The stretch of Stanley Road shown on a late nineteenth-century map.
A look towards the scene of the tragedy.
The court heard that the fatal firearm belonged to Mr Boyle who often took it away to sea with him for personal defence. He had handed it to his wife only the previous day and he had intended to dispose of the cartridges on the morning in question. As fate would have it, he had been called away in a hurry, and for the first time ever, had forgotten all about the bullets. A jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and expressed the deepest of sympathies to the remaining members of the Boyle household.
NO. 22 MOUNT PLEASANT
It was the early hours of 12 November 1880 and upon an address in Mount Pleasant lay the eyes of several police officers waiting to launch a stealthy midnight raid. Their visit concerned illegal acts of gambling allegedly taking place at No. 22, a house run by a Mrs Smith. The word was given and Detective Strettell hammered hard upon the door. It was a few cold moments before the officer and his colleague Detective Marsh could make a rush past the weary-eyed landlady and head up the stairs. On the first floor they found three gentlemen along with a selection of articles suggesting that the house was indeed a haven for criminal gaming. There was the tell-tale apparatus of a roulette-wheel carrying case and a number of tickets and papers relating to such underworld activities. The three men, who in all rented two rooms in the property, were promptly arrested.
Mount Pleasant, on a map from 1885.
On 20 November at the Dale Street Police Court, the respectfully dressed accused, Joseph Morris, James Smith and Henry Adams, stood trial before stipendiary magistrate Mr Raffles. It was alleged that each of the middleaged prisoners played their own specific part in the business. One acted as banker, another as croupier and the third acted as a sort of overall manager. Mr Raffles heard how there was a fourth man who had lodged at the house three or four days before the raid, but his purpose, if any, could not be determined.
A body search of the prisoners revealed a mini-library of documents, all of which pointed a paper-based finger of guilt at the three ashen fellows. One was a printed circular and it read:
The West of Scotland Army and Navy Club.
Sir,
My rooms will be opened during the race week at the above address (36 as played at Baden Baden). The honour of your patronage will oblige. Your humble servant, Thomas Maloney. N.B. Play commencing at nine o’clock each evening.
‘I suppose as ‘used’ to be played at Baden Baden?’ enquired the magistrate.
‘Yes, and there was also a little ticket found in their possession, which is an exact copy of the roulette cloth with ‘36’ on one side, and on the other, ‘as played in Baden Baden.’ I propose simply this,’ said prosecution solicitor Mr Marks, ‘that the onus prolandi rests with them to show that it is not a common gaming house.’
For the defence Mr Bartlett chose against cross-examining any of the witnesses but instead threw himself entirely at the mercy of the court. Yes, his clients had offended and broken the law, but 22 Mount Pleasant was not a common gaming house within the meaning of the statute. It wasn’t fitted up with all kinds of paraphernalia for carrying out gaming and these prisoners were not even local to the town. They had come, as with the hordes of other gamblers, to see the famous races at Aintree. They were merely passing through. ‘I trust the bench will take that into consideration and be as merciful and lenient as possible,’ pleaded Mr Bartlett.
Mr Raffles said that he did not believe it to be desirable at all to pass lightly over the offence. He stated that he could not think of any place more destructive than a gambling house of that sort, even at the time of the races. ‘It is a ruination to young men,’ tutted the magistrate, before ruling that each of the men must pay £100 plus costs, or face six months in prison with hard labour in default. A woman in the crowd fainted upon hearing the decision of the bench and had to be physically removed from the court. At the request of Mr Marks, the £40 worth of gaming equipment found at the premises was destroyed.
The illegal gambling den in Mount Pleasant.
Later, Mr Raffles again had the men brought up to the dock. He stated that he had discovered that under the summary jurisdiction act the highest term of imprisonment he could enforce for anything over £20 was three months. With this in mind an alternative term of incarceration was set to three months.
In addition Richard Tudor, a publican living in Cardiff, was summoned for being the proprietor and occupier of the building in question. Mr Raffles was informed that the defendant took the two rooms and agreed to a rent of £4 10s a week. The detectives Strettell and Marsh gave evidence in support and Mr Tudor was subsequently issued with a £100 fine and costs, or three months in default.
NURSE JONES
Shell shock, the illness which can drive men insane, is characterised by numerous mental complaints. It was an awful, yet sadly commonplace, side-effect of the First World War. Between 1914 and 1918 the British Army identified 80,000 men under its control. Symptoms included tiredness, irritability, giddiness, a lack of concentration and crushing headaches which led to many a soldier’s breakdown.
The David Lewis Northern Hospital as shown on a map from 1924.
The junction of Great Howard Street and Leeds Street where the hospital once stood.
Alice Kate Jones was a nurse at the David Lewis Northern Hospital in Great Howard Street. She had been a dedicated member of the nursing profession for two years, and now, at the age of twenty-six, was blossoming into a confident, capable and above all caring member of staff.
