Francis Henry Wilson and his wife Gladys lived in Station Road in Brompton near Northallerton in Yorkshire. Gladys had met John Walker in 1944 when she and her husband had been living in Shildon and taken a fancy to him. After the War, Walker moved in with Wilsons.
The marriage was not a happy one and there was occasional violence towards Gladys and but neither of them would end the relationship. Strangely 48 year old Walker slept with Gladys in the main bedroom whilst 45 year old Francis slept alone in the spare bedroom.
Gladys gave her husband 10 shillings a week pocket money but for the week ending the 30th of April 1950, had only given him 5 shillings which made Francis very angry and caused him to tell Walker that he intended to “knock the living daylights out of her.”
On Saturday the 29th of April 1950 Gladys went to the pictures on her own, leaving the two men in the house. She didn’t see her husband when she returned and presumed, he had gone to bed. The following morning Walker brought her a cup of tea and told her that he had killed Francis, whose body was lying in the scullery.
He had inflicted six blows to Francis’ head with a hatchet which was lying beside the body. Walker left the house and Gladys reported the murder and confession. Walker was picked up later in the day in Bishop Auckland.
Walker’s story was that he had struck Francis with the axe in order to prevent him carrying out his threat to beat Gladys up. The trial lasted less than one day before Mr. Justice Croom-Johnson at York on the 22nd of June 1950.
Walker did not appeal and was hanged at Durham at 8.00 a.m. on Thursday the 13th of July 1950, by Steve Wade and Harry Kirk. The case file remains sealed until 2026.
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