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I am the court reporter. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:18 | |
Since 1674, | 0:17:18 | 0:17:20 | |
every trial that's been played out | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
between these walls at London's Old Bailey court, | 0:17:22 | 0:17:25 | |
every single one of them, | 0:17:25 | 0:17:26 | |
has been faithfully recorded by a reporter like me. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
I sit just here. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:32 | |
I write down what was said by whom. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
And now, you, somewhat later, | 0:17:36 | 0:17:39 | |
can listen in. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
You can put your ear to the walls | 0:17:41 | 0:17:43 | |
and hear, once again, these voices from the past. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
Now, here's a case that sends a shiver down the spine. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:53 | |
A grisly crime. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:58 | |
A dark deed indeed. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
Even the dead, it seems, are not safe from thieves. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
This is a case of body snatching. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
The dead dug up. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
The year is 1843. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
But it's a curious one, this. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:26 | |
As medical science blossomed, | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
body snatching had become such a concern | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
that they introduced an act | 0:18:30 | 0:18:32 | |
to set out a legal avenue for students to access corpses, | 0:18:32 | 0:18:36 | |
to aid the study of anatomy and disease. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
That was 1832. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
11 years later and up pops this mysterious case. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
John White Bridgman and Isaac Bridgman, | 0:18:53 | 0:18:57 | |
indicted for unlawfully breaking and entering | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
the grave of Thomas Ghorst Tawney | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
and taking away the said body. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:05 | |
Here accused are a man of the church and his son. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
The minister and guardian, no less, | 0:19:10 | 0:19:12 | |
of the village chapel where the crime occurred. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:15 | |
A father, the son | 0:19:15 | 0:19:17 | |
and the wholly unholy business of the dead undone. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:20 | |
And in the very place where they should rest in peace. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:24 | |
Gentlemen. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:27 | |
We're here, are we not, for such a fleeting time. | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
And when our journey on this earth is done, | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
when we go to meet our maker, | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
what do we ask for but the simplest request - | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
to rest in peace. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:40 | |
Imagine, then, to discover | 0:19:42 | 0:19:44 | |
that your family, duly laid to rest, | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
found that peace shattered. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:49 | |
Their coffins forced open, | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
their bones tossed asunder. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
I call my first witness, | 0:19:56 | 0:19:57 | |
Mr James Dodsley Tawney. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
I swear by Almighty God | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
Mr Tawney, | 0:20:14 | 0:20:16 | |
your family has a vault at the chapel of St John's, | 0:20:16 | 0:20:18 | |
is that correct? | 0:20:18 | 0:20:19 | |
That's correct. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
My father, the late Thomas Ghorst Tawney, | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
died in November of 1803 and was buried there. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
My elder brother Thomas and my mother both died in 1837 | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
and were buried in the same vault. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:33 | |
Mr Tawney, please can you explain to the court | 0:20:33 | 0:20:36 | |
how you came to discover that your family tomb had been disturbed? | 0:20:36 | 0:20:41 | |
I was at home, on Cheapside, | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
and I came in receipt of some information | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
in consequence of which I went to the house of Mr Bridgman. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
'I told Mr Bridgman I came there for the purpose | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
'of opening my family vault. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:57 | |
'He said nothing. | 0:20:57 | 0:20:59 | |
'I said, "I will view my family vault," | 0:20:59 | 0:21:01 | |
'and I walked into the passage. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:02 | |
'Still, Mr Bridgman said nothing to me. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
'Could you describe what you found? | 0:21:07 | 0:21:08 | |
'When I got to the vault, I saw that the large stone at the top | 0:21:11 | 0:21:14 | |
'had evidently been removed and the brickwork damaged. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
'When I looked inside, | 0:21:18 | 0:21:19 | |
'I could see my mother's coffin was turned on its side | 0:21:19 | 0:21:22 | |
'and my father's coffin was gone. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
'There were some pieces of wood lying at the bottom of the tomb | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
'and a patch of hair about the size of my hand.' | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
Did you seek to speak with Mr Bridgman again? | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
I went directly back through the chapel and into Mr Bridgman's house, | 0:21:34 | 0:21:37 | |
not exceeding ten minutes after I'd first arrived. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
I could not find Mr Bridgman. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
You then sought a warrant through appropriate channels | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
to search the premises, correct? | 0:21:47 | 0:21:49 | |
Yes, that's correct. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:50 | |
'When I had the warrant, I went to the chapel yard. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:55 | |
