Peter Griffiths

Background

Peter Griffiths was a 22-year-old packer at a flour-mill. He had once served in the Welsh Guards, and he was of low intelligence and believed to be schizophrenic.

The offence

Four-year-old June Ann Devaney was kidnapped from her bed at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire, while recovering from pneumonia. She was discovered in the hospital grounds huddled against a wall about 300 feet away from her cot. June Ann Devaney had been raped, and it looked as if the killer had beaten her head against the wall, with multiple skull fractures described later. On the fatal night Peter Griffiths had been out drinking and had set out to "get sobered up".

Peter Griffiths picked June Ann Devaney out of the cot, and June Ann Devaney put her arms around his neck.

Investigation

On 14 May 1948 at 12.45, nurse Humphreys was doing her rounds of Ward CH3 of Blackburn's Queen's Park Hospital when she reached the cot of June Ann Devaney and found the child missing. Under the cot, a Winchester bottle was found and, on the highly-polished floor, impressions of stockinged adult footprints were found.

The police were called, and a search was made of the building and grounds. The child's body was discovered about 300 feet away in the grounds, huddled against a wall. June Ann Devaney had been raped, and it looked as if the killer had beaten her head against the wall.

The bottle found under the bed had some clear fingerprints. Examination of the footprints showed that they had been made by the socks of an adult. By 15th June 2,017 people had been processed and eliminated from the inquiry. The police decided to widen the search.

It was decided to fingerprint the whole adult, male population of Blackburn. Going from house to house and using the electoral register as a guide, the police slowly fingerprinted every male over the age of 16, including people who had since left the area or had travelled abroad. It was decided to fingerprint the whole adult, male population of Blackburn, and the police slowly fingerprinted every male over the age of 16.

It was on 12th August that the hard work finally paid off, when fingerprint set number 46,253 belonged to Peter Griffiths of Birley Street. In a later description, investigators fingerprinted over 2,000 people who had access to the hospital and still could not find a match; Detective Inspector John Capstick then decided that every man in Blackburn would be fingerprinted. Over two months, authorities collected over 40,000 sets of prints yet still had not turned up a match, and authorities determined that there were still a few men in town who hadn't provided their prints.

Arrest

Peter Griffiths was identified by fingerprint set number 46,253. He was arrested the following night and soon admitted his guilt. His footprints matched the ones found at the scene, and his fingerprints also came back a match.

Trial

Peter Griffiths was charged and tried at Lancaster Assizes. The jury returned a verdict of guilty in only 23 minutes.

Sentencing

Peter Griffiths was hanged at Walton Gaol on 19th November 1948 by Albert Pierrepoint.

Outcome

Peter Griffiths was found guilty and was executed by hanging at Walton Gaol on 19th November 1948 by Albert Pierrepoint.

Aftermath

The grave of June Anne Devaney was described as a small black headstone in a far corner of the cemetery. June Anne Devaney was murdered on 15th May 1948 and was three years old when she was murdered in the grounds of Queen's Park Hospital.