WRONG COAT CLUE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18500, 22 February 1930, Page 9 (Supplement)

WRONG COAT CLUE.

INNOCENT MEN IN PRISON. FIANCEE’S UNLUCKY PART. One of the most remarkable case 6 of wrongful conviction in the history of British criminal law is recalled by the will, lately published, of Mr Charles Percy, solicitor, of Alnwick, Northumberland, and once Conservative M.P. for Tynemouth and North Shields. In his will, Mr Percy left as an heirloom to his son, Mr Hugh James Percy, solicitor, of Alnwick, an eagle gold seal. This was a vital clue in the case, in which Mr Percy (sen.) played a leading part. The case was that of the Erdingham burglary, and attempted murder, in 1879. Two innocent men were sentenced to penal servitude for life, and had served seven years before the real culprits were discovered. Particularly remarkable were a number of coincidences which helped to fasten the guilt on the two victims. As a result of their vindication four constables were prosecuted for conspiracy to secure the conviction of innocent men. Through lack of evidence, howrever. a verdict of not guilty was returned. Erdlingham is a small village near Alnwick. On the night of February 7, 1879, the vicarage was broken into. Mr Buckle, the 77-year-old vicar, was roused by his daughter, and. in spite of his years, rushed downstairs with a sword to defend his possessions.

Vicar and Daughter Wounded. The vicar surprised two men in the drawing room, one of whom dashed past him and escaped. The other fired a shotgun, seriously wounding both the courageous old vicar and his daughter. The assailant then jumped through the drawing room window on to a garden bed. Police investigations commenced, and various clues were found. These included a chisel used to prise open the doors, a piece of newspaper found outside the dining room, and various footprints in the grounds.

The two men, who were afterwards found to be first guilty and then innocent, were then arrested. They were both poachers, and were named Brannagan and Murphy. They had been absent from their homes during the night, and the police built up a strong case against them. Murphy’s fiancee, a girl named Agnes Simm, whom he married after his release, played a luckless part in the case. She was asked by the police for his clothes. She had, however, found some blood and fur in the pockets of the coat he had worn, and, thinking to help him, gave the police a coat belonging to his brother-in-law, a man named Redpath.

An Amazing Coincidence. By an amazing coincidence there was in a pocket of this coat a piece of newspaper which fitted exactly with the piece found in the vicarage. In addition, Redpath was induced to identify the chisel as his property, though, in fact, it was not. Two still more amazing coincidences followed: Plaster casts made of the footprints J found in the vicarage corresponded | with the boots and clogs of the prisj oners. A piece of fustian cloth disI covered under the drawing room window a month after the burglary fitted exactly into a hole in Brannagan's trousers.

It was seven years afterwards that it came to the knowledge of Mr Percy, then a young solicitor in Alnwick, that a certain George Edgell had ateo been “out” on the night of the burglary. Inquiries followed, and it was found that another man. named Richardson, was constantly in the company of Edgell. Eventually Edgell was taxed with the crime and made a confession.

An Invaluable Link in the Case. The “eagle gold seal” was an invaluable piece of evidence at the fresh trial. It had been attached to Miss Buckle's gold watch, which had been carried off by Richardson. The watch he threw into the Tyne, but he sold the seal to a jeweller, who gave evidence against him. Brannagan and Murphy were released and awarded £BOO each as compensation. They returned to Northumberland. where they lived afterwards. A further romantic touch was added to the case through both men adopting trades they had learnt in prison, Brannagan becoming a wheelwright and Murphy a baker. Edgell and Richardson were each sentenced to five years’ penal servitude.

Inspector Harkes. who was in charge of the police investigations leading to the first trial, died before the truth was revealed. According, however, to Major Arthur Griffiths, in his book, "Mysteries of Police and Crime,” “it was stated authoritatively that Harkes admitted that he had been wrong, but it was too late to recall the mistake.”