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shot, it would not have been acceptable, as frightening people while pretending to be a ghost was not a serious felony, but a far less serious misdemeanour, meriting only a small fine. The judge closed his remarks by reminding the jury that the previous good character of the accused meant nothing in this case. Macdonald directed the jury to find the accused guilty of murder if they believed the facts presented by the witnesses. After considering for an hour, the jury returned a verdict of
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the crime, then the prosecution have not proved their case. If, however, the defendant's alleged belief was mistaken and if the mistake was an unreasonable one, that may be a peaceful reason for coming to the conclusion that the belief was not honestly held and should be rejected. Even if the jury come to the conclusion that the mistake was an unreasonable one, if the defendant may genuinely have been labouring under it, he is entitled to rely upon it.
22:
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servant, Thomas Groom, later testified that, while walking through the churchyard with a companion one night, close to 9:00 pm, something rose from behind a tombstone and seized him by the throat. Hearing the scuffle, his companion turned around, at which the ghost "gave me a twist round, and I saw nothing; I gave a bit of a push out with my fist, and felt something soft, like a great coat."
257:, Gladstone Williams, had seen a man dragging a younger man violently along the street while the latter shouted for help. Mistakenly believing that an assault was taking place, Williams intervened and injured the apparent assailant, who was actually attempting to apprehend a suspected thief. Williams was subsequently convicted of
133:
corpse was carried to an inn, where a surgeon, Mr. Flower, examined the body on 6 January and pronounced death to be the result of "a gunshot wound on the left side of the lower jaw with small shot, about size No. 4, one of which had penetrated the virtebre of the neck, and injured the spinal marrow."
153:
On
Saturday evening, he and I were at home, for he lived with me; he said he had frightened two ladies and a gentleman who were coming along the terrace in a carriage, for that the man said, he dared to say there goes the ghost; that he said he was no more a ghost than he was, and asked him, using a
132:
After hearing the shot, Girdler and Smith's neighbour, one John Locke, together with a George Stowe, met Smith, who "appeared very much agitated"; upon seeing
Millwood's body, the others advised Smith to return home. Meanwhile, a constable arrived at the scene and took Smith into custody. Millwood's
88:
From
November 1803, a number of people in the Hammersmith area claimed to have seen, and some to have been attacked by, a ghost. Local people said the ghost was of a man who had died by suicide the previous year and had been buried in Hammersmith churchyard. The contemporary belief was that suicide
238:
The huge publicity given to the case persuaded the true culprit to come forward: John Graham, an elderly shoemaker, had been pretending to be a ghost by using a white sheet to frighten his apprentice, who had been scaring Graham's children with ghost stories. There is no record of Graham ever being
286:
In a case of self-defence, where self-defence or the prevention of crime is concerned, if the jury came to the conclusion that the defendant believed, or may have believed, that he was being attacked or that a crime was being committed, and that force was necessary to protect himself or to prevent
124:
Just after 11:00 pm, Smith encountered Thomas
Millwood, a bricklayer who was wearing the normal white clothing of his trade: "linen trousers entirely white, washed very clean, a waistcoat of flannel, apparently new, very white, and an apron, which he wore round him". Millwood had been heading
213:
The Lord Chief Baron observed that Smith had neither acted in self-defence nor shot
Millwood by accident; he had not been provoked by the supposed apparition nor had he attempted to apprehend it. Millwood had not committed any offence to justify being shot, and even if the supposed ghost had been
104:
On 29 December, William
Girdler, a night watchman, saw the ghost while near Beaver Lane and gave chase; the apparition threw off its shroud and managed to escape. With London not having an organised police force at the time, and as "many people were very much frightened," according to Girdler,
100:
Stories about the ghost soon began to circulate. Two women, one elderly and the other pregnant, were reported to have been seized by the ghost on separate occasions while walking near the churchyard; they were apparently so frightened they both died from shock a few days afterwards. A brewer's
129:. According to Anne Millwood, the bricklayer's sister, immediately after seeing her brother off, she heard Smith challenge him, saying "Damn you; who are you and what are you? Damn you, I'll shoot you." after which Smith shot him in the left of the lower jaw and killed him.
