It was not unusual for William Griffiths to get drunk, become violent and beat his wife, who would then stay the night at the home of her father.
Griffiths, a 23-year-old stoker living on Merseyside, was drunk again on AUGUST 2nd, 1913, when he went up to his father-in-law and sister-in-law on the street. Where was his wife, he wanted to know?
His sister-in-law gave him a slight push and told him to go home. Instead, he grabbed her, cut her throat and ran off.
In convicting him of murder, his trials jury recommended mercy because he had always got on well with the victim, bore her no malice and had slashed her in a moment of drunken passion. The judge supported the recommendation, and Griffiths death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on licence in 1929.