Case of the Hooded Man
Encyclopedia
R v Williams 8 Cr App R 133 (known as the Case of the Hooded Man and the Eastbourne Murder) was a 1912 murder in England that took its name from the hood the defendant, John Williams, wore when travelling to and from court. After the murder of a police inspector in Eastbourne
, with no witnesses and little forensic evidence, Edgar Power, a former medical student, told the police that his friend John Williams had committed the murder. Power helped the police conduct a sting operation
to catch Williams; police also interrogated Williams's girlfriend Florence Seymour, who then confessed to having helped Williams hide the murder weapon.
However, Seymour later recanted her story, and another man came forth claiming to know the identity of the real killer. This new evidence, along with the behaviour of the judge in both the initial case and the appeal
, made the case controversial enough that Members of Parliament from the three major political parties directly questioned the Home Secretary
on the matter. Despite many requests for clemency, all appeals were denied, and Williams was executed in 1913. The case was one of the first investigations in Britain to use the emerging science of ballistics
.
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman. The driver, who was Sztaray's coachman, informed Sztaray of the man's presence, whereupon Sztaray telephoned the police. Inspector
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate. When Walls arrived on the scene, he observed a man lying on the portico
above the front door. Walls called out, "Now then, my man, you just come down." The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
The police had only two clues: some footprints in the garden, and a hat that they found in a nearby gutter. The police took moulds of the footprints and endeavored to trace the hat, but with no success. However, during routine questioning of local residents, police learned that earlier in the afternoon of the murder, a man had been seen sitting with a heavily-pregnant young woman on a bench at one end of South Cliff Avenue; the man had also been seen wandering the street while the young woman sat on the bench alone, leading police to suspect that the man was assessing the lay of the land.
The following day, a former medical student named Edgar Power visited the police, claiming that he knew the identity of the murderer. Power said that the murderer was one George McKay, who was living in Eastbourne under the name "John Williams" with his pregnant girlfriend, Florence Seymour. Power knew Williams through Williams's brother, who was Power's best friend. Williams's brother had received a note that morning from Williams, which he had passed on to Power. Power gave the note to the police. It read:
Power told the police that the letter had been written by Williams and that Williams had tried to burgle Sztaray's house and killed Inspector Walls. According to Power, Williams met with his girlfriend—Florence Seymour—after the murder, and the two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Power. Power's motive in coming to the police was that he was in love with Seymour.
In order to trap Williams, Power asked Williams to meet him at Moorgate Street Station
the following day. Police were lying in wait and arrested both Power and Williams at the Moorgate station. Police covered Williams's head with an apron to prevent him from being photographed and thus possibly influencing witnesses. However, no one had glimpsed the murderer's face, and no one selected Williams from an identity parade. Power was immediately released.
Upon his release, Power went to Seymour and told her that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it somewhere safer. Seymour and Power retrieved the gun on 15 October;
several police officers were lying in wait and immediately arrested both Seymour and Power. Power was released a few hours later; Seymour was retained for questioning. Seymour was pregnant and in poor condition both physically and mentally; after a few hours of questioning, she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. In her statement, Seymour stated that Williams
Despite Seymour's statement, Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and the burglary, saying that "whoever did that did it to get to [Sztaray's] papers for political purposes. No doubt she is mixed up in some foreign political business. I would not commit a crime like that."
Williams appeared at the Magistrates Court in Eastbourne for an initial hearing. He was not represented by either a solicitor
or a barrister
, and pled not guilty. On his way to and from the court Williams's head was again covered with an apron to prevent him from being photographed; the press accordingly dubbed him "the hooded man." The police decided that Seymour should take the witness stand as soon as possible to avoid her going back on what she had told the police. As such she was called to the witness box by Cecil Whiteley
(who was Treasury Counsel at the time) to go through her statement line by line. She was physically exhausted and fainted four times in the witness box; this and other interruptions meant that the initial hearing took four days. Eventually the case was referred to the Assizes for trial.
and C. F. Baker to represent him in court. The Crown
was represented by Sir Frederick Low and Cecil Whiteley
. The trial proved a popular one, with crowds of people outside the court house trying to see the defendants or barristers involved. A local newspaper described it as "the most sensational murder trial ... within living history."
