The Assizes
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834701100103 |
| Published date | 01 January 1947 |
| Date | 01 January 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Assizes
THE
DOCTRINE
OF CONSTRUCTIVE
MURDER
Rex v. Welsh, Laurenson, White and AicGlynn
THIS was a Liverpool case tried
at
the
Manchester Spring
Assizes, 1946,
by
Mr. Justice Sellers.
The
facts were
that
on a night
in
January
of
the
same
year
Charles Greeney,
aschoolboy, was found hanging dead in his home
after
the
four accused
had
burgled
the
house.
They
were charged
with
his murder.
The
night in question was a
Saturday
and
at
about
8.30 p.m.
the
boy's
parents
left
him alone in
the
house to go
out
for
the
evening. The thieves'
car
was
seen
to
be outside
the
house
at
9.15 p.m.
and
to go
about
10.5 p.m.
At
about
10.20 p.m. a young relative of
the
dead
boy
called
and
discovered him hanging from
the
rope
of
the
kitchen clothes-rack: he
ran
for
the
boy's
father.
The
father
cut
the
boy
down a few minutes later,
and
the
police arrived. Artificial respiration was tried
and
failed
although
the
boy's
temperature
was
not
greatly
below
normal ; he was.found to be dead on admission to hospital
at
about
11 p.m.
The
hanging was
by
suspension,
by
insertion of
the
chin between two knots in
the
ropes of
the
clothes-rack;
that
is
the
loop tormed
by
the
double rope.
The
boy
was
a Sea Scout
and
had
been studying
knots;
he was reading
abook of adventure stories, which referred to hanging, in
the
kitchen where he was found dead. His feet were
suspended a few inches above a chair.
Property
stolen from
the
house
had
been traced
to
the
accused
and
they
were also charged with housebreaking.
Medical evidence
by
Professor Glaister of Glasgow
University for
the
defence
and
by
Dr. Grace, Lecturer
in
forensic medicine
at
Liverpool University, for
the
prose-
cution, showed
that
the
boy's
death
was
not
inconsistent
with accident.
The
charge of
murder
was laid in
the
following way.
11
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