neck. He was told he was under arrest
and was taken at once to Sunderland
Infirmary, where his self-inflicted
wounds were stitched.
On the way Deans asked his police
escort if Cathy was dead. The policeman
remained silent, but Deans persisted.
“It’s all that woman’s fault,” he said.
“She’s had hundreds of pounds from
me and now she wants to toss me over.”
Cathy Convery’s battle for life ended
four days later, six days after she was
attacked. She died in hospital on Friday
October 13th. Joseph Deans was
immediately charged with her murder.
T
he inquest on Cathy was adjourned
twice because Deans had to stay in
hospital and wasn’t fit enough to be
present. And in the end, when he was
fit enough, he flatly refused to attend,
instructing his solicitor to watch the
proceedings for him.
All manner of Sunderland men came
to give evidence. One of them was
John Donkin, a cartman. He told the
coroner’s jury that he often lent money
pointing inside to the picture of Cathy,
he said, “This is the last night for that
lady. I have to kill Cathy tonight.”
Albert Saunders told the coroner of
Cathy’s last hours in the pub. He had
seen a shaft poking out from Deans’
pocket, but he hadn’t given it any
thought.
When he went to look for Cathy after
she was missing, and found her talking
to Deans at the back of the pub, he
couldn’t hear what was being said, but
he was certain they were being friendly
towards each other. The next he knew
was when Cathy came crawling, covered
in blood, into the pub. He then rushed
outside, but there was no sign of Deans,
who had completely disappeared.
Another miner who was in the pub
that evening, Thomas McDonald, 23,
said he had helped to bandage Cathy’s
wounds. He didn’t know Joseph Deans
but he had distinctly heard Cathy cry
out, “He’s murdered me this time.”
The jury brought in a verdict of wilful
murder against Deans, who was ordered
to stand trial at the next assizes.with the other two wounds. The only
reason the doctor could give for her
being able to walk to the hospital was
that she was drunk.
The defence called no witnesses and
maintained that Deans was mad. His
counsel, Mr. J. Cambier, told the jury,
“The repeated threats the prisoner made
to Catherine Convery were those of a
jealous man and were never intended to
be carried out.”
If, then, they came to the conclusion
that Deans had committed the murder,
they should find him guilty but insane.
But Mr. Justice Low in his
summing-up told the jury that the
passion of jealousy was not necessarily
insanity.
“It has also been said that Deans
acted under an uncontrollable impulse,”
the judge went on. “However, when a
man provides himself with a weapon,
and there is evidence to show that he
did provide himself with one, for a
particular purpose, it is difficult to say
that there is a sudden impulse.”
It took the jury a mere six minutes to
decide that Deans was perfectly sane
and guilty of murder.
Asked if he had anything to say Deans
shook his head, then suddenly shouted
out, “All I’ve got to say is that I killed
the woman, and I’m pleased I killed
her.”
The judge appeared to be somewhat
taken aback by this outburst. He sat
silently for a few moments while Deans
stood staring at him defiantly. Finally
the judge told him, “What you have just
said, if anything further was required,
is sufficient proof of the justice of the
verdict which the jury has found.”
Nodding, Deans appeared to agree.
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
The judge described the murder as
“cruel and premeditated.” Deans stood
totally unmoved as he listened to the
death sentence.
Two warders, one on each side of
Deans, moved in closer to him, but the
prisoner waved them back. He turned
and walked down the steps unaided.D
eans appealed and the long journey
he had to make in custody from
Durham Prison to the Appeal Court in
London caused some discussion before
he set off.
A warder suggested that if they
handcuffed Deans’ wrists together,
which was then standard procedure, the
prisoner would be left a little too free to
throw himself under a train or commit
suicide in some other way.
So Deans was handcuffed instead by
one wrist to a junior warder, leaving the
senior warder travelling with them to
keep an eye on him.
The senior warder afterwards
recounted what happened. He bought
Deans a packet of cigarettes and
chatted to him throughout the journey.
When they got to London the warder
bought his charge a pipe and some
tobacco to smoke on the way to
Pentonville Prison, where he was to staySunderland Royal Infirmary. Cathy made her way here despite the mortal
wounds inf licted upon her by Deansto Deans, who always paid it back.
About 4 o’clock on the afternoon of
October 4th – this was three days before
the attack on Cathy – Deans called at
his house, and as Donkin let him in
Deans said, “Now, John, I owe you a
few shillings and I want to pay you back
now because I mean to die tonight.”
Donkin was flabbergasted and
just stood looking at his friend
open-mouthed. Then Deans showed
him an axe and a razor, and said the
axe was for her and the razor was for
himself.
Donkin pressed him to stay for tea,
which Deans gratefully accepted, and
throughout the tea he tried to put Deans
off the idea. But Deans waved aside all
protest and refused to listen. “It’s only
wasting time,” he said. “Nobody can put
me off.”
Deans passed over the pound he
had borrowed from Donkin a week
previously then, taking his hat and
I
n those days of swift justice an
accused man was not left to languish
in constant apprehension about his
coming fate. Joseph Deans stepped
smartly into the dock at Durham Assizes
on November 15th, 1916, just a little
over four weeks after he murdered
Cathy. Although only 44, he now looked
a lot older. His dark brown hair was
starting to turn grey. His face was lined
and set, but he still spanned a weak
smile as he scanned the public gallery.
Listening to prosecution witnesses
Deans gave nothing away. Only an
occasional twitch from the corner of his
mouth betrayed slight nervousness.
Describing Cathy’s injuries the police
surgeon said that she had a long, deep
cut on the top of her head which had
displaced the bone by half an inch. She
had also been wounded on her back and
her neck.
Death was caused by exposure of the
brain from the head wound coupled