Crime and Punishment ( Miscarriages of Justice and related matters)

Eddie wrote:

Catherine wrote:
It's a shame that these people are so often not monitored especially when their 'judgements' are so important


You'll recall that the incompetence of another Home Office 'expert' got the Birmingham 6 banged up in the slammer for 18 years when he said that swabs he'd taken from their hands had tested positive for nitroglycerine. But the test he used also produces positive results from mundane objects such as playing cards and the laquer on the top of bars.

5 of the 6 had been drinking in a pub and playing cards...

^

Old ATU thread on the Victorian-era crimes of Charlie Peace: cat burglar, violin virtuoso and Peckham resident:

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Eddie wrote:

Charles Peace, 19th c. robber and cop-killer, is referenced in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Illustrious Client", in which Holmes reminisces:

"Criminals have complex minds. My old friend Charlie Peace was a violin virtuoso."

Peace might have got away with a prison term after his initial arrest under the assumed name of "John Ward", but intercepted correspondence with his lover revealed his true identity as the notorious murderer of a policeman while resisting arrest for burglary. The simple fact of the correspondence is itself remarkable because Peace had also murdered a love-rival.

Peace conducted his highly-skilled house-breaking activities using a set of hand-crafted implements. Conan Doyle's reference in "The Illustrious Client" suggests that the great fictional detective may have made use of his unique skills.

Peace died on the gallows, after repenting his sins.

It's possible to see in the figure of this Victorian-era criminal- and in earlier figures, such as the infamous jail-breaker Jack Sheppard- the faint stirrings of late 20th c amoral fictional archetypes such as James Bond.

Charlie Peace.

Sean Connery was better looking.

One of many Victorian "Penny Dreadful" covers on the subject of Charles Peace.

A "Penny Dreadful" was a sensationalized illustrated publication of the day, a forerunner of Mr Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Arthur ASkey wrote:

Eddie wrote:
A "Penny Dreadful" was a sensationalized illustrated publication of the day, a forerunner of Mr Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Oh, I do like that, Eddie!

Nash wrote:

Ha Ha, good old Charlie Peace!! When he was in prison awaiting death by hanging he made a model of the grave he wanted, I think it was a type of mausoleum. I am pretty sure it is still in the Black Museum. He was however buried without ceremony or marker in the grounds of the prison.

Nash wrote:

Another little titbit, he used to darken his face with walnut oil, so as not to be seen easily in the dark. By the way what a face.

Eddie wrote:

Nashville Skygirl wrote:
By the way what a face.


Indeed: a Phrenologist's worst nightmare:

Impressive frontal lobes, but no teeth. And a black eye.

Nash wrote:

Eddie wrote:
Nashville Skygirl wrote:
By the way what a face.


Indeed: a Phrenologist's worst nightmare:

Impressive frontal lobes, but no teeth. And a black eye.


I think the pic, not sure if drawing or photo? was taken after he tried to escape custody by jumping off the train!!

Nash wrote:

"King of the Lags" is a great book about Charles Peace, not sure if still in print but bound to be a copy on e-bay.

Eddie wrote:

Charlie Peace used to feature as the main character in one of the strips in a comic I used to read as a schoolboy, but I can't remember whether it was the Hornet, the Hotspur...whatever.

I do remember thinking at the time that Charlie was a most unlikely hero: he looked a fright and was obviously a nasty person.

That particular strip was quite short-lived, I think.

^^

The scrappy first page of this thread has now been fixed: expired links deleted, books recommended and reviewed etc.