A quarrel over carrying malt ended in tragedy when Thomas Griffiths threw a brickbat at Judith Haswell in 1742. She survived for days before dying after developing a fever. With disputed medical evidence, Judith’s plea for mercy and even a courtroom lie from Griffiths’s mother, the jury chose manslaughter over murder.
Tag Archives: manslaughter
This Day in History: 24 October 1787 — The Alehouse Quarrel
On 24 October 1787, John Millan stood trial at the Old Bailey for the manslaughter of James Carter after an alehouse quarrel. Witnesses described a single blow and a fatal fall. The jury found him not guilty, ruling the death an accident — a glimpse of mercy in Georgian London’s rough justice.
This Day in History – 16 September 1812
16 September 1812 — Old Bailey Manslaughter: Thomas Oakley was tried for manslaughter at the Old Bailey after a death for which the court found him responsible but not guilty of murder.
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