On 3 October, the second day of the inquest, another positive identification of Philip Drew followed. The first witness, Alice James, swore that the man she had seen wiping blood from his face was none other than Drew. She was followed to the stand by Charles Russell, the stage-manager at the theatre.
Charles said that on 22 June, at around 1.30pm, he had gone for a drink with Drew in Friar Street. Some fifteen minutes later, Drew had said that he was going to Cross Street to buy a newspaper. It was known that the shop next door to the murder scene, was a newsagents. This was confirmed by Harry George Ingram, and James Henry Grubb who also worked at the theatre and who had gone with Russell and Drew to Friar Street. They too had heard Drew say he was going to Cross Street.
The next witness was Thomas Windle who told his story of the man he had seen in Cross Street. He also positively identified Drew as the man he had observed. He was followed by Nellie Taylor of the Welcome Café, who now recalled Drew as a customer who had eaten four fried eggs, two rashers of bacon, bread and butter and black coffee on either 18 or 19 June. She had seen him again on 22 June, at some time between 4.15pm and 4.30pm.
Other witnesses also identified Drew. Sydney Eric Turnbull, an estate agent, had seen a man behaving suspiciously in Cross Street on the day of the murder. He too pointed out Drew as the man he had seen.
Kathleen Earl positively identified Drew as the man with the reddish face, who she had seen walking in the middle of the road and muttering to himself.
George Thomas Nicholson was a gardener but he had been in Cross Street at around 5.20pm. He had actually gone into Alfred Oliver’s shop to buy some cigarettes. Alfred had come through from the room at the back in order to serve him. There was no-one else in the shop at the time but when George left, he stood outside for a time, waiting for his wife. A man came from the direction of Broad Street. He appeared to be drunk. For once, however, Drew was not picked out as the man who had been seen.
Things were looking decidedly bad for Philip Yale Drew. A number of witnesses had testified that he had said he was going to Cross Street to buy a newspaper and then others had put him in that street at about the time the murder took place. Indeed one, Alice James, had actually put him in the doorway of Mr Oliver’s shop, wiping blood from his face.
The next witness was Marion Lindo, the owner of the theatre company, of which Drew was a member. She told the court that whilst the company was in Reading, she and her husband, Frank, had stayed at 77 Vastern Road. Although Drew had lodged at a different address, in King’s Meadow Road, this was very close to Vastern Road and he had had all his meals, except for breakfast, with them.
On 22 June 1929, the day Alfred Oliver had been attacked in his shop, Drew had had lunch with the Lindos, at some time between 2.00pm and 2.30pm. Marion went on to say that Drew appeared somewhat flushed and she believed that he might have been drinking. Drew, it seems, had a drink problem and sometimes this had even affected his performance on stage. This concerned Marion and she tried to look after Drew and prevent him from drinking too much.
On this particular day, Frank Lindo advised Drew that he should have a nap after they had finished lunch. Drew lay on a settee and went to sleep and it was Marion who woke him, at around 4.00pm. As Drew rose, Marion noticed a shape in his pocket, which looked to her like a small bottle of whisky. She demanded that he hand the bottle over but Drew would have none of it. He flatly denied that it was a bottle of whisky and refused to empty his pockets.
A brief argument followed and Drew went back to his own lodgings. Marion followed him there later and last saw him at 5.00pm, after telling him not to bother coming to the theatre that night if he was drunk. That evening, she was in her dressing-room at the theatre when she heard Drew, who had the next room, come in a few minutes before 6.20pm. She was able to narrow the time down so accurately as it was just before the half-hour call before curtain up, which was at 6.50pm.
Marion Lindo’s evidence was important because it contradicted all those who claimed to have seen Drew in Cross Street on the afternoon of 22 June. Marion had indicated that he could not have been in Cross Street any earlier than say 5.10pm. It did not, however, give him an alibi for the actual time of the attack upon Alfred Oliver.
