The murder of John Alan West on 7 April 1964 was the crime which led to the last
death sentences
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
being carried out in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. West, a 53-year-old van driver for a laundry company, was beaten and stabbed to death by Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, who had gone to rob him at his home in
Seaton,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
. Both murderers were unemployed, had a history of petty crime and were arrested and charged within two days of the crime. At trial, each blamed the other, but the jury found both men guilty, and both were sentenced to death.
The use of capital punishment in the United Kingdom had been declining at the time, and public opinion was turning against the practice. As a result, the decision not to reprieve the two condemned came as a surprise. Both were executed at 8:00 am on 13 August 1964, in prisons in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Capital punishment for murder was abolished in the United Kingdom 15 months later.
Gwynne Evans
Gwynne Owen Evans (born John Robson Walby, 1 April 1940 – 13 August 1964) was born in
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Locatio ...
,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
, the third and eldest surviving child of Thomas and Hannah Walby. While attending a
secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...
in Maryport, he occasionally attended
Dovenby Hall
Dovenby Hall is a country house in of land at Dovenby, about north-west of Cockermouth, Cumbria, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
The oldest part of the estate is a 13th-century peel tower. The main house was built for Sir ...
Mental Colony in
Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
. On leaving school at 15 he worked as a page boy at a hotel in
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
and an engine cleaner for
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, in between periods of unemployment. He was given a supervision order in 1957 and sent to a hostel in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
; later that year he enlisted in the
Border Regiment
The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot.
After service ...
but was discharged in March 1958 as "unfit under existing standards". He enlisted again in the
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...
in November 1958 and was discharged in February 1959 for the same reason.
He then took to using the name Owen Evans and worked briefly for British Railways before again trying the armed forces. The
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
accepted him in July 1959, but discharged him after four months as "physically unfit for Air Force service". It was during a series of short-term jobs around
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
from September 1960 that Evans briefly worked for the Lakeland Laundry and came to know Jack West. He soon left and moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
in October 1961 and there worked as a kitchen porter, driver and lift attendant.
[Jones, p. 114.] On 5 April 1963 as Gwyn Evans he was convicted by Carlisle magistrates of
larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...
of 5
s cash, and obtaining 16s cash and a railway ticket by false pretences. He was fined £5 with four days' detention in default; he chose to serve the four days. He had stolen two
half crowns from a friend while he was distracted, and he obtained a 16s loan from a police station by claiming to have lost his wallet at his mother's funeral. In the following month Evans was given three months' imprisonment at
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
for driving a motor vehicle without a licence, and using a driving licence with intent to deceive. Evans enlisted again, this time into the
Lancastrian Brigade The Lancastrian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1968. The Brigade administered the regular infantry regiments of northwest England.
After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, e ...
, in October 1963 but was discharged on 14 November 1963 when his criminal convictions and failure to disclose them came to light.
Evans then moved to
Preston, where he lodged with Peter Allen and his wife. He worked for an agricultural trading society for about a month. On 21 January 1964 Evans committed his first crime with Allen, removing the
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
flashing from an empty house. On 28 January the two broke open a cigarette machine and stole the contents; they stole a car and a van and used them in burglaries of several other premises. An incompetent attempt to cover up the van's registration number led to their arrest and to fines of £10. From 5 March, Evans was employed by a dairy. On 17 March, having worked only two days, he was dismissed for absenteeism. The robbery of West was intended to provide enough money to pay the fines.
When he appeared in court, Evans spoke with a Welsh accent. He claimed that he had adopted the name Evans on finding out that his parents were
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and that he had been born at
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
.
Peter Allen
Peter Anthony Allen (4 April 1943 – 13 August 1964) was born in
Wallasey
Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, the second son of Richard Thomas Allen. After attending a secondary modern school in Wallasey, he too left at age 15. He obtained but lost two jobs within a month, dismissed for carelessness, but later found employment as a pipe-cleaner for three months. On 10 July 1958 he enlisted as a junior gunner in the Junior Leaders Regiment of the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, serving for 11 months before being discharged on 13 June 1959 as "no longer required"; he was given a good reference. For two years after leaving the army, Allen worked for two trucking companies; he was dismissed by the second in October 1961 when he was given a promotion and was unable to handle the responsibility. While he was working as a lorry driver, Allen received his first criminal conviction, for aiding and abetting the taking of a car in August 1960; he was given a conditional discharge.
On 11 November 1961, Allen married Mary, a cinema usherette; the couple had a
Catholic wedding
Marriage in the Catholic Church, also known as holy matrimony, is the "covenant by which a man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procre ...
, and moved to Manchester. Later that month he found employment at a scrap-dealer, being dismissed in April 1962 for poor timekeeping. Six months' work in a dairy was followed by six months in a steel works, Allen having moved to Preston in April 1963. He found a job as a labourer with an agricultural trading society, but after two months he injured his back and was unable to work; he was not dismissed until January 1964. Later that month, he committed the various robbery offences with Evans. In February 1964 he was taken on by a Preston dairy but was dismissed for absenteeism after a month.
