFIELD DECLARES IT IS.

The inquiry was resumed this afternoon at the Poplar Town Hall, before Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, relative to the mysterious death of the young woman, Catherine Milett, who was discovered dead in Clarke's-yard, High-street, Poplar, on the morning of the 20th of December. At the time it was thought she had died from the effects of intemperance - the deceased having been addicted to drink - but afterwards it was asserted by Dr. Brownfield, the police divisional surgeon, that she had been wilfully strangled with a piece of string, deep marks as of the pressure made by a cord being found on her neck. This opinion was confirmed by Mr. George J. Harris, surgeon (Dr. Brownfield's assistant); and it was also stated that Dr. Hebbert, demonstrator of anatomy at Westminster Hospital, held the same view. Dr. Thomas Bond, however, surgeon of the A Division of Police, who had been requested to make an examination by Mr. Anderson of the Criminal Investigation Department, gave evidence on the last occasion to the effect that the deceased had (in his opinion) caused her own death by falling down, the marks as of strangulation being probably produced by the collar of her clothing.
Mr. St. John Wontner again appeared on behalf of the Chief Commissioner of Police. Mr. Superintendent Steed was also present.

NO CRIES OF DISTRESS IN THE NIGHT.

Mr. Benjamin Bayne, a grocer's manager, of 184, High-street, Poplar, said that on the morning the body was found he did not go to bed until a quarter to four in the morning. He had been engaged in moving things out of the shop, which was close to the spot where the deceased was discovered. He heard nothing during the night but street brawls, which were common to the district. He heard no cries of distress.
Richard John Ashby, a letter-carrier, of 186, High-street, Poplar, said he went to bed at half-past eleven on the night of the 19th of December. His room looked down on the back of Clarke's-yard. He heard no cries of distress that night, the witness adding, "Everything seemed very quiet that night." Witness awoke at half-past three in the morning.

DR. BROWNFIELD REPEATS HIS ASSERTION.

Dr. M. Brownfield (recalled) said that Dr. McKenna, chief surgeon of the Metropolitan Police, also examined the body.
The Coroner: - Did he express any opinion?
Witness - Yes; for I heard him dictate a telegram to the police, founded on the opinion I gave. On the 26th of December the marks on the left side of the neck had faded away, but those on the right side were still very evident.
Mr. St. John Wontner - You have heard Dr. Bond's evidence. Does that alter your opinion?
Dr. Brownfield - No; it does not.
Mr. Wontner - You still adhere to the opinion that the death was a homicidal one - caused by violence.
Dr. Brownfield (emphatically) - I do. These marks were too even to have been caused in any other way.

GOING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE YARD.

Jane Hill, a widow, said she kept a boarding-house in High-street, Poplar. She knew the deceased - had known her for about five years. Witness saw her at a quarter-past twelve on the morning of the 20th of December. The deceased was "not sober and not drunk." Witness saw her between Newby-place and Bow-lane. She gave the deceased twopence, although she did not ask her for it. The deceased then walked away in the direction of Clarke's-yard.
The Coroner - Had she her hat on? - Yes.
Police-constable Charles Berret, 470 K, deposed that on the morning of the 20th of December he was in company of Sergeant Golding when the body was found. He assisted to remove the body, but did not notice any marks.
A Juror - Were you left in charge of the body while Sergeant Golding went to the station? - Yes.
The Coroner - Did you look for any marks when you got to the mortuary? - Yes.
The Coroner - Why did you look for marks? Do you always look for marks on the necks of bodies?
Witness (placing his hand up to his own collar) - I looked to see if I could see any mark. There was no mark whatever. I did not move the neck.
Mr. Courtain T. Chivers, Coroner's officer and mortuary-keeper, said he first of all received the body at half-past nine on the morning of the 20th ult. There were marks and scratches on the neck. The marks round the neck were an eighth of an inch deep.
The Coroner: And you went and informed Dr. Harris? - Yes. He said he had not seen it.
(The report will be continued.)

Source: The Echo, Wednesday January 9, 1889, Page 3

The East-End of London has been the scene of another mysterious murder of a woman of the "unfortunate" class, though the mode of killing is altogether different from that which filled London with horror in the case of Annie Chapman and her fellow victims. Like the murders at Whitechapel, that at Poplar was committed in the dead of night, or rather, in the early hours of the morning. Once again we have a woman getting her miserable livelihood in the streets, existing almost from hand to mouth, so poor that she expressed her despair to another woman, and thus ready to become the victim of a miscreant, and herself to lead him to some retired spot, where he could despatch her without interruption. It appears that on Thursday morning about half-past two another woman of the unfortunate class saw the deceased who was then in company with two men, at the time being the worse for drink. An hour and three quarters afterwards the dead body of the woman was found by Sergeant Golding in Clarke's-yard, which turns out of High-street, Poplar. This yard is a long, narrow lane, only eight or ten feet wide, leading only to stables and workshops. It appears that shortly before midnight the murdered woman met another female acquaintance, to whom she said that she was without money, and did not know what to do. With the customary kindness which characterises the poor in their dealings with each other, the woman to whom she told her trouble gave her twopence from her own small store. The twopence and a shilling in silver beside were found upon the body of the deceased. Death must have come upon her as suddenly as upon the wretched victims of Mitre-square and Buck's-row. A cord was apparently applied in the form of a tourniquet, as effectually preventing any cry of alarm as though the poor creature's throat had been cut from ear to ear. The opinion of the surgeon who examined the body is that the murderer must have stood behind the woman, a little on one side, and having the ends of the string round his hand, threw the cord round her throat, and crossing his hands so strangled her. On this theory the absence of a mark all round the throat is accounted for; where the hands were crossed on the woman's neck, of course, no mark would be visible. It is suggested that a sailor, actuated by jealousy, has committed the murder; and, on the other hand, it has been suggested that the mysterious murderer of Whitechapel has possibly changed his mode of operating and the scene of his activity. At present the police are absolutely in the dark; there has not even been an arrest, much less a clue, and as the victim has been slain without the shedding of blood, the perpetrator of the deed, when once clear of the spot, carries with him no traces of the crime.

Source: The Echo, Monday December 21, 1888, Page 2