Alfred George Fry was one of the stage-managers for the theatre company and he testified that on 22 June he had been drinking with Drew, in the Marquis of Lorne, before 2.00pm. Drew had been drinking ginger ale. The two men left the public house at closing time and Drew said he was going to have lunch with the Lindos. That evening, Fry was at the theatre by 5.45pm. He said that it was closer to 6.00pm when Drew arrived. Though Fry didn’t see him, he did hear Drew singing so was sure that it was him. Fry actually saw Drew at 6.17pm, standing at his dressing-room door. He had changed into his costume for the evening performance but had not, as yet, applied his make-up.
By all accounts, Alfred Oliver had been attacked within a minute or two of 6.10pm. If Fry’s testimony was accurate, then Drew could not be the murderer as he was at the theatre by close on 6.00pm.
The next witness was Mrs Mary Eleanor Goodall. She lived at 9 King’s Meadow and had been Drew’s landlady whilst he was staying in Reading. She began by confirming that Drew had stayed at her house from 16 June until 23 June. On 22 June, he had left her house at 11.00am and returned, after lunch, at some time between 3.00pm and 3.30pm. Shortly afterwards, Marion Lindo arrived and told Mary that she and Drew had argued over a bottle of whisky he was carrying. As the two women talked, Drew came downstairs and went out. It was then around 5.00pm and he was back by 5.15pm. He stayed at the house until about 6.10pm. Mary remembered the time because she told Drew he would be late if he didn’t get a move on. He replied that he could walk to the theatre in seven minutes.
Under cross-examination, Mary had to agree that although there were many clocks in her house, none of them were set to the correct time so she was therefore unable to say, with accuracy, that it was indeed 6.10pm when Drew left her house to go to the theatre.
The Town Hall at the bottom of Friar Street. This area figured heavily in the investigation into Philip Drew as a suspect. Author’s Collection
The next two witnesses were, however, able to narrow down the time Drew had left for the theatre. Elizabeth Crouch also lived in King’s Meadow, at number 16, and on 22 June, she and her husband were walking home from the town centre. They passed the Town Hall at some time between 6.05pm and 6.10pm and, as they arrived at King’s Meadow, they saw Drew rushing out of number 9. By Mrs Crouch’s estimation, it would then be approximately 6.10pm.
Drew dashing out of his lodgings was also seen by Mrs Winifred Greenwood, who lived next door at number 7. She could not be precisely sure of the time but said it would be around 6.00pm.
All of these witnesses, if accurate, indicated that there was no way Drew could have been the man who attacked Mr Oliver at around 6.10pm. Just as it seemed that there might be hope for Drew, another witness appeared to put things in doubt once again.
Bertie Hathaway was a one-legged man, who could only walk with the aid of a crutch. He testified that at 6.00pm on 22 June, he was standing outside a music shop on Friar Street, talking to a lady named Mrs Williams. They parted after about five or six minutes and Hathaway then travelled down Friar Street, towards the theatre. As he approached Queen Victoria Street he saw a powerfully built man, muttering to himself, almost pushing people out of the way, and also heading towards the theatre. At one stage, a passing bus held up both Hathaway and the man and the latter cursed at it.
This strange behaviour caused Hathaway to observe the man, as he went on his way, and Hathaway saw him turn into the theatre itself. Hathaway then asked an attendant who the man was, but he had been unable to say. Hathaway, however, was now able to say that the man was in court, was none other than Drew, and his entrance to the theatre had been at 6.15pm.
Once again, there was doubt. If the timings of those who had seen Drew leave his lodgings were just a few minutes out, then Drew could have been in Cross
Street by around 6.00pm, could have struck down Alfred Oliver at around 6.10pm, and could have been seen by Hathaway, hurrying from the scene, towards the theatre, shortly afterwards.
The next few witnesses were all serving police officers. Detective Sergeant Percy Richard Ellington, of the Nottingham City Police, told of going to Drew’s lodgings in West Bridgford and asking him to come to the police station for interview.
He was followed into the witness box by Detective Sergeant John Harris who gave details of Drew’s statement in which he denied even knowing of Cross Street, and had not even heard of the murder there until after his company left the town. Harris then detailed Drew’s second statement, given after he had been told that a number of witnesses had now identified him as being in Cross Street on 22 June. He merely said, again, that he had not been in Cross Street and had not been into Mr Oliver’s tobacconists at any time.