Florence Seymour was the first person called to the witness box. She said that her statement was false, and that she had only made it because Edgar Power had told her that she would be charged with murder if she did not. This immediately disrupted the case for the prosecution; Frederick Low had made it clear in his opening statement
that their case rested primarily on Seymour's testimony. Low received permission from the judge to treat Seymour as a hostile witness
; despite this, she refused to say anything that would incriminate Williams. Hastings did not cross-examine her, only asking if what she had said in court was true; she said that it was and then burst into tears.
After calling a number of minor witnesses (including the cab driver and the owner of the building Williams and Seymour lived in), the prosecution called Edgar Power. Power testified that Williams had bragged about shooting Walls in response to Powers' chaffing him about being a poor shot. According to Power, Williams responded to the chaff by saying, "Well, that was a good shot anyhow," referring to the shot that had killed Walls. Williams' barrister Hastings later described Power as "[the most] utterly contemptible human being I have ever met," and during his cross-examination
Hastings highlighted Power's betrayal of his close friends, Williams and Seymour.
The defendant, John Williams, was called next. Williams claimed that the package containing the rope and the gun had been given to him by a fellow thief called "Freddy Mike", who had asked him to keep the package until Mike came to collect it. After the murder, Williams was scared that he would be suspected, since he had a gun and had been arrested previously for burglary.
Following the testimony of Seymour, Power, and Williams, it became clear the jury could not convict Williams based on witness testimony alone. There was, however, some circumstantial evidence: an empty holster found by the police among Williams' possessions showed evidence of a revolver recently being inside it. The police enlisted the aid of an expert in the new science of ballistics
, Robert Churchill; it was one of the first times the police made use of ballistics in a case.
Churchill was able to prove, by firing a different gun of the same design, that the bullet that killed the police officer had been fired from a revolver of the same make and calibre as the gun reported to be Williams'. However, the prosecution needed proof that the bullet had been fired from that particular revolver. At the suggestion of Chief Inspecter Bower, photographers attempted to photograph the inside of the gun barrel in order to prove that the bullet had been fired from that particular revolver; the attempts were unsuccessful, and Churchill instead made a cast of the inside of the gun from dental wax. The method has been called "far from satisfactory," but it was sufficient to convict Williams.
In his summing up
, Judge Channell commented that the acts of the defendant in hiding the gun and fleeing Eastbourne "were acts which a guilty man would be very likely to do." He also told the jury that, while there was no direct evidence linking Williams to the murder, many cases had resulted in a conviction with even less evidence. After around fifteen minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and Channell sentenced Williams to death.
. The Court met on 13 January 1913, and consisted of Lord Alverstone
, Mr Justice Phillimore
and Mr Justice Ridley. Hastings argued that that Mr Justice Channell had misdirected the jury in the initial case, and that therefore their decision was void. Lord Alverstone dismissed the appeal without hearing the other side of the argument, saying that he could find no evidence of misdirection. Hastings felt that Alverstone had been biased from the start, later writing that "from the outset of the hearing it was apparent that he was satisfied with the prisoner's guilt, and no legal argument seemed to make the least impression on him."
. Accompanied by Chief Inspector
Bower, Williams' solicitor visited Freddy Mike, who again told the same story. A copy of the letter was sent to the Home Secretary, Reginald McKenna
, along with a statement by Florence Seymour in which she claimed that her confession had been given after threats by the police.
When Freddy Mike's statement became known to the public, various petitions and campaigns to free Williams were organised throughout the country. A petition containing 35,000 signatures requesting a reprieve was sent to the Home Secretary. As soon as the House of Commons opened on 23 January 1913, McKenna was questioned by Labour
, Conservative
, and Liberal
MPs. Robert Munro
, MP for Wick Burghs
, made a speech asking the Home Secretary to take into account the conflicting accounts, lack of any direct evidence, and the way the judge had directed the jury, and pardon Williams. In this he was supported by Will Crooks
, the Marquess of Tullibardine
, and Ian Macpherson.
McKenna replied that:
McKenna concluded by saying that the law must take its course, and refused to grant a pardon.
