Cries of Murder! brought the landlady rushing out of the Golden Hop pub, Wrotham, Kent, late on a Saturday night in December, 1896. In the darkness she could just make out the silhouette of one of her regular customers, Robert Hayman, 52.
She knew Hayman had been drinking heavily with his girl friend, widowed Mrs. Esther Allchin, 51, in the bar earlier, and that they were arguing fiercely after Hayman had accused Mrs. Allchin of having an affair behind his back.
Is everything all right? the landlady asked anxiously. Assured that it was, she went back into the pub. But, unbeknown to her, Hayman had already kicked Mrs. Allchin to death. Her body was found in a nearby stable next day.
He was sentenced to death the following month and hanged on Tuesday, February 9th, 1897, at Maidstone Prison.