Crime and arrest
John West, known to his friends as Jack, was a bachelor who lived alone at 28 Kings Avenue,
Seaton,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
. Aged 53, he had worked for 34 years as a van driver for the Lakeland Laundry in Workington. After a normal working day, West had returned to his home just before 6.00 pm on Monday 6 April 1964. At about 3:00 the following morning his next-door neighbour was awoken by a noise in West's house and, looking out of the window, observed a car disappearing down the street. The neighbour called the police, who found West dead from severe head injuries and a stab wound to the chest. In his house the police found a raincoat in the pockets of which was a medallion and Army Memo Form. The medallion was inscribed "G.O. Evans, July, 1961", and the memo form had the name "Miss Norma O'Brian" on it, together with a
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
address. Liverpool Police traced a Norma O'Brien at the address; she was a 17-year-old Liverpool factory worker who told the police that in the autumn of 1963, while staying with her sister and brother-in-law in
Preston, she had met a man called "Ginger Owen Evans". She also confirmed that she had seen Evans wearing the medallion. She was driven up to
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...
,
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, and identified the medallion.
Evans and Allen had stolen a car (a black 1959
Ford Prefect
The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...
, registration NXC 771) to go to West's house, and later abandoned it in a builders' yard in
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
. Evans had asked a neighbour whether he could leave it there, and the neighbour thought his behaviour suspicious; she reported it to the police on the evening of Tuesday 7 April. The police found that the car had been stolen and matched the descriptions given in Seaton; with descriptions of the car and pictures of Evans, they traced its route back to Lancashire. The police also traced Evans, through his parents, as well as criminal and army records, to Allen's address in Preston. At 1.00pm, on Wednesday, 8 April, less than 36 hours after West's murder, the police turned up (in search of Evans) at Allen's home in Clarendon Road, Preston.
[Jones, p. 44.] Allen agreed to go to the police station in Preston, and was then driven up to Kendal and then to Workington (where the murder squad were based). In questioning Allen claimed to have been home with his wife and "Sandy Evans" on the night of the murder.
He said his wife was visiting her mother in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, and gave the address.
A
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
police officer went to the address to find only the mother there; he left telling her he would wait outside for Allen's wife to return, and a few hours later she did return and went out immediately to the police car to tell the officer where to find Evans. Evans was soon found on a street corner at Phillips Park Road in
Miles Platting
Miles Platting is an inner city part of Manchester, England, northeast of Manchester city centre along the
Rochdale Canal and A62 road, bounded by Monsall to the north, Collyhurst to the west, Newton Heath to the east, and Bradford, Holt Tow ...
and a search revealed West's watch. Taken initially to the police station in
Middleton, when told he was being arrested on suspicion of murder Evans admitted that he, together with Allen, Allen's wife and two children, had gone to borrow money from West. Evans accused Allen of being solely responsibility for the murder. He and Mrs Allen were then driven up to Workington.
Interrogation
Allen initially stood by his claim not to have done anything on the Monday night but changed his mind when he was told that his wife and Evans were in custody. He explained that Evans had suggested robbing West and had initially gone into West's house on his own. Evans had then let Allen in, hoping that West would not notice, but West had come downstairs and so Allen had fought him. He said that Evans had given him an iron bar which he used to hit West. Allen then made a statement along these lines.
Evans claimed West had told him that he should see him if ever he was in Workington and needed money, so he had gone to ask for a loan. However, he said that Allen had forced his way into West's house intent on robbery, and that Allen had been the only one to attack West. During questioning, Evans spontaneously mentioned that he knew nothing about a knife and did not have one. Until that point, the police had not revealed that West had been stabbed. Evans admitted to stealing West's watch.
Mrs Allen's statement supported her husband's account that Evans had come out to invite him in. She reported that she had asked the two men what had happened in the house, and that Evans had said both had attacked West. At 1.15 am on Thursday 9 April, less than 48 hours after the murder, both Evans and Allen were charged.
Trial
Allen and Evans were committed for trial by Workington Magistrates after a two-day hearing. The trial was initially put down for
Lancaster Assizes
The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
, but on application by the defence was transferred to
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
Assizes. The joint trial before
Mr Justice Ashworth began on 23 June;
Joseph Cantley
Sir Joseph Donaldson Cantley, (8 August 1910 – 6 January 1993) was an English barrister and later a High Court judge. He is most notable for presiding over the trial of Jeremy Thorpe in 1979.
Early life
Cantley was born in Manchester, where ...
