Charles Jeremiah Slowe

Charles Jeremiah Slowe was convicted of the murder of Mary Jane Hardwick 20 and sentenced to death. He stabbed her at the Lord Nelson pub on Whitechapel Road, London on Thursday 24 September 1903 with a slaughterman's knife. He was an occasional customer but Mary Hardwick avoided him and he had been heard to abuse and threaten her. On 24 September 1903 he waited until closing time and then stabbed her saying, 'I've got you now'. After he ran off but Mary Hardwick's sister chased him and called out for people to stop him and an man followed him and then called for a policeman to arrest him. Mary Hardwick's sister said that she had no idea why he had attacked Mary Hardwick adding that Charles Slowe was only an occasional customer and that she had never seen them speaking to each other other than when drinks were being ordered. Charles Slowe had been a dock labourer. xxx1xxx Mary Hardwick had been from Yeadon in Yorkshire but had no parents living and lived with her sister who ran the Lord Nelson public house. The niece of the landlady who assisted in the management of the pub said she knew Charles Slowe as a customer and that on 23 September 1903 that she had been in the saloon outside the counter bar at about 10pm and that at about 10.20pm Mary Hardwick, who had been serving behind the bar came over and spoke to her, saying, 'Are you coming in, there is Jerry in the bar?', and that she then went into the bar to serve and saw Charles Slowe who she knew as 'Jerry' and had a little conversation with him. She noted that there had been an incident in March 1903 but that she had been in hospital when it had happened. She said that he stopped until close on 11pm when he went out, noting that closing time was 12.30am. She said that she next saw him a little before midnight when he came into the public bar and she served him with a glass of ale at which point Mary Hardwick had been in the saloon bar and not serving. She said that she then came out of the bar where Mary Hardwick was at about 12.15am and served some other customers in other compartments. She said that her niece, the landlady, then started serving at 12.15am and that she went and sat in the saloon bar at which time Charles Slowe came into the passage from the bar into the private bar, the compartment next to where she was. She said that she could see him and saw that he had a glass of shandy bitter that the landlady had served him and noted that Charles Slowe would have been able to see both her and Mary Hardwick noting that she knew so as she saw him look into the saloon bar. xxx2xxx She said that after he was served the shandy bitter that he stood drinking it and then went down the passage and out of the house about 12.20am. The landladies niece said that she knew that she was giving the right time as they kept the clocks five minutes fast in the house. She said that it was then about closing time as she noted a barman preparing to close the house and said that she saw Mary Hardwick get up and go down the passage on the public side. She said that she then went and stood in the private bar and that she then next heard a scream. She said that she then ran down the passage out of the house and saw the landlady chasing Charles Slowe. She said that she next saw the landlady and Charles Slowe outside the Lord Nelson and next to a shop in the street with the barman following Charles Slowe and then saw Charles Slowe try to strike the barman. She said that she then ran into the public bar and saw Mary Hardwick on her face on the ground after which a doctor arrived. She noted that she had been working at the Lord Nelson since Easter April 1902 and that she had seen Charles Slowe come in occasionally and said that Mary Hardwick had not talked to Charles Slowe for six months or more, only as a customer. The landlady said that Mary Hardwick was her sister and that she worked at the Lord Nelson public house as a barmaid and that she knew Charles Slowe only as a customer. She said that on Wednesday 23 September 1903 that Charles Slowe had been in the public bar when she went in at about 12.15am at which time Mary Hardwick had been in the saloon bar. She said that she then left and went into the public bar and that Mary Hardwick came in and spoke to her from in front of the counter, noting that by that time they were closing. She said that Charles was not there when they spoke and said that he then came in and struck Mary Hardwick right and left. She noted that she didn't see anything in his hand and that she then called out to him and then jumped over the counter and ran out after him, leaving Mary Hardwick leaning on the seat. She said that after chasing