Williams applied to Home Secretary McKenna for permission to marry Florence Seymour; McKenna denied Williams's request, and did so again when Williams petitioned a second time. Williams was executed on 30 January 1913.
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
, with no witnesses and little forensic evidence, Edgar Power, a former medical student, told the police that his friend John Williams had committed the murder. Power helped the police conduct a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
to catch Williams; police also interrogated Williams's girlfriend Florence Seymour, who then confessed to having helped Williams hide the murder weapon.
However, Seymour later recanted her story, and another man came forth claiming to know the identity of the real killer. This new evidence, along with the behaviour of the judge in both the initial case and the appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, made the case controversial enough that Members of Parliament from the three major political parties directly questioned the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
on the matter. Despite many requests for clemency, all appeals were denied, and Williams was executed in 1913. The case was one of the first investigations in Britain to use the emerging science of ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
.
Background
On 9 October 1912, the driver of a horse-drawn carriage noticed a man crouching near the front door of the house of Countess Flora Sztaray, located on South Cliff Avenue in EastbourneEastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman. The driver, who was Sztaray's coachman, informed Sztaray of the man's presence, whereupon Sztaray telephoned the police. Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate. When Walls arrived on the scene, he observed a man lying on the portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
above the front door. Walls called out, "Now then, my man, you just come down." The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
The police had only two clues: some footprints in the garden, and a hat that they found in a nearby gutter. The police took moulds of the footprints and endeavored to trace the hat, but with no success. However, during routine questioning of local residents, police learned that earlier in the afternoon of the murder, a man had been seen sitting with a heavily-pregnant young woman on a bench at one end of South Cliff Avenue; the man had also been seen wandering the street while the young woman sat on the bench alone, leading police to suspect that the man was assessing the lay of the land.
The following day, a former medical student named Edgar Power visited the police, claiming that he knew the identity of the murderer. Power said that the murderer was one George McKay, who was living in Eastbourne under the name "John Williams" with his pregnant girlfriend, Florence Seymour. Power knew Williams through Williams's brother, who was Power's best friend. Williams's brother had received a note that morning from Williams, which he had passed on to Power. Power gave the note to the police. It read:
If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent.
Power told the police that the letter had been written by Williams and that Williams had tried to burgle Sztaray's house and killed Inspector Walls. According to Power, Williams met with his girlfriend—Florence Seymour—after the murder, and the two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Power. Power's motive in coming to the police was that he was in love with Seymour.
In order to trap Williams, Power asked Williams to meet him at Moorgate Street Station
Moorgate station
Moorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
the following day. Police were lying in wait and arrested both Power and Williams at the Moorgate station. Police covered Williams's head with an apron to prevent him from being photographed and thus possibly influencing witnesses. However, no one had glimpsed the murderer's face, and no one selected Williams from an identity parade. Power was immediately released.
Upon his release, Power went to Seymour and told her that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it somewhere safer. Seymour and Power retrieved the gun on 15 October;
several police officers were lying in wait and immediately arrested both Seymour and Power. Power was released a few hours later; Seymour was retained for questioning. Seymour was pregnant and in poor condition both physically and mentally; after a few hours of questioning, she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. In her statement, Seymour stated that Williams
had left her for half an hour near the Countess's house on the night of the murder, returning without his trilbyTrilbyA trilby hat is a type of fedora. The trilby is viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is commonly called the "brown trilby" in England and is much seen at the horse races. It is described as a "crumpled" fedora...
hat, and afterwards throwing away a burglar's rope with a hook on the end of it, also with him burying a revolver on the beach he had broken in two.
Despite Seymour's statement, Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and the burglary, saying that "whoever did that did it to get to [Sztaray's] papers for political purposes. No doubt she is mixed up in some foreign political business. I would not commit a crime like that."
Williams appeared at the Magistrates Court in Eastbourne for an initial hearing. He was not represented by either a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
or a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and pled not guilty. On his way to and from the court Williams's head was again covered with an apron to prevent him from being photographed; the press accordingly dubbed him "the hooded man." The police decided that Seymour should take the witness stand as soon as possible to avoid her going back on what she had told the police. As such she was called to the witness box by Cecil Whiteley
Cecil Whiteley
Judge George Cecil Whiteley KC MA DL JP , was Common Serjeant of London from 1933 to 1942 and a Judge at the Mayor's and City of London Court....
