A Llanrwst Christmas, Not Worth Dying For

The blood flowed from the horrific knife wound in William's neck.  William was a cruel, itinerant, out-of-work, lame hawker, who got offensive when he drank and left Caroline penniless and hungry, living in a squalid, condemned house.  But she loved him. People had often witnessed her wielding the knife.  She called it her 'protection'.  It was her way of keeping herself safe in their constant arguments.

Caroline confirmed to the police that it was just the two of them in the house, which was her downfall, as she was arrested, although she vehemently stated she was innocent. She had no memory of committing the act. Her son, Edward, tells her to say it was Robert, whom William thought she was having an affair with. However, Robert had an alibi. Caroline was taken to Court, listening to the doctors’ reports and the witnesses' statements. What followed was a gruelling court case, trying to fathom out the truth within the lies and deceit that her sons had used to try to save their mother from the gallows. However, even though the Jury had requested mercy, the Judge donned his black cap, and she was sentenced to hang.

This book is about prejudice and how the legal system pre-judges guilt, especially as Caroline was an illiterate gypsy, not able to read or write, and naive in respect of the law.  She was not even allowed to go into the witness box!

I introduce a Cold Case Team to read the crime reports.  They bring to light the inconsistencies in the police investigations and trial, anad where the case had truly let Caroline down.  They also indicate how an investigation would have been carried out nowadays.

Caroline’s sentence was repealed to life imprisonment, after an initial unsuccessful appeal, followed by a campaign, when the verdict was finally overthrown and ascertained as being a miscarriage of justice. After 20 months in prison, Caroline revealed the truth about the murder – a truth that is truly unpredictable – and yet another lie, possibly made up by her sons! I prove that it could not have happened in that way, but it led to Caroline finally being released.