In November 1918, Alice took some leave at her family home in Rochdale. Over dinner she happened to mention to her father Robert details about a patient who had recently come into her care. Joseph Hutty was a twenty-fiveyear-old soldier who had suffered greatly from the recent war. As a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force he had been posted to fight in France and had since become an invalid with tremendous difficulty walking. Joseph was of course Canadian and therefore had no friends or family in the area. Miss Jones asked her father if he had any objections to Mr Hutty coming to stay with them for a while as she thought he would benefit from the company. Mr Jones could see no harm in the idea, and as long as he did not have to do anything, Mr Hutty could come and stay for a short time at the house.
The David Lewis Northern Hospital as seen in 1902.
Soon afterwards, Joseph was brought to Rochdale to aid his recovery, with Nurse Jones on hand to help. As Alice had predicted, the week-long break did do the Canadian a world of good and the man left in much better shape than when he first arrived. Alice also seemed quite taken with the former man in uniform.
‘I will make it up with Kitty,’ said Joseph, as he had a quiet word with her father.
Seeing the romantic glint in Joseph’s eye, Mr Jones advised his house guest to wait until Alice had finished her training and until he had found himself a job. Mr Hutty agreed and on good terms he left Rochdale, and Alice, and headed to America. The following months saw the soldier write to his intended in an attempt to entice her affection, and it seemed his words were working.
However, in February 1919 Alice replied to one of his letters with the shattering news that she was not sure if there was now anything between them – and that it would be best if they were nothing more than friends.
In consequence of Alice’s change of heart Joseph wrote to her sister, Elsie, saying that he had come back from America to try and get Kitty back in his arms, and even though his visit may not prove to be of any use, he had to try.
Elsie contacted her sister and informed her of the message she had received. She was compelled to reply:
July 16, 1919,
Dear Joe,
It pains me very much to have to write you this. Whatever made you come back to England again? Surely you must have understood my decision, and you might have known that I never change my mind. It is completely made up. To be as we were before can never be. I do not love you, and it
is far better that we should not see each other again. You say that you love me, but it’s probably merely infatuation on your part. For old time’s sake let my decision be final and please prove yourself a man by accepting my decision. If you really love me I am very sorry Joe. It will be hard for you, but time is a wonderful healer. Some day you will meet somebody who will make you happy, which I could never do. My whole thoughts are in my work and I am very happy.
Joseph’s heart ached upon reading the words. It was as if his life had become worthless. He had survived the war, but this onslaught on his emotions seemed too much to take.
July 17, 1919,
Dear Kitty,
Your letter has proved too much for me, so I am ending this misery. You can have the gratification of costing one man’s life. It is impossible to pull myself together.I love you with all my heart and I could hardly believe that you would have turned me down without seeing me for once. I believe you loved me until I went away. If my mother writes to you or your people, let her know what has happened to me. I will say good bye for now.
The following week on 23 July, Miss Jones travelled to Rochdale to meet with her father. She told him that Mr Hutty was constantly writing to her and harassing her. It was clear that she was not interested and only viewed her relationship with her former patient as platonic, if that.
‘I have written to Joseph refusing to meet him. I also told him of Captain Schoo,’ added Alice.
The next day Joseph, who was still very much alive, visited the Northern Hospital with his friend Charles McMahon. Charles had been acquainted with Hutty for some time and in recent days had accompanied him on other rose-tinted visits to the establishment. On one occasion Charles overheard a conversation between his companion and a porter boy, during which Joe showed the lad several photographs. On coming to a cabinet card of Alice Jones, he heard him remark, ‘that is my girl.’ Now the American found himself yet again at the hospital with his friend, who was yet again pestering the porters. ‘Do you know what Nurse Jones was wearing when she went out?’ asked Hutty. He seemed more agitated than usual and was most keen to find out the woman’s whereabouts. The porter did not know if Alice had even started her shift yet. Joseph sighed and left the hospital to wait outside.
Charles sat on a wall as his pal paced up and down the street hoping that Nurse Alice would soon appear to begin work.
Meanwhile, in Exchange Street, Alice had just disembarked from the tenthirty locomotive from Rochdale and was eager to meet Frank Schoo. He was also a former patient of Alice’s who had been placed under her care owing to a fractured foot. In appreciation of their help, Mr Schoo had taken Alice and another nurse to the theatre on several occasions and the pair had become well acquainted. That evening the two walked slowly along the bleak but busy streets to the hospital chatting merrily along the way. On approaching the steps to the nurse’s workplace, Joseph Hutty advanced towards them.
‘Nurse Jones?’ he said.
Four quick flashes illuminated the hospital forecourt, each with its own hideous and unmistakable resonance. Alice fell back onto the bloodsplattered steps before a further three bullets were sent flying into her flesh at almost point-blank range. Under a cloak of screams, Hutty ran from the scene, totally insane.
Colleagues rushed to save Nurse Jones but death had been practically instantaneous. All seven bullets had entered her body, causing fatal injuries with no hope of medical salvation.
