Edward Devlin and Alfred Burns Miscarriage Of Justice

Edward Devlin & Alfred Burns - a miscarriage of justice?

Beatrice Alice Rimmer was 54 year old widow who lived alone at 7 Cranborne Road opposite Sefton General Hospital, on Smithdown Road in Liverpool and who was reputed to keep money in her house.

Beatrice had visited her son on the Sunday afternoon and was seen returning to her home that evening. On Monday, August the 20th, 1951, her next door neighbour, Jack Grossman, alerted Alice’s son Thomas to the suspicious scene outside his mothers front door. There was a bottle of milk on the doorstep, delivered around 6a.m., but it was now long after midday.

Alice, as she was known, had not been seen all morning and Mr. Grossman had become concerned about her welfare. Thomas couldn’t get any reply but looking through the letterbox could see his mother lying in a pool of blood. At the back of the house a window had been broken. Alice had been attacked with a cosh and had 15 separate wounds which indicated that she might have been tortured to reveal the whereabouts of her money.

The police initially suspected Thomas of being involved until George McLaughlin, a man serving time for burglary in Liverpool’s Walton prison, gave them a tip off. He told police two Mancunians, 22 year old Edward Devlin and 21 year old Alfred Burns, had admitted the murder to him.

The only forensic evidence was a drop of blood on the coat belonging to one of them, which was not even from the same blood group as Mrs. Rimmer. Devlin and Burns strenuously denied the murder and had an alibi for the night of Sunday the 19th of August - they were breaking into the Sun Blinds Ltd factory in Manchester at the time!

They came to trial at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool before Mr.

Justice Finnemore on 12th of February 1952 and were convicted on the 27th of that month. In court neither behaved well and were critical of the judge and jury. Rose Heilbron defended the pair and told the jury that the evidence against Burns and Devlin was entirely circumstantial - no one had seen them enter or leave the house. It took the jury just 75 minutes to reach their verdict. Asked if they had anything to say before they were sentenced Devlin told the judge.

“My Lord. I would like to stress that it means the police are not infallible and tell lies.”

Their appeal before the Lord Chief Justice and Justices Ormerod and Parker was dismissed on the 31st of March but the Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fife, took the unusual step of appointing Albert Gerrard QC to examine the case and he reported that they were guilty. So, at 9.00 a.m.

on Friday the 25th of April the pair were hanged side by side in Walton prison, by Albert Pierrepoint assisted by Syd Dernley, Robert Leslie Stewart and Harry Smith. Burns weighed 165 lbs. and was given a drop of 6’ 10”, Devlin weighed 158 lbs. and his drop was 7’ 1”. On Sunday the 27th it was reported in the press that both men had confessed to killing Alice. According to Syd Dernley’s memoirs, neither man spoke during the execution.

Recent developments.

In 2018 new evidence has come to light regarding these two men that raises serious doubts about the safety of their conviction which has led to it being referred to the court of appeal.

It appears that Alice Rimmer complained about her son, Thomas, in a letter she wrote to her deceased husband's pension provider. It said : "I am sorry to add that I cannot look for any help or sympathy from my son. I have not dared to tell him about this extra allowance. I have given and given but now firmly resolve not another penny. Money slips like water through his hands and now he is realising what he's done. I do know that if I pass away, he would have a royal time of it for a few months."

This letter provides Thomas Rimmer with a clear motive to kill his mother. Additionally, the broken window he said that he used to gain entry into the property where he found his mother's body, did not leave any fibers of his chunky jacket nor could he replicate gaining entry without leaving any finger marks or fibres in the three attempts he tried to demonstrate why the window was simply broken but untouched.

As of October 2018, the case has not been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Thanks for reading, we provide you the best of history.

more interesting stories and facts below and don't forget to leave your thought in the comment section

Comments

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII.

