Notorious Melton murderer sensationally cleared at dramatic 'retrial' 167 years on

Actual witness statements were spoken – some by descendants of the people who originally gave them – in the special ‘retrial’ of William Brown, aka Peppermint Billy, on Friday evening.

Brown was the last person in Leicestershire to be publicly hanged when he was convicted of the savage murders of a 70-year-old tollgate keeper and his nine-year-old grandson in Thorpe Road.

But when the trial was recreated at The Guildhall in Leicester a jury found him not guilty after hearing the evidence.

It was a moving occasion for author Joanne Vigor-Mungovin, who organised the event based on her book about the killings.

She has always believed Brown was innocent and was delighted with the outcome of the ‘retrial’.

Joanne told the Melton Times at the event on Friday: “It has been an emotional evening.

“Hearing the words of the witnesses being spoken tonight really brings it home to you what the trial was like.”

And after the jury’s not guilty verdict, Joanne, who had played the role of the defence counsel at the ‘retrial’, told the packed audience: “What you have heard is the actual transcript of the trial.

“You may have felt that the defence was pretty weak and, in fact, William was never interrogated about the crime he was accused of.

“When he was executed at the gallows there was a crowd of about 25 to 30,000 watching in Welford Road.

“His father waved a hanky at his son from the top window of the Turks Head tavern as his son was hanged.”

William was played in the reconstruction by Joanne’s son, Andrew, who said afterwards: “I didn’t have a speech planned for a not guilty verdict. But I don’t think he would have known what to say either.”

There had been a dramatic hush in The Guildhall as the judge, played by popular Radio Leicester presenter, Ben Jackson, outlined the case at the start.

The audience was then told by prosecution QC, John Mellor, how the bodies of Edward Woodcock and his grandson, James, were found in the early hours of June 19, 1856.

Edward, who was the keeper of the tollbar gate on Thorpe Road, had been shot and stabbed 12 times while the little boy’s throat had been cut in another room.

The gruesome murders were discovered by Alfred Routen, who had wanted to pass through the gate at 4am in his cart.

His witness statement was spoken at the reconstruction by John Woodford, Alfred’s third great-grandson.

John and his wife, Joy, travelled to England for the first time for the event, from their home in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Joy told us: “Joanne discovered a link and emailed us to ask if we would be interested in coming to the retrial and taking

part in it.

“It was really exciting to hear that John was related to Alfred and linked to this amazing story.”

Another of the descendants attending the event was Linda Cutler, the great-great niece of the young victim, James.

Linda was well aware of her family’s links to the infamous case.

She told the Melton Times: “My mum was called Florence Woodcock and she always told us about this story from the family’s past.

“She lived in Thorpe Arnold, near where it happened.

“The little boy was mum’s great-uncle.

“I never really understood how bad the murders were until I first read the details about it.

“It was horrific and it is quite emotional being here tonight with the link that my family has to it all.”

The prosecution case described how a pistol and a tobacco stopper were found at the scene of the killings.

They were said to belong to him, along with a pile of torn clothes found at Potter Hill, on the Nottingham road out of Melton.

This was disputed by the defence, who also pointed out witnesses had seen William in the Vale of Belvoir early on the morning of the murders and he would not have had time to get there if he had been at the tollbar cottage.

No possessions of the victims had been found in his possession, sparking doubts over motives for the murders.

The evidence was said by the judge to be ‘circumstantial’.

Statements alluded to the trouble life William had led after being born into a notorious Scalford family in 1819.

Earlier crimes had seen him transported to Australia, to an area then known as Van Dieman’s Land, and he had also spent time in a lunatic asylum.

He returned to England and to his home village 13 years later.

There were chuckles in the audience when the judge gave instructions to jury members about discounting anything they had read about on the internet before arriving at a verdict.

They returned 20 minutes later to find ‘Peppermint Billy’ not guilty of the murders, prompting cheering from the audience and loud applause.

Ben Jackson, the radio man who clearly relished playing the role of the judge told the Melton Times: “I have talked to Jo so much about this story.

“To see it come alive tonight, it’s like lifting it off the pages of history.

“You can’t help but feel moved by it and I am thrilled to have been involved.

“There is a human side to it as well, particularly the way his father waved to him as he was hanged.”

Joanne’s book – William Brown and the Tollgate murders of 1856 – is available by clicking HERE.