(who was Treasury Counsel at the time) to go through her statement line by line. She was physically exhausted and fainted four times in the witness box; this and other interruptions meant that the initial hearing took four days. Eventually the case was referred to the Assizes for trial.
Trial
The trial of John Williams for the murder of Inspector Arthur Walls began on 12 December 1912 at the Lewes Assizes, with Arthur Channell sitting as a judge. By this time, Williams had found a solicitor who had arranged for Patrick HastingsPatrick Hastings
Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings KC was a British barrister and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General. He was educated at Charterhouse School until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe...
and C. F. Baker to represent him in court. The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
was represented by Sir Frederick Low and Cecil Whiteley
Cecil Whiteley
Judge George Cecil Whiteley KC MA DL JP , was Common Serjeant of London from 1933 to 1942 and a Judge at the Mayor's and City of London Court....
. The trial proved a popular one, with crowds of people outside the court house trying to see the defendants or barristers involved. A local newspaper described it as "the most sensational murder trial ... within living history."
Florence Seymour was the first person called to the witness box. She said that her statement was false, and that she had only made it because Edgar Power had told her that she would be charged with murder if she did not. This immediately disrupted the case for the prosecution; Frederick Low had made it clear in his opening statement
Opening statement
An opening statement is generally the first occasion that the trier of fact has to hear from a lawyer in a trial, aside possibly from questioning during voir dire. The opening statement is generally constructed to serve as a "road map" for the fact-finder...
that their case rested primarily on Seymour's testimony. Low received permission from the judge to treat Seymour as a hostile witness
Hostile witness
A hostile witness is a witness in a trial who testifies for the opposing party or a witness who offers adverse testimony to the calling party during direct examination.A witness called by the opposing party is presumed hostile...
; despite this, she refused to say anything that would incriminate Williams. Hastings did not cross-examine her, only asking if what she had said in court was true; she said that it was and then burst into tears.
After calling a number of minor witnesses (including the cab driver and the owner of the building Williams and Seymour lived in), the prosecution called Edgar Power. Power testified that Williams had bragged about shooting Walls in response to Powers' chaffing him about being a poor shot. According to Power, Williams responded to the chaff by saying, "Well, that was a good shot anyhow," referring to the shot that had killed Walls. Williams' barrister Hastings later described Power as "[the most] utterly contemptible human being I have ever met," and during his cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
Hastings highlighted Power's betrayal of his close friends, Williams and Seymour.
The defendant, John Williams, was called next. Williams claimed that the package containing the rope and the gun had been given to him by a fellow thief called "Freddy Mike", who had asked him to keep the package until Mike came to collect it. After the murder, Williams was scared that he would be suspected, since he had a gun and had been arrested previously for burglary.
Following the testimony of Seymour, Power, and Williams, it became clear the jury could not convict Williams based on witness testimony alone. There was, however, some circumstantial evidence: an empty holster found by the police among Williams' possessions showed evidence of a revolver recently being inside it. The police enlisted the aid of an expert in the new science of ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
, Robert Churchill; it was one of the first times the police made use of ballistics in a case.
Churchill was able to prove, by firing a different gun of the same design, that the bullet that killed the police officer had been fired from a revolver of the same make and calibre as the gun reported to be Williams'. However, the prosecution needed proof that the bullet had been fired from that particular revolver. At the suggestion of Chief Inspecter Bower, photographers attempted to photograph the inside of the gun barrel in order to prove that the bullet had been fired from that particular revolver; the attempts were unsuccessful, and Churchill instead made a cast of the inside of the gun from dental wax. The method has been called "far from satisfactory," but it was sufficient to convict Williams.
In his summing up
Jury instructions
Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors should follow when the jury is deciding a civil or criminal case. Jury instructions are given to the jury by the jury instructor, who usually reads them aloud to the jury...
, Judge Channell commented that the acts of the defendant in hiding the gun and fleeing Eastbourne "were acts which a guilty man would be very likely to do." He also told the jury that, while there was no direct evidence linking Williams to the murder, many cases had resulted in a conviction with even less evidence. After around fifteen minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and Channell sentenced Williams to death.