'There, I observed a spot where the earth had been recently removed. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
'It was 15 yards from the defendant's back premises. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
'I found three skulls and then, in another spot, quite close by, | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
'I found another skull.' | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
On what grounds do you stand that some of this material | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
might be taken from your father's grave? | 0:22:19 | 0:22:22 | |
The fragments of wood that I'd found in the tomb | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
were applied to the coffin. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:27 | |
When the whole was put together, | 0:22:27 | 0:22:29 | |
it fitted exactly. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
Thank you, Mr Tawney. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:33 | |
Four skulls. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:36 | |
He said four skulls. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:39 | |
Does that not beg the question | 0:22:39 | 0:22:40 | |
that perhaps Mr Tawney's poor father might not be the only one disturbed? | 0:22:40 | 0:22:44 | |
And is it not a bit baffling | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
that you might dig the bones up in one place | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
and then bury them again a short distance away? | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
Whatever purpose they served, would it not make more sense | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
to put them back where you found them afterward? | 0:22:54 | 0:22:56 | |
I will show that the accused, Mr Isaac Bridgman, | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
was not at home in Walworth on the night in question - | 0:23:01 | 0:23:04 | |
Wednesday, 6th of September. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:05 | |
I should like to call Mrs Margaret Thompson. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
Mrs Thompson, | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
please tell the court where you saw Mr Bridgman on September 6th last. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
I was with Mr Bridgman in Ramsgate on Wednesday morning. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
I spoke to him and was in company with him for an hour and a half, | 0:23:25 | 0:23:31 | |
watching the ships come from Ramsgate pier. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
I asked him to dine with me that evening, which he did. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:37 | |
Are you able to state, on your oath, | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
that he dined with you on Wednesday, 6th September? | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
Certainly, I've not the slightest doubt about it. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:46 | |
I dined at six o'clock and that I told him. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
It was rather later that day, | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
being in consequence of some little addition made. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
He had been to chapel | 0:23:56 | 0:23:57 | |
and he told me the text and particulars. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
Do you remember the text? | 0:24:00 | 0:24:01 | |
Yes, it was, "Fear not to go down into Egypt, | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
"for I will go with thee." | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
Or something of that sort. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
I should like to add I have known him ten or 12 years | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
and always considered him a most excellent man. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:19 | |
Mrs Thompson has sworn | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
that Mr Bridgman dined with her on the evening of September 6th, | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
rendering it impossible that that same night | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
he might also be a half day's journey away, in Walworth. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
No further questions, thank you. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
Gentlemen, I will turn my attention to the younger Mr Bridgman. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:41 | |
I have witnesses who place him indisputably | 0:24:41 | 0:24:44 | |
at the scene of the crime. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:47 | |
I would like to call the Bridgmans' neighbour, Mr George Garford. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
Mr Garford, please tell the court where you were | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
on the night of September 6th, and what you saw. | 0:24:57 | 0:24:59 | |
'At the time in question, | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
'I resided next door to Mr Bridgman's. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
'I went to bed about 11 o'clock. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:08 | |
'I fancied I saw something moving in the burial ground. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
'I looked again | 0:25:15 | 0:25:16 | |
'and I observed two men going in the direction of Mr Tawney's tomb. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:21 | |
'One of the persons appeared to have nothing on | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
'but a shirt and a cloak over it. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
'The other was dressed in plain black. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
'I did not see the tomb opened. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:34 | |
'I observed that it was open. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
'I saw one of the men descend into the tomb with a lantern. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
'I saw some ropes. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
'I saw something carried away by the two of them, | 0:25:48 | 0:25:51 | |
'one carrying it at each end.' | 0:25:51 | 0:25:53 | |
Had you, in the course of this time, | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
an opportunity to observe the identity of the persons? | 0:25:58 | 0:26:02 | |
'I could not see his face, | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
'but I have known the young Bridgman for a long time. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
'The wind blew about his cloak, | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
'which gave me an opportunity of seeing his person and appearance.' | 0:26:11 | 0:26:15 | |
Can you elaborate? If you could not see his face, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
what do you mean by his appearance? | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
I had observed his style and gait before. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:23 | |
I cannot say that there's anything peculiar about it, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