On the afternoon of the fifth day of the hearing, Philip Yale Drew stepped into the witness box to tell his own story. Under questioning he admitted that he did like a drink but denied ever being ‘falling down drunk’. Turning to the events of 22 June, he claimed to have little memory of exact times and places but did remember being in the theatre at his usual time, which would be approximately one hour before curtain up; that is, by about 5.50pm. Drew went on to deny that he had ever said that he was going to Cross Street to buy a newspaper. He admitted that he may have said that was going across the street, to get a paper from the newsagents opposite the theatre, and that might have been misheard. He had not been in Cross Street at any time and was not responsible for Mr Oliver’s death.
The final day of testimony was Wednesday 9 October 1929. By now, public opinion had swung directly behind Philip Drew. There may have been a feeling that the man had not been treated properly by either the police or the authorities, or that the evidence against him was purely circumstantial, but crowds lined the streets as Drew and his supporters made their way to the courtroom. Many shouted messages of support, other thrust flowers into his hands.
During the morning, Drew continued his own testimony. That afternoon, Mr Frank Lindo gave evidence about Drew’s drinking but he was unable to narrow down the time of Drew’s arrival at the theatre on 22 June, as Lindo had gone to the cinema that afternoon and had not arrived at the theatre himself until well after 6.00pm. Then, finally, the last witness was called.
Alfred John Wells was a butcher’s assistant and worked at 22 Cross Street. On 22 June, he had seen a strange man, in Cross Street, on a number of occasions.
The first time had been at 7.30am, in the Welcome Café. The man was about five feet ten inches tall, long dark hair, and wore a blue coat, a blue waistcoat, grey trousers and brown shoes. Wells had heard the man speak, and said that he had a North Country accent.
Later that same day, Wells was wiping down the window of the butcher’s shop where he worked when he saw the same man again. In fact, he saw him two or three times, the final time being at about 5.40pm when the man was walking from Cross Street into Friar Street. Asked if he could identify Drew as this man, Wells stated that he was absolutely certain that he was not.
Perhaps of even more importance was the way the police had treated Mr Wells after the news of the murder had become public. Wells had known of the attack upon Alfred Oliver even before the injured man was taken out of his shop. Wells had then gone to a policeman and told him of the strange man he had seen and was told to go to the police station to make a report. Wells had gone to the station that same evening, at about 9.00pm and made a statement to a police sergeant. He did not know the officer’s name but, by coincidence, Wells had seen that same officer outside the court, helping to control the crowd of Drew’s supporters.
The crowds gathered in support of Drew at the end of the inquest. Drew and some of his closest supporters are on the balcony to the top left of the picture. Author’s Collection
The officer, Sergeant Arthur Colbert, was brought into court and claimed to have no memory of taking a statement from Mr Wells. However, the defence team then produced the statement and asked Sergeant Colbert to read it out. It agreed completely with the testimony Wells had just given in court.
On 10 October, the coroner summed up the evidence for the jury. They retired to consider their verdict and when it came, it was that the evidence was too conflicting for them to establish the guilt of any individual. The verdict was that Alfred Oliver, had been murdered by some person or persons unknown.
Just as it seemed that the entire matter might fall from public consciousness, yet another remarkable coincidence occurred in the affair. Just over two weeks after the inquest had closed, the police received news that not one, but two separate confessions had been received.
On 27 October 1929, two men both said that they had been responsible for the murder of Alfred Oliver. In Glasgow, a man named Philip Joseph Dickens, said that he was guilty and, on the same date, Joseph Cassidy had made a similar claim, in London.
Dickens had walked into the Central Police Station in Glasgow at 2.20pm and said that he wished to confess to the murder of Alfred Oliver, in Reading. He went on to make a full written statement in which he said he had been at Kingston-upon-Thames, on 21 June, with two friends; Ernie Carter and James Maguire. Carter lived in Reading and they all arranged to meet up at his house the following day. On 22 June, Dickens arrived at Reading between 6.30am and 7.30am and asked a policeman for directions to Carter’s home. Dickens claimed that at the time, he was carrying a railway spike, which he had picked up on his journey.
