Murder case goes to appeal 74 years on

The case of a miner who was hanged 74 years ago for slitting his mother's throat with a razor blade was referred to the Court of Appeal yesterday.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which reviews suspected miscarriages of justice, said the conviction of William Knighton, which was based largely on a confession, was the oldest it had ever referred.

Knighton, 22, was convicted on 26 February 1927 of the murder of his mother, Ada Knighton, at their home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and sentenced to death. He was executed in Nottingham two months later.

The morning after his mother's death the miner walked into a police station at Ilkeston and was said to have told a police officer: "I have done the old woman in. I have cut her throat with a razor."

Knighton lived at 1 Bethel Street with his parents, George and Ada, and his 16-year-old sister, Doris Ivy. On the evening of 7 February 1927, Doris had retired alone to bed at around 10pm. Her mother, who was fond of a drink, had not returned home from a pub. William was also out drinking.

During the night Doris was awoken by her mother moaning and trying to sit up. Mrs Knighton, who suffered from coughing fits, appeared to settle down again. Doris was disturbed a few seconds later by the entry into the bedroom of her brother, who asked what was wrong with their mother. After being reassured, William returned to his room.

His mother was found dead in the morning with a slit throat.

Counsel for the defence, besides trying to prove insanity, pointed out that, apart from the confession, there was no evidence that Knighton had committed the killing.

The court was told the wounds could possibly have been self-inflicted.

In addition Knighton was an epileptic who suffered from black-outs, he had been drinking the night before the murder, and could not remember what he had done.

Sir Henry Maddocks, for the defence, told the jury that Knighton had found a bloodstained razor in his pocket, so assumed that he must have killed his mother. The jury rejected this defence, as well as the plea of insanity, and found Knighton guilty.

There were two brief appeals against the verdict. The second was based on a statement made by Doris that George, not William, had been responsible for the murder.

The solicitor Chris Barlow, who has researched the case in the past few years, said yesterday that police only interviewed George Knighton after his son had been convicted. Mr Knighton, who is dead, had claimed he was infirm and couldn't get out of bed, but witnesses from the time disputed this. "The father was suspected by many, many people but always denied it," said Mr Barlow.

"I certainly don't think William Knighton was guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and there is a good chance an innocent man did die," he added.

The CCRC's decision to refer the case to the Court of Appeal was based on a finding that some of the prosecution's evidence might have been misleading, Mr Barlow said.