George Edwin Freeman Quinton Lever

George Edwin Freeman Quinton Lever was convicted of the murder of his 35-year-old wife Harriett Lever and sentenced to death. He cut her throat in Perry Street, Nortfleet on 28 September 1920. George Lever had been a labourer, although he had more than 20 years’ service in the Artillery in India, the South African War and in France and was described as a reliable and excellent warrant officer. However, latterly his health was not good and after he was transferred to the Chinese Labour Corps he was finally discharged in March 1919 and as he had not quite served 21 years he was ineligible for a pension. He married Harriett Lever about a year before the murder. She had been a widow and had three children and had had a child with George Lever some four years before their marriage. They lived together with the four children in two rooms in Gravesend and George Lever worked at tram depot as a bus washer. The landlady, who had lived next door to them, said they frequently quarrelled and that on the August Bank Holiday at about 7pm Harriett Lever took refuge from George Lever in her house. She said that Harriett Lever had been stark naked with a skirt held round her body and had a black eye and that she was so nervous that she kept her and two of their children in her house all night. She said that the following morning George Lever came in and said: xxxqxxx Come in, I shan't hurt you. xxxqxxx however, the landlady noted that she had heard George Lever say three or four times to Harriett Lever that he would 'do her in'. She said that around 30 August Harriett Lever and her children went hopping, noting also that she had previously given them notice to quit their rooms as they were so dirty, and that after they left she had to burn the furniture. The family returned to Gravesend about 23 September 1920, but the landlady wouldn't allow them to occupy her house and Harriett Lever and her children were taken in by her sister whilst George Lever appeared to have slept for a night or two at a common lodging house. George Lever was able to borrow 7/6 from a former mate and said that he got work at some cement works the following Monday. On Tuesday 28 September 1920, George Lever went to his sister-in-law's house and told Harriett Lever that he had found a room for them in the house of a former mater and asked her to go there with him about 8.30pm that night. however, his story was quite untrue. He also told her that he had pawned his razor and had bought some bread and cheese, which he was eating, with the proceeds. The room that George Lever was supposed to have found was at 28 Five Ash Road, and nearly opposite that house there was a dark passage which George Lever eventually lured Harriett Lever into and cut her throat with his razor. xxx1xxx It was noted that from the position of the wound and the fact that only George Lever's right arm was covered with blood, that it was suggested that the wound had been delivered from behind. At about 8.30pm that evening, the woman that lived at 29 Five Ash Road heard a thud on her front door and when she opened it she found Harriett Lever crouching there and bleeding profusely from the throat. She helped her in, but she died five minutes later. At about 8.50pm George Lever went up to a police sergeant in the street about a mile away from the tramway depot and said: xxxqxxx I want to give myself up for murdering my wife by cutting her throat with that razor in a field near the tramway depot, Perry Street. xxxqxxx When he was taken to the police station he made a statement which was said to have been correct in every detail and when he was charged, he said: xxxqxxx That is quite correct, I intended to do it. xxxqxxx He had been perfectly sober and rational at the time. It was noted that the prison doctor found George Lever fit to plead, but that he had asked for a copy of the depositions, but was told that he was only required to report on his present state of mind. He didn't press for a copy of the deposition, but when he was asked by the defence what he thought of George Lever's state of mind when he committed the murder, he said that he thought he had been insane at the time and didn't know the quality of his act. When he was cross examined, he said that he based his opinion on statements the fact that George Lever had told him that he didn't know what he had been doing at the time of the murder and other statements regarding dreams he had had. However, the judge pressed him severely and read out George Lever's statements and the fact that he had said that it was quite correct and that he had intended to do it, and the doctor changed his mind, saying that he had not heard that evidence and that it was new to him and gravely affected his opinion. There was no recommendation to mercy, even though the judge noted that they were at liberty to offer any recommendation they cared to, and when the judge passed sentence, he said: xxxqxxx I am not surprised that they have been unable even to accept the suggestion thrown out to them that if they pleased they might add any recommendation of mercy to their verdict. I warn you that you may not find any ground for hoping for mercy upon this earth and I exhort you to use the time that is left to you in seeking for pardon and mercy in that quarter where the greatest criminal may hope to find it. xxxqxxx George Lever was executed at Maidstone on 7 January 1921. LEVER, George Edwin Freeman Quinton at Maidstone on 24 November 1920