60:
officer named
Francis Smith, a member of one of the armed patrols set up in the wake of the reports, shot and killed a bricklayer, Thomas Millwood, mistaking the white clothes of Millwood's trade for a shroud of a ghostly apparition. Smith was found guilty of
121:, Smith told Girdler he was going to look for the supposed ghost. Girdler agreed that he would join Smith after he had called the hour at 11:00 pm, and that they would "take if possible." They then went their separate ways.
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I should betray my duty, and injure the public security, if I did not persist in asserting that this is a clear case of murder, if the facts be proved to your satisfaction. All killing whatever amounts to murder, unless
222:
him; that Smith believed
Millwood was a ghost was irrelevant. The jury then returned with a verdict of guilty. After passing the customary sentence of death, Macdonald said that he intended to report the case to
272:(the case) raised issues of law which have been the subject of debate for more years than one likes to think about and the subject of more learned academic articles than one would care to read in an evening.
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Millwood's sister testified that although Smith had called on her brother to stop or he would shoot, Smith fired the gun almost immediately. Despite a number of declarations of Smith's good character, the
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would not then be at rest. The apparition was described as being very tall and dressed in all white, but was also said to wear a calfskin garment with horns and large glass eyes at other times.
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The question of whether acting on a mistaken belief was a sufficient defence to a criminal charge was debated for more than a century until it was clarified at the Court of Appeal in the case
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bad word, did he want a punch of the head; I begged of him to change his dress; Thomas, says I, as there is a piece of work about the ghost, and your cloaths [
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The
Newgate Calendar – "Francis Smith: Condemned to Death on 13th of January, 1804, for the Murder of the supposed Hammersmith Ghost, but pardoned soon afterwards"
113:
At the corner of Beaver Lane, while making his rounds at around 10:30 pm on 3 January 1804, Girdler met one of the armed citizens patrolling the area, 29-year-old
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area of London, a ghost believed by locals to be the spirit of a suicide victim. On 3 January 1804, a 29-year-old
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145:. The deceased's wife, Mrs. Fulbrooke, stated that she had warned him to cover his white clothing with a
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The appeal was allowed, and the conviction quashed. The decision was approved by the Privy
Council in
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A collection of remarkable and interesting criminal trials, actions at law, and other legal decisions
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199:. In cases of some involuntary acts, or some sufficiently violent provocation, it becomes
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158:] look white, pray do put on your great coat, that you may not run any danger;
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Near the end of 1803, many people claimed to have seen or even been attacked by a
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several citizens formed armed patrols in the hope of apprehending the ghost.
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The issues surrounding the case were not settled for 180 years, until a
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523:"The Hammersmith Ghost and the Strange Death of Thomas Millwood"
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Jennifer Westwood, Jacqueline Simpson (2008), "Hammersmith",
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253:(1984), concerning an appeal heard in November 1983. The
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home from a visit to his parents and sister, who lived in
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The practice of courts-martial, and other military courts
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Ghosts, witches, vampires, fairies and the law of murder
639:. England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
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was not required of murder – merely an intent to kill:
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163:Mrs. Fulbrooke's testimony at the Old Bailey trial
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282:Lane went on to clarify the problematic issue:
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203:. Not one of these circumstances occur here.
635:Court of Appeal, Criminal Division (1984).
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373:"UK | The case of the murdered ghost"
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705:The Strange Case of the Hammersmith Ghost
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402:, Cambridge University Press, p. 103
305:Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
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545:, Charles Fort Institute, archived from
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354:Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum
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235:was commuted to a year's hard labour.
27:Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum
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303:and was later written into law in the
259:assault occasioning actual bodily harm
231:the sentence. The initial sentence of
25:Engraving of the Hammersmith Ghost in
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683:. British Self Defence Governing Body
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573:. London: John Badcock. p. 213.
