Samuel Westwood

Samuel Westwood was convicted of the murder of his 24-year-old wife Lydia Westwood and sentenced to death.

He stabbed her to death at Walsall Street, Willenhall on 11 September 1920.

Samuel Westwood had been a key smith. He had joined up in December 1915 and gone to France in 1917 but taken prisoner by the Germans in March 1918 having, as he said, been blown up by a shell that had rendered him unconscious for twenty-four hours. He complained of having been overworked and underfed by the Germans, having been made to work in a coal mine.

He returned to England in December 1918 and lived with his parents at Willenhall, taking up his work of key smith.

After eleven months acquaintance he married Lydia Vaughan on 31 July 1920.

Samuel Westwood's father had been an old age pensioner and Samuel Westwood said that he and Lydia Westwood arranged that they would live with his parents to help to support them. However, that arrangement didn't work happily, and Lydia Westwood complained to her mother about Samuel Westwood's parents meddling with her domestic life and, according to a statement made by Lydia Westwood's mother to the police, Lydia Westwood had said to her, 'I am afraid I shall have to leave my husband. I can't put up with it any longer, because he said to me a day or two ago that if I was not going to have any children I was no good to him'.

On the night of 8 September 1920 Samuel Westwood and Lydia Westwood were heard quarrelling in their bedroom. Whilst it was not clear what the cause of the quarrel was, it appeared that Samuel Westwood had objected to Lydia Westwood going to work, whilst she seemed to complain that he didn't give her enough money

The following morning, after Samuel Westwood went off to work, Lydia Westwood's mother called at the house and Lydia Westwood packed up some of her clothes and left with her mother. However, whilst leaving, near to the house, they met Samuel Westwood as he was returning to breakfast, but he didn't speak to them. Later in the day Lydia Westwood's mother took more of her daughter's clothes.

On the night of Saturday 11 September 1920 Lydia Westwood and her mother visited the wakes ground where Samuel Westwood met them and asked Lydia Westwood to come back to him.

It was heard that there was some dispute over what was said, with Samuel Westwood alleging that Lydia Westwood's mother had been trying to dissuade her daughter from returning to him, whilst Lydia Westwood's mother said that she said to her daughter, 'Come with me tonight and he can come for you tomorrow'.

They then all three walked off towards a public house where Lydia Westwood's father was waiting for his wife and daughter, however, before they got too far, Samuel Westwood took a knife from his pocket and stabbed Lydia Westwood in the neck.

He then ran off to the police station and gave himself up. He said, 'I have just stabbed my wife. She is down the road. I believe I have killed her'.

Whilst he was being searched Samuel Westwood said that he had taken poison and pointed to a paper packet saying, 'It is some stuff I have had from where I work. It is used for hardening tools'. A doctor was then summoned and he was given an emetic and he vomited.

He later said, 'She left me last Thursday. I intended to do this the first time I saw her. I had two half pints of beer, or I could not have done it'. He added, ‘They thought I was afraid to do it but I have shown them'.

It was noted that the stuff that he had taken was ferro cyanide of potassium, which was not in fact a poison, although added that Samuel Westwood no doubt thought that it was.

At his trial his defence attempted to have the charge reduced to manslaughter on the ground of provocation, which Samuel Westwood was said to have received, and the absence of premeditation.

A doctor stated that he had not been insane at the time of the murder.

The police report stated that it was possible that Samuel Westwood's experiences when he was knocked down by the shell explosion, assuming that that actually took place, and his experiences while in captivity might have affected him such that he reacted somewhat violently to emotional stimuli, which was relied upon by the defence in reducing his charge. When the defence medical officer was cross-examined, he stated that what he meant by that was that Samuel Westwood might as a result lose his temper and act violently under provocation, whilst a man that had not gone through what he had would not have done so. He also described Samuel Westwood as being quite sane, but a bad tempered fellow.

When Lydia Westwood's father gave evidence at the trial, he recalled that he had heard Samuel Westwood say, before the marriage, 'If I don't have her nobody else will', or, 'I will do her in and myself too'.

The knife that Samuel Westwood had stabbed Lydia Westwood with had been a clasp knife which appeared to have been sharpened at both sides near to the point, however, Samuel Westwood said that he had done that because he used it for cutting holes in leather.

However, the police report noted that what was clear, was that he had taken it from his pocket, opened it, and made a deliberate blow, and the fact that he had provided himself with what he thought was poison and took it immediately afterwards, showed that he had sought his wife out intending, if she refused to come back to him, to kill her and to put an end to himself.

It was noted that in his petition he was quoted as having said, 'I was afraid my wife would get a Separation Order and that if I had gotten out of work and could not get any money, I should have to go into prison'.

He was convicted with no recommendation to mercy and his appeal was dismissed and he was executed at Birmingham on 30 December 1920.