He Shot a Ghost. They Sentenced Him to Death | Tales From the Bottle

[00:00:03]In late 1803, the Hammersmith area of London, England, was gripped by stories and sightings of a ghost haunting the place. There was one woman, pregnant, who had been walking by the churchyard at night when the ghost rose from the tombstones and gave her such a shock that she fainted. She was found and helped home by passers by, but reportedly died of fright shortly after.

[00:00:29]There was another woman, elderly, who had been woken by the churchyard at night when the ghost rose. That's actually pretty much the same story. She also supposedly died of fright. A wagoner carrying 16 passengers passing through Hammersmith at night was so startled at seeing the supposed ghost that he uped and fled on foot, which I would say is a serious dereliction of duty to the passengers under your care, leaving them to be eaten by a ghost or whatever it is that ghosts do to you.

[00:00:57]According to a brewer servant, the ghost jumped out from behind a tombstone and strangled him as he walked with a friend through the churchyard that night, which seems to have been a bizarrely popular time and location to take a stroll. At which point, the friend tried to intervene, but the ghost vanished. The people of Hammersmith were terrified, and assumably, one or two of them did reluctantly forgo the midnight meander through the graveyard, for this was said to be the ghost's stomping grounds. They do tend to like that sort of thing. The ghost was said to be tall and clad entirely in white. Some sightings mentioned horns, others large glass eyes. The story that soon circulated Hammersmith was that the ghost was a man who had done himself in the previous year and whose burial in the consecrated grounds of the churchyard meant he could never truly be at rest. A night watchman became convinced of the hammersmith ghost's existence after encountering a figure in white just before New Year's Eve. However, the night watchman was unfased by this and gave chase to the apparition, which actually fled and managed to escape. The guard now knew the stories had at least some truth to them, although he believed the ghost was actually just a person acting the bollocks. As such, he encouraged Hammersmith residents to form armed patrols at night to catch the supposed ghost. London not having an organized police force at the time. One of the members of this patrol was 29-year-old customs officer Francis Smith, who on the 3rd of January, 1804, had set off on his own after leaving the pub to hunt the ghost with a shotgun, a spectre's one weakness. Just after 11 p.m., Smith was walking down a laneway when he spotted a brilliant white figure ahead of him. Although he had been looking for the ghost, he was shocked to suddenly see it before him, raising his gun to defend himself. Damn you. Who are you and what do you want?" he called. But the ghost made no response as it continued to head towards him. Now terrified, Smith shouted, "Damn you, I'll shoot you." But the ghost only advanced further. Smith then opened fire and the ghost collapsed on the ground.

[00:03:10]Hovering over the remains with some who had hurried to the sound of the shot.

[00:03:14]Smith was horrified to realize he had shot a man in the jaw, killing him. He was arrested and charged with murder.

[00:03:23]The deceased turned out to be completely innocent 23-year-old Thomas Milwood.

[00:03:28]Milwood was a brick layer who was just returning from visiting his sister. He was dressed in his usual work clothes, white trousers, white flannel shirt, and white apron. Apparently, the brick layers attire had gotten him confused with Hammersmith's ghost once already, with his wife relaying the following story. On Saturday evening, he and I were at home, for he lived with me. He said he had frightened two ladies and a gentleman who were coming along the terrace in a carriage. For that, the man said he dared to say, "There goes the ghost." That he said he was no more a ghost than he was, and asked him, using a bad word, "Did he want a punch of the head?"

[00:04:12]I begged of him to change his dress.

[00:04:14]Thomas says I, "As there is a piece of work about the ghost and your clothes look white, pray do put on your great coat that you may not run any danger."

[00:04:25]Damn, even in death he wasn't safe from the I told you so. At Trans Smith admitted that he had killed Milwood, although he had done so only out of fear of his life, terribly regretting Milwood's death. Numerous people spoke of Smith's good character and that he had never been in trouble before and would never intentionally bring harm to anyone. There was great sympathy for Smith, and the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter before being informed by the judge that the court could not accept such a verdict. The circumstances of the case being that Smith could only be found guilty of murder or acquitted, and mercy for the man was the crown's prerogative, not the jury's. The jury then found that Francis Smith had indeed murdered Thomas Milwood and he was sentenced to hang. However, in light of the public sympathy for Smith, the crown exercised its mercy and his sentence was commuted to one year's hard labor in prison. In an unusual twist, the real Hammersmith ghost was identified. A local shoe maker, John Graham, came forward to admit that he had been using a white sheet to frighten his apprentice around town as the apprentice had been scaring Graeme's children with ghost stories. It's mad to think a shotgun murder could have been avoided if only Scooby-Doo had been around. What an unbelievable sequence of [ __ ] to have occurred. Perhaps strangest of all, the case of the Hammersmith ghost murder remained legally significant for nearly 200 years as it was an unusual example of a defendant claiming self-defense under mistaken belief, i.e. being beset upon by a ghost, which exposed that there wasn't a ready defense for someone who honestly believed their action was lawful and necessary, but was mistaken about the situation. This issue was finally clarified in a 1984 appeal by a man found guilty of assault. Glad Stone Williams had seen a man violently dragging a younger man down the street while the younger man called out for help. Williams intervened with his fists, although this was found to be a criminal act as the victim had actually been apprehending a fellow who'd just mugged a lady. On appeal, the conviction was quashed with the court ruling that no matter how reasonable or unreasonable a mistaken belief was, if the defendant may genuinely have been laboring under it, he is entitled to rely upon it as a defense. I'm hoping this ruling has had influence on the law here in Ireland for when I finally catch the bastards who've been super gluing 20 cent coins to the footpath outside my house. After all, I do genuinely believe them to be barbarous goblins, and anyone watching this video can now attest to this longheld belief in court. If you liked this video, I have more you can watch, and you can subscribe to see more in the future. Join the channel membership to support me monetarily and get badges when you comment and other perks. And until next time, stay safe.

[00:07:27]that he said he was no more a ghost than he was and asked him using a bad word did he want a punch of the head. I I begged him and his sentence was commuted to one year's hard labor in prison in an however in light of the public sympathy for Smith, the crown exercised its mercy.

[00:07:53]Jesus, what you saying? I'm developing a lisp now. apparently with the court ruling that no matter how reasonable or unreasonable a mistaken belief was, if the No, I'm doing very bad at this.