‘He found the child dead and saw Dr Burke drop the revolver on the hearthrug and stagger to the side of the room, where he lay down on a seat...’
On a cold February night, in a Barnsley pub, an unimaginable tragedy took place. Inebriated on expensive champagne, a local doctor waved a revolver around wildly. As his terrified wife fled the room to get help, a bullet rang through the air. Its target: their 9-year-old daughter Eileen. What could explain this horrific act? How did the courts – and the community – respond in the wake of such a crime?
In the first episode of this two-part special, Jen and David look at one of the ‘Barnsley Murders’ - two shootings that took place just weeks apart - and reflect on the impact of social class on its verdict. In part two, they’ll be turning their attention towards a shockingly similar crime with a very different outcome.
Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved
Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community:
@wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved
Producer - Madeleine Gilbert
Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard
AV Editor - Callum Main
Video Lead - Andrew Farrell
Researcher - Jen Baldwin
Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan
AV Lead - Mark Asquith
Executive Producer - Helen Kaye