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII. U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on June 16, 1943, over Buka area, Solomon Islands. In October 1939, Zeamer applied for the Army Air Corps flight training program and was accepted in December. His entrance to the program was deferred until after graduating from M.I.T. in June 1940 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, specializing in Structural Engineering. Zeamer began elementary flight school training as a flying cadet in the Chicago School of Aeronautics, Glenview, Illinois, where his leadership skills earned him the position of Captain of Cadets of Class 41-B. In March 1941, he received his wings and a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from basic and advanced flight school at Maxwell Field, Alabama. On June 16...

The Japanese WWII Soldier Who Refused to Surrender for 27 Years

Unable to bear the shame of being captured as a prisoner of war, Shoichi Yokoi hid in the jungles of Guam until January 1972 When Japanese sergeant Shoichi Yokoi returned to his home country after almost three decades in hiding, his initial reaction was one of contrition: “It is with much embarrassment that I return.” Then 56, Yokoi had spent the past 27 years eking out a meager existence in the jungles of Guam, where he’d fled to evade capture following American forces’ seizure of the island in August 1944. According to historian Robert Rogers, Yokoi was one of around 5,000 Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender to the Allies after the Battle of Guam, preferring life on the lam to the shame of being detained as a prisoner of war. Though the Allies captured or killed the majority of these holdouts within a few months, some 130 remained in hiding by the end of World War II in September 1945. Yokoi, who only rejoined society after being overpowered by two local fishermen in Janu...

HONORING EDITH CAVELL FOR HER WONDERFUL SERVING WWI, REST IN PEACE BRITISH WAR HEROINE.

Edith Cavell - a British war heroine. Edith Louisa Cavell was born on the 4th of December 1865 at Swardeston, near Norwich, the daughter of a local vicar. Edith trained as a nurse and would become the matron of The Berkendael Medical Institute in Belgium in 1907. She was also active in nurse training there. The first World War broke out in 1914 and at the time Edith was on holiday, visiting her mother in Norfolk. Her family begged her to stay in England but she returned to her job in Brussels. The city would fall to the Germans on the 20th of August 1914. Edith was allowed to remain at her post when the hospital was taken over by The Red Cross. Edith began rescuing and treating injured British and French soldiers and getting them across the border into neutral Holland from where they could return to Britain. She also assisted Belgian civilians. These activities constituted a crime under German Military Law. Paragraph 58 of the ...

Why Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead.

Why Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead. This is the corpse of Anna Maria von Stockhausen. After death she was strapped down to keep her in her grave. According to folklore, Stockhausen was a witch who resurrected herself 5 times. She was accused of being a witch during the Middle ages and Black Plague. This folklore about Anna was that she was killed about 6 times. She was first hanged and later clawed herself out of the grave. The town people captured her in a nearby town and quickly drowned her in a lake, by tying her to a plank. The townspeople said they checked her several times after dragging her lifeless body out of the water. View more graphics content below View more below:

Honoring Gene Autry "Cowboy Entertainer" For His Services During WWII .

🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Gene Autry: Cowboy, Entertainer and Proud World War II Veteran "When World War II broke out, Gene Autry was determined to join the armed forces and do his part. On July 26, 1942, during a live broadcast of his radio show Melody Ranch and at the Pentagon's request, he was inducted into the Army Air Forces as a Technical Sergeant. Already a private pilot, Gene set out to earn his wings as a Flight Officer. After basic training at the Santa Ana Air Force Base, and serving at Luke Field, Thunderbird Field, and Phoenix Airport, he was eventually accepted for flight training at Love Field in Dallas." "A week after Gene was sworn into the military, the Gene Autry Melody Ranch radio show became the Sergeant Gene Autry radio show on August 2, 1942. The program was part of Gene’s regular duties in the Army Air Forces and still had his music, comedy, and action in a dramatic story but now with a military theme. The songs were patriotic, the comedy based on...