Charles Slowe into the street that she went back into the pub two or three minutes later to find Mary Hardwick in a state of collapse, flat on her face on the floor. xxx3xxx She noted that there had been an incident on 11 March 1903 whilst her husband was in hospital and she had been to see him. She said that when she returned to the Lord Nelson that Mary Hardwick told her something and that in consequence she told Charles Slowe, which was in the middle bar, to get outside. She then gave him his hook which she had taken off of him earlier and put in a drawer and told him that he should be ashamed of himself and that they got plenty of trouble without his coming. She said that he then went outside, taking his hook with him. At the trial the landlady admitted that she might have said 'I know of no other reason for the prisoner stabbing her than that she refused to have anything to do with him' but that she didn't remember saying that. She then noted that Mary Hardwick had earlier had a sweetheart and that Charles Slowe had met him around Easter but that they broke off their relationship around Christmas. A warehouseman who lived in Fernley Street, Mile End said that he knew Charles Slowe and had been at the Lord Nelson in March 1903 at which time the landlady and Mary Hardwick were behind the bar and Charles Slowe said, 'Give me my f—g hook, or else somebody will have to go through it'. He said that he ought to be ashamed of himself as they had already much trouble in the house and that the landlady then got his hook from a drawer behind the counter, put it on the counter, and that Charles Slowe then picked it up. He noted that he had known Charles Slowe five or six years and believed that he had worked at a wool warehouse and that the hook would have been used for pulling bales. The landlady said that people would leave their hooks for their own convenience to avoid carrying them and said that Charles Slowe had said something about not being able to get his hook back as Mary Hardwick didn't know where it was and was looking for it. A potman at the Lord Nelson said that some months earlier he had been in the bar when he had heard Charles Slowe say to Mary Hardwick, 'I will put her b----light out'. The barman, who was a tobacco cutter who lived at the Lord Nelson public house and assisted with the management there said that he knew Charles Slowe as a customer. He said that he saw him at about 12.20am when he walked out of the public bar and went down the passage into the private bar. He said that a man was bringing him the gates to close the pub at which time Charles Slowe was stood outside the window of the shop next door. He said that he then saw him turn down the passage towards the private bar and that he then lost sight of him but then heard a scream and that when he turned he saw Charles Slowe leave the public bar and go into the street. He said that the landlady then called to him, 'Catch him and kill him', and that he went and tried to get Charles Slowe by the throat outside Milward's shop but said that he had been wearing a handkerchief that had slipped and that Charles Slowe then knocked his arm up with his left hand and struck him on the jaw with his right which staggered him a bit after which Charles Slowe ran across the road. xxx4xxx He said that he followed him down East Mount Street and then along Raven Row after which Charles Slowe turned into Cotton Street and then crossed the road and went back into Raven Row again after which he walked into Bedford Street where he turned round to him and said, 'What do you want?. The barman said that he said, 'Never mind what I want' and that he continued to follow him into Oxford Street where he met a policeman and asked him to arrest Charles Slowe. He said that when he saw the policeman that he said to him, in Charles Slowe's hearing, 'I want this man', and that the policeman asked, 'What for?' and that he said, 'Assault'. He said that Charles Slowe then turned around and said, 'I am going home to my lodgings', but that he said to the policeman, 'Will you bring him back to the Lord Nelson?' at which point the policeman took hold of Charles Slowe and they went back. He said that when he got back to the Lord Nelson he found Mary Hardwick on the floor in the bar. The knife that Charles Slowe had used was later identified as belonging to a slaughterer that had lived in Devon's Road, Bow. He said that he was employed by Harrison and Barber in Winthrop Street, Whitechapel and that he had seen Charles Slowe there before when he had come to see his friend who was also employed there. He said that he had been using the knife on 23 September 1903 after which he washed his knife and put