Court of Criminal Appeal
Immediately after the verdict was read, Williams' solicitor announced that he would appeal the verdict. He asked Hastings again to represent the defendant, this time in the Court of Criminal AppealCourt of Criminal Appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal is the name of existing courts of Scotland and Ireland, and an historic court in England and Wales.- Ireland :See Court of Criminal Appeal ...
. The Court met on 13 January 1913, and consisted of Lord Alverstone
Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone
Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, GCMG, QC was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices.-Background and education:...
, Mr Justice Phillimore
Walter Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore
Walter George Frank Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore PC , known as Sir Walter Phillimore, 2nd Baronet, from 1885 to 1918, was a British lawyer and judge.-Biography:...
and Mr Justice Ridley. Hastings argued that that Mr Justice Channell had misdirected the jury in the initial case, and that therefore their decision was void. Lord Alverstone dismissed the appeal without hearing the other side of the argument, saying that he could find no evidence of misdirection. Hastings felt that Alverstone had been biased from the start, later writing that "from the outset of the hearing it was apparent that he was satisfied with the prisoner's guilt, and no legal argument seemed to make the least impression on him."
Further appeals and execution
Shortly after the appeal was dismissed, Williams received a letter from "Freddy Mike", who stated that not only did he know the real murderer, but that the murderer was his twin brother who had killed the police inspector before fleeing to France. Williams immediately showed the letter to his solicitor, who contacted Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
. Accompanied by Chief Inspector
Chief inspector
Chief inspector is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police .-Australia:...
Bower, Williams' solicitor visited Freddy Mike, who again told the same story. A copy of the letter was sent to the Home Secretary, Reginald McKenna
Reginald McKenna
Reginald McKenna was a British banker and Liberal politician. He notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the premiership of H. H. Asquith.-Background and education:...
, along with a statement by Florence Seymour in which she claimed that her confession had been given after threats by the police.
When Freddy Mike's statement became known to the public, various petitions and campaigns to free Williams were organised throughout the country. A petition containing 35,000 signatures requesting a reprieve was sent to the Home Secretary. As soon as the House of Commons opened on 23 January 1913, McKenna was questioned by Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MPs. Robert Munro
Robert Munro, 1st Baron Alness
Robert Munro, 1st Baron Alness GBE, PC, KC, DL was a Scottish lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Secretary for Scotland between 1916 and 1922 in David Lloyd George's coalition government and as Lord Justice Clerk between 1922 and 1933.-Background and education:Munro was born in...
, MP for Wick Burghs
Wick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918...
, made a speech asking the Home Secretary to take into account the conflicting accounts, lack of any direct evidence, and the way the judge had directed the jury, and pardon Williams. In this he was supported by Will Crooks
Will Crooks
William Crooks was a noted trade unionist and politician from Poplar, London, and a member of the Fabian Society...
, the Marquess of Tullibardine
John Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl
Colonel John George Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl KT GCVO CB DSO PC ADC , styled Marquess of Tullibardine until 1917, was a Scottish soldier and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
, and Ian Macpherson.
McKenna replied that:
"The house will understand that there is no part of the Home Secretary's duty which throws greater responsibility upon him or is indeed more painful, then that which has to be exercised in connection with the prerogative of mercy. Of course, any man would be only too glad to find a scintilla of evidence or reason, or I might say to invent a reason, which would enable him to save a human life. But my duty, as I understand it, is to act in accordance with the law and the traditions of my office.
I have investigated [the story of Freddy Mike] to its very foundation. I have traced the family history of the man who calls himself Freddy Mike, and I find beyond question, and I may say even on his own admission, that there is not a shred or shadow of foundation for his story from beginning to end. He said that he had a twin brother. He had no twin brother. He said that the twin brother or a friend of the twin brother was in Eastbourne that night. There were no such people, and the whole story is an invention because, having known John Williams in the past, he did not like to think of his being hanged."
McKenna concluded by saying that the law must take its course, and refused to grant a pardon.
Williams applied to Home Secretary McKenna for permission to marry Florence Seymour; McKenna denied Williams's request, and did so again when Williams petitioned a second time. Williams was executed on 30 January 1913.