Murder Most Foul – July 2018

Press

headlines

of the

time chart

Andrew

Bagley’s

capture

and fate

Mr. Justice Goddard (above) asked

the jury, “Do girls show their love

letters to their grandfathers?”

was wanted for questioning by the
Rotherham Police in connection with
the death of Irene Hart.
“I obtained a witness from Hucknall
who knew him personally, and the
witness identified him as Andrew
Bagley. This evening he was handed
over to Detective Chief Inspector
Thompson of the Metropolitan Police,
who is assisting the Rotherham Police
with their inquiries.”
During the hunt for Bagley
statements had been taken from
105 people; 17 men matching his
description had been questioned in
seven different counties; inquiries had
been made about six unidentified men
who had been found dead in Yorkshire,
Glamorgan, Surrey and Oxfordshire;
and the investigation had even extended
to the Irish Free State and Northern
Ireland.
Bagley at first told the police that he
was Tommy King and had never been
to Rotherham. He said he had never

“She came back to the house with

him at about ten o’clock, and I stayed

in the front-room,” Bagley said. “What

happened after that I cannot say, but

married, had no children and no living
relatives. After further questioning,
however, he admitted his identity,
saying, “I have nothing to fear. I have
been travelling the country. I was not in
Rotherham at that time.”
He told Detective Chief Inspector
Thompson that on the morning of
September 12th Irene had gone out
with a young man named Tom.

I saw Tom go away. I was under the

impression that Irene had gone with

him.”

Charged with his granddaughter’s

murder, Bagley pleaded not guilty

when he appeared before Mr. Justice

Goddard at Leeds Assizes in December.

Outlining the case for the

prosecution, Mr. Willoughby Jardine

claimed that Bagley had invented the

story about a man named Tom. There

was no such person.

Mrs. Hart told the jury that

on finding that her daughter had

disappeared she told Bagley that she

should be reported missing to the

police. He agreed, but said, “Let me get

out first, and I’ll come back tonight.”

Mrs. Hart said her mother had left a

lot of debts on her death, and her father

thought he was liable to be arrested. She

had therefore assumed this was why he

did not want to be in the house when

Irene’s disappearance was reported to

the police. Under cross-examination,

she said there was no sign of a struggle

in Irene’s bedroom.

W

alter Hart testified that Bagley

had objected to Irene going out

with boys. He had said he was there to

protect her, and would not let anything

happen to her. Questioned by the judge,

Mr. Hart said that Bagley had become

very fond of Irene during his stay,

and had slept on the floor in her room

during the last fortnight of her life.“I

did not like him sleeping in the girl’s

room, but I could not stop him.”

Bagley told the court that for 38 years

he had been known as William Smith.

He had six children by his wife, who in

1919 had stolen his savings of £240.

He had taken out a warrant, but did

not press charges for the sake of the

children.

On her death in 1932 he refused to

pay her debts of about £80, and he

had since lived in various parts of the

country under a number of assumed

names.

He said that when Irene went to a

cinema with two young men, one of

whom was her uncle, he told them on

their return that he had orders not to

let them into the house because he was

there to protect her.

The two men nevertheless entered the

house, and he went into the front-room

so that the second man could not see

him.

Later that night, he said, he quarrelled

with Harold Hart who had given him

“some lip.” He told Hart he should be

ashamed of himself for going out with a

girl of 16. On another occasion, Bagley

claimed, the same two men called at the

house and went into the back bedroom

with Irene. He had remained in the

front bedroom out of sight.

His counsel Mr. Hylton-Foster said:

“In a statement Harold Hart says you

told him that you had six revolvers

under the floor of the back bedroom. Is

that true?”

“I told him nothing of the sort,”

Bagley replied. “That is an absolute lie.”

“It is also suggested that you were

having sexual intercourse with Irene.”

“Nothing of the kind. That is also an

absolute lie. I regarded her as one of my

own children.”

Bagley went on to say that Irene

had thought of leaving home because

she was out of work. He had tried to

persuade her to stay and had given her