it in its pouch and went off to the Grave Maurice public house but that when he got back it was gone. He said that he had gone out between 12 and 12.30pm and that when he had returned at 12.30pm the knife was gone. He noted that he used to leave the knife in a pail of water, stating that they could not hold the knives otherwise. He said that Charles Slowe had previously assisted him in the yard when he had come to see his friend and said that later that night, 23 September 1903, at about 10pm he had seen him in the Grave Maurice public house and had a drink with him. A doctor that lived in Whitechapel Road said that he was called to the Lord Nelson public house a minute or two before 12.30am and arrived about 12.40am and found Mary Hardwick lying on the floor in the public bar. He said that when he examined her he found no evidence of life and said that her body was taken away shortly afterwards by the police. A physician at the London Hospital said that he carried out a post mortem on Mary Hardwick and found that she had two wounds, one which was at the junction of the seventh rib by the breast bone on the right side, it being a horizontal wound about an inch long that had penetrated the flesh, entered the covering of the heart, and gone through the right ventricle into the muscles behind. He said that the second wound was on her left side by about the tenth or eleventh rib which had penetrated through the superficial structures, passed through the spleen, scraped the exterior walls of the stomach, not actually entering it, entered the left kidney, and buried itself in the vertical column. When he examined the knife said to have been used by Charles Slowe he said that it could have been used to have inflicted the injuries. He noted that he thought that Mary Hardwick would have only lived for a few seconds after being stabbed. At the trial Charles Slowe's defence attempted to reduce the charge to manslaughter, stating that there was no evidence of premeditation and suggested that Charles Slowe had been madly in love with Mary Hardwick and had become angered because she had spurned him and he had struck her in a moment of passion. xxx5xxx When Charles Slowe was sentenced to death the judge said, 'May the Lord have mercy on your soul', and Charles Slowe, who was noted for having maintained an indifferent demeanour through out the trial said, 'I shall meet Him without fear'. Charles Slowe was executed at Pentonville on 23 September 1903. The Dundee Evening Post on Thursday 1 October 1903 reported on what was described as an 'Epidemic of Crime' saying that September had a terrible record for crime across London and the provinces and suggested that it might be connected to the weather criminal statistics seemed to show that there was always a rise during depressing weather and noted that year had been the wettest on record. The report noted that there was always an increase in criminal activity directly the late autumn months were entered into. Numbers quoted for murders were 11 and 17 for September and October compared to 8 and 10 for July and August. 806. CHARLES JEREMIAH SLOWE (28), was indicted for and charged on the Coroner's inquisition with the wilful murder of Martha Jane Hardwick. MR. R. D. MUIR. MR. ARTHUR GILL, and MR. MURPHY Prosecuted; and MR. HAROLD MORRIS Defended. Frederick Humphreys (4 J.) produced a scale plan of the Lord Nelson public house and the immediate neighbourhood. MARTHA SOPHIA BRAYSHAW . I live with my niece, Mrs. Starkey. At the Lord Nelson public house, and assist in its management—the deceased, Martha Jane Hardwick, was also my niece and a sister of Mrs. Starkey—we know the prisoner as a customer—on September 23rd, about 10 p.m., I was in the saloon outside the counter bar—the deceased was serving behind the bar—she came and spoke to me about 10.20—I went into the bar to serve—I saw the prisoner, who was known as Jerry, in the public bar—we had a little conversation—he stopped till close on eleven when he went out—the closing time is 12.30—I next saw him a little before twelve, when he came into the public bar and I served him with a glass of ale—the deceased was then in the saloon bar, and not serving—I came out of the bar about 12.15—the deceased was there—I served a couple in other compartments—my niece, Mrs. Starkey, went and served at 12.15, and I went and sat in the saloon bar—the prisoner came into the passage from the bar into the private bar—that is the compartment next where I was—I could see him—he had a glass of shandy bitter from Mrs. Starkey—he could see me and the deceased, because he looked into the saloon bar—when he had been served he stood drinking the shandy—then he went down