A Stafford miner, William Birchall, 25, got drunk and took it into his head that his brother was “too intimate with his wife.” Birchall took out his pocket knife and stabbed his unfortunate kinsman who, subsequent events proved, was entirely innocent.

The jury decided at his trial on JULY 7th, 1913, that this was murder rather than manslaughter, a view which worried the judge, who told the Home Secretary that he thought there should be a reprieve. The minister agreed, and Birchall’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on parole in June, 1928.