475:Religion, death, and dying, Volume 3
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117:officer Francis Smith. Armed with a
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268:referred to the historical debate:
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1428:1804 murders in the United Kingdom
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618:Steve Roud (2010), "Hammersmith",
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459:The Proceedings of the Old Bailey
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419:The Judge said it must be either
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521:Martin Baggoley (9 April 2015),
398:Courtney Stanhope Kenny (1911),
89:victims should not be buried in
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567:Medland, Weobly (eds.) (1804).
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233:hanging, drawing and quartering
69:, later commuted to one year's
681:"Law relating to Self Defence"
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29:, a magazine published in 1804
1:
1306:Hammersmith Ghost murder case
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35:Hammersmith Ghost murder case
141:Smith was tried for willful
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1204:Electronic voice phenomenon
997:locations in United Kingdom
539:Mike Dash (24 March 2009),
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300:Beckford v The Queen (1988)
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606:The Penguin Book of Ghosts
208:Lord Chief Baron Macdonald
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637:"R. v Gladstone Williams"
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455:"Francis Smith, Killing"
400:Outlines of Criminal Law
350:"The Hammersmith Ghosts"
250:R v Williams (Gladstone)
180:, advised the jury that
109:Death of Thomas Millwood
83:
1418:1800s murders in London
1199:Apparitional experience
421:murder, or of acquittal
292:Lord Chief Justice Lane
277:Lord Chief Justice Lane
227:, who had the power to
178:Sir Archibald Macdonald
16:1804 English legal case
1408:19th century in London
828:Procession of the dead
660:Cite journal requires
413:William Hough (1834),
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137:Trial of Francis Smith
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1283:Paranormal television
992:locations in Scotland
710:The Hammersmith Ghost
472:Lucy Bregman (2009),
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24:
1403:London crime history
1268:Stories about ghosts
1092:District of Columbia
417:, pp. 340–341,
193:justified by the law
41:in the UK regarding
1337:Kardecist spiritism
1181:Classical antiquity
549:on 3 September 2011
348:R.S. Kirby (1804),
1251:Films about ghosts
1235:Spirit photography
589:has generic name (
327:Spring-heeled Jack
263:Lord Chief Justice
261:. At the appeal,
91:consecrated ground
80:decision in 1984.
67:sentenced to death
31:
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818:Residual haunting
783:Haunted locations
773:Ancestral spirits
461:, 11 January 1804
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379:. 3 January 2004
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1433:Self-defense
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1171:Mesopotamian
1107:Pennsylvania
837:By continent
808:Hungry ghost
778:Ghost lights
685:. Retrieved
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1292:Court cases
839:and culture
813:Poltergeist
620:London Lore
587:|last=
171:chief judge
93:, as their
71:hard labour
54:Hammersmith
1392:Categories
1228:Mediumship
1146:Polynesian
1087:California
1039:Caribbean
971:Vietnamese
687:2 November
643:2 November
383:31 October
333:References
239:punished.
1273:Halloween
1261:Indonesia
1070:locations
1007:locations
964:locations
937:locations
920:locations
903:locations
886:locations
859:locations
750:ghostlore
579:cite book
255:appellant
147:greatcoat
1377:Category
1130:Colombia
932:Japanese
898:Filipino
377:BBC News
311:See also
290:—
275:—
225:the King
206:—
195:, or in
161:—
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1278:Samhain
1164:History
1139:Oceania
1097:Indiana
1065:Mexican
1049:Navajo
1019:Romania
1003:France
987:English
925:Bengali
891:Tibetan
881:Chinese
876:Burmese
846:African
229:commute
119:shotgun
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1359:Spirit
1223:Séance
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1102:Oregon
1053:Chindi
1035:Canada
980:Europe
949:Korean
915:Indian
746:Ghosts
503:, 1804
482:
220:acquit
183:malice
143:murder
115:excise
63:murder
58:excise
1349:Geist
1256:India
1151:Maori
1043:Duppy
954:Malay
942:Onryō
869:Asian
425:ghost
95:souls
84:Ghost
50:ghost
1354:Soul
959:Thai
748:and
689:2011
666:help
645:2011
591:help
555:2011
480:ISBN
385:2011
266:Lane
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156:sic
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