the passage and out of the house about 12.20—we keep our clock about five minutes fast—T am giving the right time—it was approaching closing time—I saw Pealling preparing to close the house—the deceased got up and went down the passage on the public side, and I went and stood in the private bar—next I heard a scream—I ran down the passage out of the house—I saw Mrs. Starkey running and following the prisoner out—I next saw Mrs. Starkey and the prisoner outside our place and next to a shop in the street, and Pealling following the prisoner—I saw the prisoner strike at Pealling—I ran into the public See original bar—I saw my niece flat on her face on the ground—a gentleman from another box lifted her up—a doctor came—she never spoke—I had not heard any conversation nor seen my niece with the prisoner from 10 p.m. till 12.20, when I left the saloon bar—the prisoner may have kept a stall outside. Cross-examined. I have been at the Lord Nelson since Easter, 1902—I have seen Jerry come in occasionally—my niece said, "Are you coming in, there is Jerry in the bar?"—that was a little after ten—she did not say, "Jerry is in the bar, I served him with a glass of ale"—I was in the hospital when the hook incident occurred in March. Re-examined. The deceased had not talked" to the prisoner for six months or more, only as a customer. HANNAH STARKEY . I am a widow—I manage the Lord "Nelson—the deceased was my 'sister—she lived at the house, and acted as barmaid—I know the prisoner only as a customer—on Wednesday, September 23rd, he was in the public-bar when I went in at 12.15—the deceased was in the saloon bar, where I left her when I went to serve—about 12.15 she came and spoke to me at the public bar—she was in front of the counter—we were then closing—the prisoner was not there—I saw him come in and strike her right and left—I did not see anything in his hand—I called out to him, and jumped over the counter—he ran out—I ran after him—my sister was leaning on the seat—I ran into the road—I came hack in two or three minutes—I found my sister in a state of collapse, flat on her face on the floor; a gentleman picked her up—in March my husband was ill, and I went to the hospital to see him on March 11th—I came back to the Lord Nelson about 11.30, when my sister told me something, in consequence of which I told the prisoner to get outside—it was in the middle bar—I gave him this hook—I took it from the drawer—I told him he ought to be ashamed of himself, we had got plenty of trouble without his coming—he went outside—he took the hook with him. Cross-examined. I may have said at the inquest, "I know of no other reason for the prisoner stabbing her than that she refused to have anything to do with him"—I do riot remember that—I shall have been at the Lord Nelson four years nest month—during that time my sister was barmaid—she was twenty last April—the prisoner was an occasional customer—my sister had a sweetheart—the prisoner met him at Easter twelve months—he may have stood the prisoner drink—he would treat him like others if he saw him—I never saw him treat him. Re-examined. The engagement to the sweetheart was broken off before Christmas, and his visits ceased at Easter, 1902. CHRISTOPHER HENRY PEALLING . I am a tobacco cutter—I live in the Lord Nelson public house, and assist in the management 'there I know the prisoner as a customer—I saw him in the public box at 12.20—he walked out of the public bar, and went down the passage into the private bar—the potman, Musgrave, was bringing the gates to-me to close the house—the prisoner stood outside the window of the shop next door,; he then turned down the passage towards the private bar, when I lost Sight of him—I next heard a scream—I turned and saw the prisoner leave See original the public bar and go into the street—Mrs. Starkey came out and called to me, "Catch him and kill him"—I went and tried to get him by the throat, but he had a handkerchief on, which slipped—lie was outside Milward's shop, close to the door—he knocked my arm up with his left hand, and struck me on the jaw with his right, which staggered me a bit—he ran across the road—I followed him down East Mount Street, and along Raven Row, turned into Cotton Street, then crossed the road, and came back into Raven Row again, and then walked into Bedford Street, where he turned round to me and said, "What do you want?"—I answered, "Never mind what I want"—I still followed him till we turned into Oxford Street, where I went half way across the road and said in the prisoner's hearing to Constable Bowden, "I want; this man"—the constable came across and said, "What for?"