Left to right, Freddy Bywaters, Edith Thompson, and Percy Thompson
As you travel on the Elizabeth Line from London to Essex, you will see the large City of
London Cemetery, between Manor Park and Ilford in east London. You may spot a
bright, white, headstone amongst the older grey memorials. The grass on the grave is
neatly cut. From time to time fresh flowers and wreaths are laid there. Sleeping below
the surface is a woman who was, without doubt, the victim of a biased verdict a century
ago, and a victim of a law that is convicting many others today.
Hanged for being in love with another: joint enterprise one hundred years ago
We all shake our heads in sorrow when we read about major miscarriages of justice
from years gone by. One blatant example, caused by the prejudices of the time, took
place one hundred years ago when two lovers, Edith Thompson and Freddy Bywaters,
were executed at exactly the same time a short distance apart, the former in Holloway,
the latter in Pentonville, for a murder for which they were held jointly responsible, that of
Edith’s husband Percy. The background to their convictions is very relevant today
because Freddy admitted the fatal attack was purely down to him, but Edith was found
guilty by being part of a joint enterprise, and so died too.
Percy Thompson was older than his wife, their life described as “comfortable” albeit dull.
Edith had a romantic nature and began a passionate affair with the much younger
Bywaters, who she had known for years as he had been a school friend of her younger
brothers. Freddy was a sailor living a life that Edith envied, travelling the world whilst she
sat at home. She wrote him flowery romantic letters full of yearning and wistful dreams of
freedom from what she described as the chains of dull suburbia and a boring man,
longing to be rescued by her younger, ardent, lover.
Freddy had actually been a tenant of the Thompsons for a while, but when he interceded
to stop Percy striking Edith, he was evicted. Then late at night in October 1922 Percy
and Edith were walking home from Ilford Station when Freddy appeared from hiding and
attacked Percy, stabbing him to death. He confessed to the crime and produced the
knife used, saying he had wanted to confront his victim over his treatment of his wife and
not kill him but it escalated. He was clear in his statements Edith knew nothing about his
intention to intercept them. A witness living nearby said she heard Edith screaming at
him to stop, Nevertheless they were both charged with murder.
Edith was held up as a sinful adulteress. Newspapers judged her by the morality of the
time. The words of her excessively romantic letters were used to prove she was
complicit. Her references to wanting freedom to be with her lover were made to fit the
concept of seeking the death of her spouse, and so in the mood of moral outrage that
was prevalent she was considered to be to blame even though she had not encouraged
the act and knew nothing about it and had been heard to be trying to stop it. After the
verdict and the capital sentence was handed down, a public petition was circulated
gaining one million signatures for clemency. But just for Bywaters. The public had no
care for Edith at all. They decided she was a siren who entrapped poor Freddy.
I cannot conceive that in 2024 anyone could consider Edith to have been fairly treated.
She was executed for adultery, for being a Femme Fatale. The shocking murder of
Percy Thompson was blamed on his wife because she was an immoral woman
deserving of retribution. Now we have our own hate groups and condemn youths for
their social lives. When tragedy strikes, we look for people to blame based our own
prejudices. We no longer execute people but instead incarcerate youths to fit the moods
of our times.
Joint Enterprise 2024 has the same unjust outcomes as in 1923. There is no death
sentence but instead the death of hope and a decent life for those unfairly ensnared.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that Joint Enterprise is being wrongly interpreted
allowing the net to be spread too wide, and this has led to wrongful convictions, calling
innocent people murderers for just being present even though they had no idea what
was happening. Just like Edith. But nothing is done, and the injustice continues. It is
easy to end up in a fight. It happened to me many years ago when I was leaving a party
with a group of school friends, and one was jumped on by a crowd we didn’t know. Had
one of my friends had a knife and used it we could all have been culpable even though
we had no control. Or we would have been if we were Black teenagers.
Edith was made a murderer by societal prejudice against a woman who committed
adultery. Young people are made murderers by media and politicians who want to be
seen to be tough against gangs. But convicting innocent people does not deter those
who are truly responsible. The public lose faith in justice, allowing criminals to evade
responsibility as people do not trust the forces of law to be fair. The system is feeding
the desire for justice by playing the game of increasing numbers in prison without caring
if they are the right ones to lock up.
Edith’s family got some peace when her body was moved in 2018 from Holloway to rest
with her mother in the City of London Cemetery in Ilford, close to her marital home, the
site of the murder, and indeed the grave of her husband. Even on that day the Daily Mail
reported that she had “goaded her young lover” into committing the crime. In 2022 the
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab refused to grant her a pardon. He later reconsidered
and referred the matter to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, but they turned it
down because they felt she had received a “fair trial”, despite the Judge having spent his
summing up before the Jury blaming her for her loose, promiscuous ways that bewitched
the younger man. He had even stated Edith had charmed the witness who heard her
calling out to stop.
It is moving to see that people who have read about her case visit her grave taking
flowers and stand a while in tears mourning a lost young life. It is too late for Edith, but
not for others. Young people are effectively entombed in prison cells for having
friendships. We must not just cry for them, but cry out for the justice they deserve. Let us
deal with it now and save those future tears. Let the new Justice Secretary Shabaana
Mahmood review all their cases now, whilst they have lives ahead to live.
And now, at last, a Parliamentary inquiry into Joint Enterprise is being set up and will be
chaired by Lord Woodley, to begin work in November. Perhaps, finally, this unfair law,
deemed by our own Supreme Court to be improperly used, will end and justice will come for those suffering from the incorrect use that killed Edith 100 years ago and has caged
so many for far too long since.
DPP promises action on Joint Enterprise