but I was familiar with his mode of moving quickly. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:30 | |
And I would say I am quite sure it was him. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
Did you attempt to speak with him? | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
'I immediately hurried on what clothes I could and went downstairs. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
'When I got down, I heard Mr Bridgman's door open | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
'and I observed a man come from the door. | 0:26:42 | 0:26:45 | |
'He turned his head and saw me | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
'and then he ran as fast as he could. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
'I ran after him for some time, but lost sight of him.' | 0:26:50 | 0:26:53 | |
I then thought it my duty to examine the tomb to see to whom it belonged | 0:26:55 | 0:26:59 | |
and, on ascertaining the name, I examined the directory, | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
which led me to Mr Tawney's office, | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
to whom I sent a note disclosing all I had seen. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:07 | |
Thank you very much, Mr Garford. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
I should like to call my next witness, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
a servant to the Courtnall residence | 0:27:12 | 0:27:14 | |
on the other either side of the chapel - Miss Priscilla Terry. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
Miss Terry, you are in service at Mr Courtnall's, are you not? | 0:27:23 | 0:27:27 | |
Yes, sir, I am. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
And I understand that young Mr Bridgman | 0:27:29 | 0:27:32 | |
called some weeks previous to the night in question | 0:27:32 | 0:27:35 | |
to enquire about a dog. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:37 | |
Yes, sir. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:38 | |
There was a lodger at the Courtnall residence who had a dog, | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 | |
which disturbed us by constantly barking. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
About a fortnight or three weeks before this tomb was disturbed, | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
the younger Mr Bridgman called to borrow the dog. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
He said that his father had a horse that shied at dogs | 0:27:52 | 0:27:56 | |
and he wanted to make it used to dogs. | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
He returned the dog in about a week, | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
saying that the horse was cured | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
and he had no further need of it. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:05 | |
Did the dog bark then in the same way it used to do? | 0:28:05 | 0:28:08 | |
If strangers came into the ground, it would bark. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:14 | |
He never barked at Bridgman after that. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
Thank you. | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
Gentlemen, I would suggest to you | 0:28:22 | 0:28:24 | |
that the young Mr Bridgman had good reason | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
to make this neighbour's dog acquainted with himself, | 0:28:27 | 0:28:31 | |
that it would not disturb his night-time activity | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
in the graveyard. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
And all of this, gentlemen, | 0:28:36 | 0:28:38 | |
begs the question - why would young Mr Bridgman go to such lengths? | 0:28:38 | 0:28:43 | |
I should like to call my next witness - Mr Colson. | 0:28:45 | 0:28:48 | |
Mr Colson, please tell the court the nature of your acquaintance | 0:28:55 | 0:28:59 | |
with Mr Bridgman and your impression of him. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:03 | |
I'm an officer of Guy's Hospital, | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
the younger defendant has been a student of surgery there | 0:29:05 | 0:29:07 | |
for some time. | 0:29:07 | 0:29:09 | |
The young Mr Bridgman is certainly dedicated | 0:29:09 | 0:29:12 | |
to the extent he is a most assiduous and zealous student. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:17 | |
Mr Colson, in your opinion, what might a medical student want | 0:29:18 | 0:29:21 | |
with a body some six years buried? | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
It is not usual. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:25 | |
I have no answer. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:28 | |
Thank you, Mr Colson. No further questions. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:32 | |
Gentlemen, it is now for you to decide, | 0:29:34 | 0:29:38 | |
in the light of detached examination of the evidence before you, | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
whether the defendants bear responsibility | 0:29:42 | 0:29:44 | |
for the crime in question. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:46 | |
For breaking and entering the Tawney family tomb. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:50 | |
Well, well, well. Father and son. | 0:29:57 | 0:30:00 | |
But, remember, the court are here charged | 0:30:00 | 0:30:03 | |
only to answer the legal question | 0:30:03 | 0:30:05 | |
of who is responsible for breaking and entering the Tawney tomb. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:09 | |
That didn't take long. | 0:30:13 | 0:30:15 | |
Gentlemen, have you reached a verdict? | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
On the charge of breaking and entering the Tawney family tomb, | 0:30:27 | 0:30:32 | |
we find the defendant Isaac Bridgman | 0:30:32 | 0:30:35 | |
not guilty. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:37 | |
On the same charge, | 0:30:37 | 0:30:39 | |
we find the defendant John W Bridgman | 0:30:39 | 0:30:42 | |
guilty. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:44 | |
Isaac Bridgman, you are free to go. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:50 | |
John W Bridgman, | 0:30:51 | 0:30:53 | |
I sentence you to 12 months' imprisonment. | 0:30:53 | 0:30:56 | |
So, the legal question has been answered. | 0:31:00 | 0:31:03 | |
Young Bridgman did it. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:06 | |
But it raises, does it not, so many more questions. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
If Mr Bridgman Junior was a student of surgery, | 0:31:10 | 0:31:13 | |
then the suggestion is he was seeking a corpse | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
on which to hone his surgical skills. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:18 | |
But poor Mr Tawney's father had been in the ground some six years. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:23 | |
So what would he want with a box of bones? | 0:31:23 | 0:31:25 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:32:08 | 0:32:11 |