Later that same day, Dickens had met up with Maguire, who told him about a tobacconist’s shop where the owner kept fifty or sixty pounds in a drawer underneath the shop counter. Dickens had then gone to the shop, hit Oliver with the iron spike and taken the money from the till. He had then thrown the spike onto some allotments, along with a handkerchief, before travelling on to London.
At first, it appeared that there might be some substance to Dickens’ claim. There were allotments along the direct route Dickens would have taken on his journey to London. They were searched and an iron railway spike, and a handkerchief, which looked as if it might be bloodstained, were discovered.
The police believed they might have a strong case against Dickens and he was taken to Reading for further questioning. Unfortunately, in the meantime, other railway spikes were found on those same allotments and none could be shown to be the murder weapon.
Further disappointments were to follow for the police. Dickens was a married man and his wife was able to prove that he had not been out of Glasgow since March 1929. He had enjoyed a brief holiday but that was in September, long after Alfred Oliver was dead. This evidence was confirmed by Dickens’ son, Joseph, and a neighbour, Mrs Elizabeth Patterson, who had visited the family many times in June, during which, Dickens had always been there. As if that were not enough, Dickens had even visited his own family doctor on 22 June.
Joseph Cassidy had also walked into a police station, this time on Blackheath Road, in London, and confessed to the crime. Enquiries were made by Detective Inspector Rakey, who was able to prove that Cassidy had never set foot in Reading. Cassidy was diagnosed as being a manic depressive and was taken to the Greenwich and Deptford Institute, for observation. By yet another remarkable coincidence, it was revealed that both Dickens and Cassidy, men who had confessed at opposite ends of the country, on the same day, had once both been inmates of the Ewell Hospital.
The year 1929 passed and the murder of Alfred Oliver remained unsolved. Anne Elizabeth Oliver, the murdered man’s wife, sold the shop before the end of the year.
There were still those, especially perhaps amongst the ranks of the police, who believed that Philip Yale Drew was indeed guilty of the murder, but the vast majority of people believed that justice had been served.
The investigation had closed. The inquest was over, the verdict was an open one and no charges were ever placed against Drew, or indeed any other individual. Other confessions were
made over the next few years but all proved to be groundless and the murder of Alfred Oliver remains unsolved to this day.
The publicity surrounding the case damaged Drew’s career beyond repair, and over the next few years he had very little work indeed. At one stage, he was even forced to sell newspapers, outside the theatres he loved so much, in order to make ends meet. Drew’s health deteriorated and he died, from throat cancer, in the Lambeth Hospital, on 2 July 1940. He was sixty years old.
CHAPTER 7
Too Good to Live Queenie Pennington 1929
By 1929, William Pennington and his wife, Queenie, had been married for four years, and their union had been blessed, in June 1926, with a daughter who they named Jean. The problem was, however, that this did not bring the couple closer together as might be expected, for Queenie began to suffer from depression.
William worked as a roadman, for Berkshire Council and, on the morning of Friday 30 August 1929, left for work, as usual, at 6.30am. He did not return to his home at 2 Fairview Cottages, Amen Corner, Binfield, until 5.05pm, and when he did he found that the door was locked against him.
William knocked on the door a number of times and, finally, saw that the scullery door was opening. He dashed forward, only to find his wife in the doorway with a vicious gash in her throat. William ran for a neighbour and asked him to call the doctor before he went back into his house. Going inside, William found, to his horror, that his daughter Jean lay on the scullery floor, in a pool of blood, her head almost severed from her body.
The first police officer to arrive was Constable Thatcher, who knew the family well. He took a note of the position of Jean’s body and also that the child was still warm, showing that the crime had only taken place very recently. Queenie was now lying on the floor, next to her daughter, unconscious. A check of the premises revealed a razor in the sink and a hammer on the floor, both of which were heavily bloodstained. There was also a good deal of blood on the scullery floor and in the kitchen.
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Reading Page 6