‘Yes I shot her. I only hope she is dead,’ said Hutty as he was handcuffed in the Bridewell. He alleged that the dead woman had given him a certain disease and pointed to the dark marks that covered the lower part of his face. Following the inquest, which found Joseph guilty of wilful murder, a trial at the assizes was ordered for 5 November.
Dr Evans of the Northern Hospital told the coroner that the body of the deceased had suffered a number of bullet wounds. Her organs were all in a perfectly healthy condition and Alice had suffered from no disease whatsoever.
When questioned about the alleged disease Mr Hutty was suffering from, Dr Ashcroft stated that every possible test had been made as a consequence of his allegation, and not one result came back positive.
Frank Schoo, a chief officer on an American ship, was next to take the stand.
‘Were you very friendly with Miss Jones?’ asked Mr Madden with raised eyebrows.
‘No, we were just good friends; that’s all. She was very good to me while I was in hospital.’
At Mr Madden’s request the letters which the prisoner and the deceased had written were read to the court. One of them he sent to her included the phrase ‘have a heart and come to your laddie’, and referred to a position which he had obtained. In a later letter Joseph asked whether Alice had received an order for fifty dollars which was for the purchasing of an engagement ring.
Hutty elected to give his own evidence and he approached the stand with some difficulty.
‘I had been invalided out of the Army through shell shock. Soon after meeting Nurse Jones I began to walk out with her and eventually we became engaged,’ Joseph said.
He continued to speak of his relationship with the deceased, saying that he was a Catholic but his fiancée was of another faith. Apparently Alice was willing to convert and turn to Catholicism so that they could be together and go off to marry in America. Subsequently he said that he had later received a letter informing him of Alice’s new decision to break off all contact and to carry on with her work.
‘Were you deeply in love with the woman at the time?’ posed Mr Madden.
At this, Joseph Hutty began to cry and sobbed wildly in the box. It was several minutes before he could continue and even then his evidence could only be given in broken sentences.
In answer to Mr Madden Hutty said that arrangements for their marriage were so far advanced he had seriously considered sending out an order for two hundred and fifty dollars to Miss Jones to pay for her passage out to the States. He also spoke of how one occasion when Alice had written to him detailing an incident that happened in New Brighton, to the effect that a man had been annoying her and would not believe she was engaged. ‘It was then that she requested I send her a ring,’ supplemented the prisoner.
It was heard that Joseph had suffered another shock while working in America and this explosion had somewhat maddened his old complaint. He had only returned to England to see if the matters between himself and the deceased could be straightened out. Joseph emphatically denied that his intention was to come and take away the life of Nurse Jones. The revolver, he said, was a souvenir from France, and it was true that during his previous attempts to meet with the deceased he had never carried it upon his person. Normally the weapon was kept in a portmanteau, but he had taken it with him that day because of news that there had been trouble at the American Bar where a man had been assaulted and robbed.
‘Then although you went out on several occasions, you never carried the revolver until the day of the tragedy?’ asked Mr Madden.
‘That is so,’ replied Hutty, who also admitted that he had taken to drinking heavily for several days prior to the killing.
The Canadian again broke down when asked for his recollection of that momentous evening. Through tears he answered incoherently that he had seen a woman who he took to be Nurse Jones coming along the street with another man. ‘I was not sure that it was her so I went up to them to inquire. I asked her name, and she answered me,’ sobbed Joseph. ‘I pulled out my gun and saw the flash of the shots and heard the reports. I do not know how many shots I fired. I thought, “I am killing her, and I cannot stop.”’
Evidence was given to the prisoner’s state of mind. Dr Nelson had previously had Hutty under observation and remarked that his shell shock was of the worst kind he had ever dealt with.
Dr Clarke had recently examined the prisoner. It was his view that if Hutty was himself a victim, a victim of unrequited love, he was a man likely to lose all control and act on sheer impulse. He did not, however, say that the p
risoner was actually insane at the time of the tragedy.
Mr Madden for the defence addressed the jury. ‘I am not putting before you the theory of insanity, but of irresistible impulse. If ever a man loved a woman this man did.’ He contended that if his client had set out to murder the girl he would have taken the gun the previous day when he went to the hospital with the intention of demanding an explanation. ‘Love,’ said Mr Madden, ‘robbed a man of his reason and of his power of action. It led to great joys; it also led to great sorrows. It is an allurer, a fascinator, a seducer leading to either a feast of joy or a dance of death!’
Mr Madden implored the jury to agree with the opinion of Dr Clarke, that Joseph Hutty fired the gun through irresistible impulse alone. His client ought not to pay the full penalty of the law.
Guilt was soon decided upon by the jury and a verdict of wilful murder was duly delivered. Hutty’s death was scheduled for 25 November leaving just under three weeks for any pleas for mercy to be met. A petition of reprieve was organised immediately and an amazing 34,000 signatures were collected from both sides of the Atlantic. The Home Secretary Edward Shortt evaluated the fragile circumstances and felt warranted in advising King George V to commute the prisoner’s sentence to one of life imprisonment.
Love is indeed, a powerful force.
Criminal Liverpool Page 10