Murder on Spring Hill, Crookes, Sheffield - June 1980
"Never open the door to the lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it" Baltasar Gracián(1601 - 1658);Spanish Jesuit and writer.
This article is one that I have had on my mind ever since I started the site in 1998. But I never posted any material on the grounds that the event and its aftermath were too recent. But it is 43 year ago this week that this tragedy unfolded at the bottom of the street and I could not find any mention of the incident anywhere. The reports speak for themselves
The Site of the Murder - John was murdered roughly where the double yellow lines end
Photograph take March 2010
The Sheffield Star dated 6th June 1980
The Sheffield Star dated 9th June 1980
John's death was registered
Deaths Sep 1980
WILKINSON JOHN DAVID 11AP1949 SHEFFIELD Volume 3 Page 1067
For over forty years I did not know the outcome of the trial or the inquest. The case against David Bown seems on the face of it a strong one, and I have no doubt that it went to trial. The difficulty I had was that I do not know where and when the trial took place. The newspapers at the Local Studies Library were on microfiche and not indewed and my searches came to nothing. But in April 2026 I found details of the trial using the search engine of the British Newspaper Archive
The report is from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph dated 23rd October 1980
The verdict and the sentence were a bit of a surprise. Intoxication is generally not a complete defence to murder, but it can negate the necessary specific intent (mens rea) required for the conviction. If voluntary intoxication prevents a defendant from forming the intent to kill or cause GBH, they may be convicted of manslaughter instead.
Essentially, intoxication cannot be used to justify the act, but it can be used to disprove that the defendant was capable of forming the specific intent needed for a murder conviction.
The prosecution accepted the guilty plea to manslaughter and
the sentence reflected that plea.
Notes
Name: David A Bown
Registration Date: 1949
Registration district: Bournemouth
Inferred County: Dorset
Re-registration Year: 1949
Mother's Maiden Name: Richardson
Volume Number: 6b
Page Number: 263
Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
Marriages Mar 1949
Bown Herbert W Richardson Bournemouth 6b 291
Richardson Kathleen J G Bown Bournemouth 6b 291
Births Jun 1949
BOWN David A RICHARDSON Bournemouth 6b 263
Births Jun 1952
BOWN Gareth P RICHARDSON Bournemouth 6b 269
This page was last updated on 01/04/26 15:40