—I said, "Assault"—the prisoner turned round and said, "I am going home to my lodgings"—I said to the constable, "Will you bring him back to the Lord Nelson?"—the constable caught hold of him and brought him back—when we got back, the girl was on the floor in the bar. Cross-examined. The prisoner passed out of the passage as I was standing outside—I do not think a minute passed before I heard a scream—I have known the prisoner six or seven years—I have known him sit in the Lord Nelson a long time, but I never had much to do with him. Re-examined. I knew when I spoke to the constable that there—had been an assault, I thought it was on Mrs. Starkey—I knew the prisoner must be the man, because I saw him come out of the public bar—when I returned there were only a lady and gentleman and the deceased on that side of the bar. ROBERT CHRISTOPHER MUSGRAVE . I am potman at the Lord Nelson—I know the prisoner as a-customer—some months ago I was with him in the bar when I heard him say of the deceased, "I will put her b----light out"—she was then walking behind the bar towards the big box in the Whitechapel Road—on September 23rd, near closing time, I had to put up the gates, and I was taking them from the private bar—the prisoner said, "Don't mate such a noise"—I took the gates to Pealling—when I was putting a nut on a bolt which was on my knees I heard a scream—Pealling ran after the prisoner—I ran as far as I could go—I lost them—I went back to the house—I saw the deceased with her head in a lady's lap. Cross-examined. It happened between 12.20 and 12.30—I never before heard a threat like that to a lady—I do not know what scrapping is—I am not a boxer. GEORGE HOLLIS . I am a commercial traveller, of 10, Arcadia Street, Poplar—I was at the Lord Nelson public house shortly after 12 on September 24th in the second compartment from the front—about closing time I heard a piercing shriek from No. 1, the public bar—I put my foot on the form and jumped the partition—I saw no one but the deceased, falling with a pitch—I remained till the doctor came. HUBERT HADDOCK (459 J.) About 12.30 on September 24th I was in the Whitechapel Road—I heard shouting for police—I saw the prisoner running across the Whitechapel Road towards East Mount Street—several people, See original were following—I saw Bowden stop him—I went about 1 a.m. with Bowden and searched the front of the Lord Nelson for a weapon likely to cause the death—outside the house, but in the doorway of a shop kept by Mr. Milward I found this knife—the blade was wet with blood—it was on the footway under the step—I handed it to the Inspector at the station. Cross-examined. I said at the Police Court that I found the knife against the iron railings at the coffee shop—it was by the step leading to the door in the centre of the shop and about eight yards from the Lord Nelson—Milward keeps two coffee shops—it was the second one from the public house. WILLIAM BOWDEN (416 H.) On September 24th, about 12.30, I was in Oxford Street—I saw the prisoner walking fast, and Pealling following him—Pealling said, "I want that man; he has assaulted the barmaid at the Lord Nelson"—I told the prisoner I should take him back to see what it was—on going through East Mount Street he said to me, "Hold me tight, I have stabbed a woman"—I took him to the Lord. Nelson—I' saw the deceased woman—I told the prisoner I should take him to the station—in the Cambridge Road he said, "Is she dead?"—Broom, 552 J., told him she was—the prisoner appeared excited. Cross-examined. I have never been in a murder case, only in one of attempted murder—the prisoner had been drinking. WILLIAM SMITH . I am a slaughterer, of 217, Devon's Road, Bow—I am employed by Harrison and Barber in Winthrop Street, Whitechapel—this knife belongs to me—I was using it on September 23rd, between 12 and 12.30—I went to the Grave Maurice, leaving my knife sheathed in my pouch after washing it—it is not so sharp as when I left it—I saw the man Vincent in the slaughter house as I left it—I returned about 12.30, went to my pouch, and the knife was gone—I have seen the prisoner in the slaughter yard to see his friend who is employed there—he has given me assistance in the yard—after seeing the prisoner about ten that night outside the gates I went to the Grave Maurice and had a drink with him. Cross-examined. The prisoner used to come and help a bit, for which he received a few pence—he started work again that night about 12.45—I begin night duty at 8 p.m.