The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-09 00:00:00

TRIPLE EXECUTION AT LIVERPOOL.

On Monday 'morning three criminals wer hanged
within the precincts of Kirkdale Gaol, Liverpool.
The culprits were John M'Crave, aged 20, a labourer,
Michael. Mullen, 17, a carter, both sentenced to death
fr the murder of Richard Morgan, in Tithebarn-
street, Liverpool, on the night of the 3rd of August;
and William Worthington, 33 years of age, a boat-
man, condemned for the murder of his wife, on the
29th of August, also in Liverpool. Another young
man, name Peter Campbell (whom the jury had
recommended to mercy), had been sentenced to death
along with M'Crave and. Mullen for Morgan's murder,
but he was respited on Saturday.
The crime for which M'Crave and Mullen were
hanged created an intense feeling of indignation not
only in Liverpool but throughout the country. Morgan
was returning home between ten and eleven o'clock at
night with his wife and brother-in-law, when M'Crave
met him at a street corner, demanded 6d. for liquor,
and on being refused struck the deceased man and
felled him. Mullen and Campbell, according to
the evidence, assisted in kicking Morgan from
one side of the street to the other. His brother-
in-law and wife were likewise kicked and beaten
when they endeavoured to save the deceased.
One of the doctors who had made a post mortcm ex-
amination of the deceased, and was examined upon
the trial, said that Morgan was suffering from an en-
larged heart. He never moved from the time he was
struck, and when taken to the hospital was found to
be dead. •

The third man executed on Monday morning was
William Worthington, the master of a canal boat, who
caused the death of his wife by continuous and brutal
violence, chiefly kicking, which extended over several
hours. In his case also efforts at commutation had
been made, but unsuccessfully.
The culprits were all said to be penitent, but Worth-
ington, who was described as very ignorant and un-
impressionable, seemed to think that he ought not to
be hanged, as he did not intend to take life. The
criminals were Roman Catholics, but had not been
instructed in religion, and had not been in the habit
of attending worship; they were, however, very atten-
tive to the ministrations of the Rev. Father Bont4,
the Roman Catholic chaplain of the prison. The con-
demned men rose about half-past five o'clock in the
morning. Shortly before seven the priest said mass in the
chapel, and the culprits received the Communion. They
afterwards breakfasted, Worthington, whose appetite
had been very good during his incarceration, alone
eating much food. They were then removed to a room
a door of which opens out upon the steps leading up
to the scaffold. In this room they were pinioned by
the executioner, who assumes the name of Anderson,
but who is generally known as Calcraft's assistant. The
passing-bell then began to toll, and at eight o'clock a
procession, made up of the Governor of the gaol,
Captain Gibbs, Mr. 'Wilson, Deputy Under-Sheriff, the
executioner, the priest, the three condemned men, and
the warders, was formed. The criminals walked firmly,
but were all ghastly pale. Worthington and Mullen were
particularly firm in demeanour, but M'Grave showed
symptoms of much fear. The steps lead to a small
room behind the scaffold, and here Mullen and
M'Crave were detained for a few minutes while
Worthington was placed over the drop. A white cap
was drawn over his eyes, the rope adjusted, &c.
Mullen and M'Crave were then brought out in turn
and the same process was quickly gone through.
Before Mullen and M'Crave were • led out they em-
braced each other and shook hands .with Worth-
ington. The unhappy men prayed fervently on
the scaffold, frequently exclaiming in concert, and
in response to the litany said by the priest, "Lord,
be merciful to me, a sinner," and "0 Lord Jesus,
have mercy upon me." All being ready, the
executioner went through thel formal process of
shaking hands with the three men as they stood under
the beam, and then, retiring, withdrew the bolt. The
victims fell about two feet and a half only, but the drop
seemed to be quite sufficient to produce comparatively
painless death, as theloclies appeared scarcely to move
after the trap-doors fell.
The usual inquest was held, and the bodies were in-
terred in the graveyard.

The Pall „Wall Gazette makes the following remarks on the
executions at Liverpool :

Three executions in one day will excite, it may be
hoped, a salutary terror among the roughs, not only
of Liverpool, but of the country at large. Of late
they have learnt by an inaccurate, but not unna-
tural induction to regard murder by kicking as dif-
ferent in kind from murder done by other means.
They have learnt also to regard murders in slow time
as different in kind from murders done at a blow. The
case of Worthington, who was hanged for killing
his wife, is singularly instructive in this respect. He
"seemed to think that he ought not to be hanged,
as he did not intend to take life." As a statement
of his intentions this is pi obably quite true. He first
kicked his wife in the street; then, when they went
on board their barge, he kicked her again; finally, on
getting up in the morning he gave her another kick.
Probably the two first assaults were committed when
he was drunk, and the third was an instance of the
last thoughts at night presenting themselveenaturally
on awaking the next day. No single blow was designed
to cause death, and Worthington was probably inca-
pable of reasoning upon the cumulative effect of blows.
The jury seem to have been led away by an error not
very unlike the murderer's own, for they recommended
him to mercy. It is satisfactory that this recom-
mendation has been disregarded by the Secretary of
State. What is needed in the administration of the
law is, that a criminal should know when he commits a
brutal assault that he carries his life as well as his
liberty, in his hand; that, anyhow, he will forfeit his
liberty, but that if a kick should happen to prove fatal
he will certainly forfeit his life. In order to impress
the former fact on his mind a change in the law will
probably be necessary. The disproportion between
the punishment for brutal assaults which do not end in
death and the punishment for assaults which do end in
death is certainly too great. But, to impress the second
fact on the mind, all that is wanted is greater uniformity
in the administration of the law. If every case of tF e
same character as this case of Worthington were
punished i
with the same severity, there would n all