After bandits robbed a jeweller’s shop in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, on Thursday, November 20th, 1924, the stolen getaway car sped away with a screech of tyres, knocking over and killing Mrs. Gertrude Smith, 27.

The car came to a juddering stop in Broad Street, having nearly knocked over a number of other pedestrians. Three men scrambled out and fled into the crowds of shoppers. Verdict of the coroner’s court: “murder against the robbers, all persons unknown.”