On holiday in Eastbourne, Irene Munro, a 17-year-old London typist, was last seen alive on the afternoon of AUGUST 19th, 1920. She was walking along the beach with two men, heading for an isolated spot known as the Crumbles. Her landlady went to the police when Irene failed to return to her lodgings. Her body had already been discovered, fully dressed, in a shallow grave scooped out of the shingle. She had been battered about the head.
The police learned that during the past couple of days she had been seen in pubs with two local unemployed men, Jack Field and William Gray. They were in their 20s, were ex-servicemen, and it was suspected that they were helping Irene spend her holiday money and had lured her to the Crumbles to take what was left.
Charged with her murder, they pleaded not guilty, accusing each other. Both were convicted, and they were hanged at Wandsworth Prison on February 4th, 1921.