A squabble over money ended in murder in Sydenham, south-east London. It began when Richard Bishop, 21, a petty criminal and shopkeeper, started shouting at another man just before midnight on April 3rd, 1868. A neighbour, Alfred Cartwright, 24, complained about the noise which had woken him up and Bishop punched him.

The police were called, Bishop was arrested, and the aggrieved Cartwright followed the police towards the local police station, proclaiming to all and sundry that he intended to press charges against this nuisance neighbour who had woken him up. Suddenly Bishop broke free and stabbed Cartwright to death. “He won’t get over that!” he snarled as the officers pinioned him.

Bishop was tried within a week at the Old Bailey and hanged outside Maidstone Prison on Thursday, APRIL 30th, 1868, only 27 days after the murder.