At Crippen’s Trial – 18 to 22 October 1910
Judge
The Right Hon Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England
Counsel for the Crown
Mr. R.D. Muir photograph
Mr. Travers Humphreys
Mr. S. Ingleby Oddie
Counsel for the Prisoner
Mr. Alfred A. Tobin, K.C.
Mr. Huntly Jenkins
Mr. H.D. Roome(Instructed by Messrs Arthur Newton & Co.)
At Le Neve’s Trial – 25 October 1910
Judge
The Right Hon Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England
Counsel for the Crown
Mr. R.D. Muir photograph
Mr. Travers Humphreys
Mr. S. Ingleby Oddie
Counsel for the Prisoner
Mr. F. E. Smith, K.C., M.P. (later Lord Birkenhead)
Mr. Barrington Ward
At Crippen’s Appeal – 5 November 1910
Judges
Mr. Justice Darling
Mr. Justice Channell
Mr. Justice Pickford
Travers Humphreys (1867-1956)
Humphreys – later Sir Travers Humphreys – had been working on the Crippen case since the middle of July, after having been asked by Sir Charles Mathews, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to watch proceedings at the inquest.
In ‘A Book of Trials’ (1955), Humphreys revealed that Chief Inspector Dew had cross-examined Crippen for six hours in compiling the Statement [Ex 39] that summarised Crippen’s life; his confession that he had lied to his wife’s friends about her disappearance; and his false explanation that she had left him for another man.
Humphreys contended that, due to the admissions made in his Statement, Crippen had no real defence to put forward at his trial. Indeed, it was Humphrey’s belief that Crippen’s fear of another interrogation that caused him to lose his nerve and flee the country.
According to Humphreys, Crippen acted with great composure at his Trial but ‘he had no defence on the facts’, leaving a ‘Guilty’ verdict as the only possible outcome.
In this book, Humphreys also touches on the cases of Horatio Bottomley (Crippen’s ‘benefactor’) and Arthur Newton (Crippen’s solicitor) both of whom would later finish up in jail.
Bibliography
- Browne, D.G. – Sir Travers Humphreys: A Biography (George G. Harrap,1960)
- Felstead, C. – Sir Richard Muir: – A Memoir of a Public Prosecutor (The Bodley Head, 1927)
- Humphreys, T – A Book of Trials (William Heinemann, 1955)
- Humphreys, T. – Criminal Days (Hodder & Stoughton,1946)
- Jackson, S. – The Life and Cases of Mr Justice Humphreys (Odhams Press,1952)
- Roberts, B. – Sir Travers Humphreys: His Career and Cases (The Bodley Head, 1936)
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