QC led the prosecution, with Allen defended by F. J. Nance and R. G. Hamilton, and Evans defended by Griffith Guthrie Jones QC. The indictment was for
capital murder
Capital murder was a statutory offence of aggravated murder in Great Britain, and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, which was later adopted as a legal provision to define certain forms of aggravated murder in the United States. In som ...
under the
Homicide Act 1957
The Homicide Act 1957 (5 & 6 Eliz.2 c.11) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted as a partial reform of the common law offence of murder in English law by abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice (except in limi ...
, because West had been killed in the course of a theft (there was an additional charge of robbery with aggravation of two bank pass books and a gold watch). Allen claimed to have struck West only a few blows, and that Evans used the knife. Evans' defence was that the robbery had been suggested by Allen (if West refused a loan), and he had gone along with it only provided there was no violence.
The most important witness at the trial was Mrs Allen, who was called in her husband's defence. She stuck to her statement that Evans had let Allen into West's house, and that both men had been responsible for attacking West. She also testified that Evans had thrown the knife used to murder West out of the window of the car at
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
,
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, and that Evans had made an incriminatory remark apparently referring to stabbing West. In cross-examination she accepted that Evans had been more than a lodger to her; Evans' counsel then produced affectionate letters which she had written to Evans in
Durham Prison
HM Prison Durham is a Georgian era reception Category B men's prison, located in the Elvet area of Durham in County Durham, England. Built in 1819, the prison continues to be operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Women prisoners were mov ...
while he was awaiting trial. The affectionate tone had suddenly ended when she heard Evans' account of the murder at the
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales)
* Magistrate's Cour ...
, and she had then written of her "deep and bitter hatred" of him. The judge later directed the jury to treat her evidence with caution; however the prosecution obtained permission to introduce her first statement which showed that her story had remained consistent.
In summing up, the judge asked the jury to decide whether the murder had been committed by one of the two men alone; in the latter case the other would be found guilty only of non-capital murder at the most. After considering the case for three hours the jury found both men equally guilty, and both were sentenced to "suffer death in the manner authorised by law".
Hangings
Both men appealed, with the appeal heard by the
Lord Chief Justice
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
Lord Parker of Waddington,
Mr Justice Winn and
Mr Justice Widgery on 20 July. Judgment was given the following day dismissing the appeal. The date for the execution of the death sentence was set at 13 August. Under the law, the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
had to decide whether to advise the Queen to exercise the prerogative of mercy and commute the death sentence to life imprisonment; of 48 death sentences passed since the 1957 Act, 19 people had been reprieved. Only two executions had taken place in England in 1963 (those of
Russell Pascoe and
Dennis Whitty
Dennis John Whitty (1941 – 17 December 1963) was, along with his accomplice Russell Pascoe, the third-to-last prisoner to be executed by hanging in a British prison. Whitty had been convicted for his part in the murder of 64-year-old Cornish f ...
), and none so far in 1964. According to author Elwyn Jones, the police in the North-West expected a reprieve.
A recent reprieve for a notably-brutal murderer from Lancashire may have led opinion in Preston to believe that a reprieve was likely for Allen and Evans, and a petition calling for both men to be executed was started (there was also a smaller petition calling for a reprieve). On 10 August, the Home Office sent out letters announcing that the Secretary of State had "failed to discover any sufficient ground to justify him in advising Her Majesty to interfere with the due course of law" in both cases.
Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged by the executioner
Harry Allen at Manchester's
Strangeways Prison
HM Prison Manchester is a Category A and B men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is ...
at 8:00 am on 13 August 1964, assisted by Royston Rickard. At the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's
Walton Prison by
Robert Leslie Stewart
Robert Leslie Stewart (April 1918 – 30 April 1988), from Edinburgh, Scotland, was one of the last executioners in the United Kingdom, officiating between 1950 and 1964.
Brought up in Dundee Street in Edinburgh, 3 miles from Saughton Prison, S ...
, assisted by Harry Robinson. Those were the last two judicial executions of death sentences in Britain.
Aftermath
Mary Allen later married Billy Price, who had been one of her husband's close friends. He adopted Allen's sons Mark and Richard. Mary Allen died in 1980 aged 37.
According to medical reports released to the
National Archives in the summer of 2017, Gwynne Evans had 'serious psychological problems', which, had his defence team entered a plea of
diminished responsibility
In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental f ...
at his trial, could have led to his escaping being hanged.
See also
*
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and t ...
*
James Smith (murderer)
James Smith (1936 – 28 November 1962) was the sixth-to-last criminal to be executed in a British prison. He was hanged for the murder of Sarah Isabella Cross in her sweetshop at the corner of Hulme Hall Lane and Iron Street, Miles Platting, ...
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Daily Express article from August 2011Liverpool Echo article from August 2014Lancashire Evening Post article from August 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, John Alan
1964 in England
1964 murders in the United Kingdom
20th century in Cumberland
Crime in Cumbria
Deaths by person in England
Male murder victims