The Most Horrifying Forms of 3 Executions in History

What was the unusual execution method used in history? Stoning, also known as lapidation, is a method of execution that involves pelting the condemned individual with stones until death occurs. It has been practiced in various societies throughout history and is often associated with religious or cultural beliefs. Stoning as a form of punishment is primarily intended to instill fear and act as a deterrent. In stoning, the condemned person is typically buried up to their chest or neck in a pit or shallow hole to restrict movement. The crowd or a group of executioners then proceeds to throw stones at the individual until they are killed. The stones used in stoning are typically of a specific size and weight, ensuring that the punishment is prolonged and painful rather than immediately lethal. The severity and execution of stoning can vary between different cultures and regions. It is important to note that stoning is often linked to moral or religious offenses, such as adultery or bla...

The Painful Death Of Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township. And His Medal Of Honor For Action WWII.

The Painful Death Of Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township. And His Medal Of Honor For Action WWII. U.S. Army Technical Sergeant John D. Kelly of Venango Township, Pennsylvania, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on June 25, 1944, near Fort du Roule, France. Kelly joined the Army in June 1942, and by June 25th, 1944, was serving as a Corporal in Company E, 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. On that day, at Fort du Roule, Cherbourg, France, Kelly repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire to destroy an enemy emplacement and capture its occupants. He was killed in action five months after being promoted to technical sergeant. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. Kelly is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Epinal, France.

🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Private Edward Kenna Honored with Victoria Cross for Bravery at Wewak New Guinea.

🇦🇺WWII uncovered: Private Edward Kenna Honored with Victoria Cross for Bravery at Wewak New Guinea "Edward (Ted) Kenna was born at Hamilton, Victoria, on 6 July 1919. He completed his education in his home town before becoming a plumber. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1940 and served in the 23/21st Battalion in Victoria and later in the Darwin area. In June 1943 his unit returned to Victoria before being sent to Queensland. At this point the unit was disbanded and its members allotted as reinforcements to other units. Kenna was assigned to the 2/4th Battalion and embarked for New Guinea in October 1944." (AWM 096203) On 15 May 1945, Kenna was involved in an action near Wewak, New Guinea, during which he exposed himself to heavy fire, killing a Japanese machine gun crew and making it possible for his company's attack to succeed. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross. ⭐ Private Kenna's Victoria Cross Citation reads as follows: War...

JOHN MARTIN SCRIPPS THE TOURIST FROM HELL, HANGED IN SINGAPORE FOR MURDER

John Martin Scripps - "The tourist from hell". John Martin Scripps became the first Westerner to be hanged in Singapore for murder and only the second for any offence. (Dutch born Johannes van Damme was executed for drug trafficking in 1994). He is the last British murderer to be hanged since Britain abolished the death penalty. Dubbed the "tourist from hell" by the British tabloids he may well have murdered three people in all. Scripps was convicted of the murder of Gerrard George Lowe after a trial that began on October the 2nd, 1995. It was to be Singapore's most sensational murder case since that of Adrian Lim, who with his wife and girlfriend, were convicted in May 1983 of the murder of two children in 1981. Forty six old Lim, a self-styled spirit medium and the two women, Hoe Kah Hong and Tan Mui Choo who were both in their early 30’s, were hanged together in Changi prison in November 1988. September 18th, 1995. In the Singaporean equivalent of Comm...

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS, COURTESY AND HONOR IN THE WORST OF TIMES!

LITTLE KNOWN MILITARY HISTORY! RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS, COURTESY AND HONOR IN THE WORST OF TIMES! In 1943, Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown was piloting his B-17 Flying Fortress, Ye Olde Pub, back to England after bombing industrial centers in Bremen, Germany. During its run, the nose was torn apart by flak fire, causing the plane to drop out of formation and come under attack from fifteen enemy fighter planes. The plane lost sixty percent of its electric capacity, lost its oxygen, and half its rudder. Of the ten crewmen on board, the tail gunner had been killed, the rest wounded. 2Lt Brown himself was hit in his right shoulder. He then passed out from oxygen deprivation and woke up to find the bomber in a 4,000-foot dive. He pulled the plane up and headed home, having been left for dead by the pursuit fighters. On the way back to England, Germans on the ground spotted the bomber. The Luftwaffe dispatched ace fighter pilot Oberleutnant (Lt)...

Search This Blog