—I went out the second time before the houses closed—I always wash the knife before leaving it, because a pail of water stands there, or we could not hold the knife in our work; we generally dip it in the pail. JOHN VINCENT . I live at 38, Northampton Street—I am a carman employed by Harrison and Barber—on September 23rd I drove a cart with a dead horse in it, arriving at the yard about 11.15—there is a clock in the office, but I did not notice it—it may have been about 12 o'clock—about five minutes after I arrived, the men went out for their supper beer—I led the horse that had been drawing the cart to the stables, leaving the carcase on the cart in the yard—the gate was open—the stable is 54 feet from the front of the yard—I went out and returned in three or four minutes to the office in the yard. Cross-examined I did not take much notice of the time, but the men go out before the public houses close—I only know the prisoner by sight. See original ARTHUR SYDNEY DOWNTON . I am a registered medical practitioner, I assist Dr. Ambrose, and live at 174, Whitechapel Road—I was called to the Lord Nelson a minute or two before 12.30—I arrived about 12.40—the deceased was lying on the floor in the public bar—I examined her—I saw no evidence of life as far as I got—whilst examining her the police came in and the body was taken away. AUSTEN CLEMENT LE ROSSIGNOL . I am house physician at the London Hospital—I was in the receiving room about 12.30 on September 24th and received a summons to the Lord Nelson public house—I went there and saw the deceased—there was no indication of life—she was removed to the hospital where I found she was dead—the next day I made a post-mortem examination—I found two wounds—one was at the junction of the seventh rib by the breast bone on the right side, a horizontal wound, about an inch long; it had penetrated the flesh, entered the covering of the heart, and gone through the right ventricle into the muscles behind—the second wound was on the left side, about the tenth or eleventh rib; it had penetrated through the superficial structures, passed through the spleen, scraped the exterior walls of the stomach, not actually entering it, entered the left kidney, and buried itself in the vertical column—the knife produced might have inflicted, the injuries—considerable force was necessary—this knife is dented about an inch from the handle, the blade is blunt and turned a little at the point—that might have been caused by grazing on the stays or by having struck the breast bone—it looked as if it had been used recently; I saw it the same day—in my opinion the deceased could only have lived a few seconds after the injuries. Cross-examined. There was no blood on the knife when I saw it—the wound in the heart was the same size as the cut on the breast, within ordinary limits. JOHN BATE (Divisional Surgeon.) I practice at Victoria Park Square—I was called to the Bethnal Green Police Station at 1.20 a.m. on September 24th—I put questions to the prisoner which he answered in a perfectly rational manner—he was not drunk, but he appeared to have been drinking—he appeared accountable for his actions—on his right hand between the fore finger and thumb was a slight skin cut, with fresh blood—this knife had on it freshly dried blood, by the hilt—it is impossible to say whether it was human blood or that of the lower animals. JAMES CHRISTOPHER STOCKTON . I am a warehouseman, of 7, Fernley Street, Mile End—I know the prisoner—I was at the Lord Nelson in March when the deceased and Mrs. Starkey were behind the bar—the prisoner said, "Give me my f—g hook, or else somebody will have to go through it"—Mrs. Starkey and the deceased were standing side by side—the deceased walked away—I told him he ought to be ashamed of himself as they had already much trouble in the house—Mrs. Starkey got a hook like this (Produced) from a drawer behind the counter, put it on the counter, and the prisoner picked it up. Cross-examined. I have known the prisoner five or six years—I believe he works at a wool warehouse—the hook is used for pulling bales—the deceased did not take the slightest notice of the prisoner. See original HANNAH STARKEY (Re-examined.) The prisoner had left the hook to be called for—he had no difficulty in getting it back—other people leave hooks for their own convenience, to avoid carrying them—the prisoner said something about not being able to get his hook—the deceased did not know where it was and was looking for it. HENRY COLLINS (Police Inspector J.) On the morning of September 24th I saw the deceased woman's body at the London Hospital—I afterwards saw the prisoner at the Bethnal Green Police Station—I said, "I have just seen the dead body of a woman I believe to be Martha Jane Hardwick with a wound in her chest"; holding up this knife. I said, "You will be charged with her wilful murder by stabbing her with this knife"—he made no reply to that or the formal charge. GUILTY . DEATH .