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THE HORROR
OF 1921 - THE HAROLD
JONES MURDERS
Local man,
Neil Milkins has now finished his book, 'Every Mother's Nightmare', due
for publication in early 2008, uncovering
the full story about
the horrific Abertillery murders in 1921. Proceeds of the book are to go
to charity - if you would like to help towards the cost of publication
thereby helping the charity even further, then please contact Neil via
kiowa@dackjaniels.co.uk
A double-page spread appeared in the
Wales on Sunday newspaper on November 25th 2007 containing an interview
with Neil who gave an overview of his research and the shocking news of
Jones' release from prison in 1941 raising the spectre of whether Jones
committed further murders whilst free -
click here
In the book, Neil tells of the eventual fate of Jones, his return visits to Abertillery
in later years and raises the intriguing question whether he was
responsible for further murders including Swansea schoolgirl Muriel Drinkwater in
1946.
Indeed he is still
seeking some information on Jones' whereabouts following his release
from Wandsworth Prison in 1941. Jones lived in Fulham between 1947 and
1962 using his own name and also the name Harry Stevens. Neil would like
to know where Jones was between his release and turning up in Fulham in
1947. Jones also "disappeared" between 1963 and 1966 when he turned up
in Hammersmith as Harry Jones.
If you
have any further information, you can contact Neil via
kiowa@dackjaniels.co.uk
For much of 1921,
Abertillery was gripped in horror by the murders of two young girls in
the town. Had they occurred in the present day, then undoubtedly the
story would have attracted the kind of media frenzy associated with the
Soham murders. Indeed, the extremely sad episode is perhaps made worse
by the fact that the killer was a 15-year old boy who was acquitted in a
sensational trial after the first murder only to commit another within
days.
By 1921, Abertillery was
the second biggest town in Monmouthshire, second only to Newport. Nearly
40,000 inhabitants were packed into its narrow streets, attracted by
work in the thriving coal mines in the area. As in most south Wales
valley towns, the dangers of working underground forged a strong sense
of community. That community spirit was rocked in 1921 as the town
reeled from the realisation that one of its own youngsters was
responsible for two heinous crimes and that perhaps some of the
townspeople themselves had unwittingly played a part in allowing the
second to occur.
On the morning of Saturday
February 5th, eight-year old Freda Burnell of Earl Street went on an
errand for her father to buy poultry grit and spice at Mortimer's Corn
Stores in Somerset Street (just across the road from where the Police
Station is situated today). Young Freda was sadly never to return home.
Worried by the length of her absence, her father Fred went to the shop
to see if she had visited. The young assistant,
15-year old Harold Jones
confirmed that the youngster had indeed visited the store as its first
customer around five past nine and left about ten minutes later.
Fred became increasingly
vexed and after six hours of searching and scouring the streets for
Freda, he alerted the police. Local officers started speaking to locals
to see if they could shed light on Freda's whereabouts and questioned
Harold Jones to see if he could give any clues, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, as the winter light faded, scores of local people were out
helping to search the streets and adjoining mountainsides for the girl.
By midnight, hampered by tiredness and cold weather conditions, the
search was called off and resumed at first light next morning.
At about 7.30 that next
morning, a collier found what first appeared to be a collection of rags
on the ground in the lane running behind Duke Street. Instead, he
realised as he approached that it was the body of a girl. It was clear
that young Freda had been subjected to a vicious, brutal attack.
Subsequent examinations by police and doctors revealed that she had died
sometime in the morning of the previous day.
Scotland Yard officers
were dispatched from London to assist local police. By the following Thursday,
Harold Jones had been arrested and charged with murder. A witness
claimed to have heard screams coming from a shed used by Mortimer's Corn
Stores for which Jones had the only key. More damningly, a handkerchief
used by Freda was found there together with an axe which it was claimed
may have been used in the attack.
Jones refuted all the
claims and denied murder. Despite the weight of circumstantial evidence against him, he was
acquitted at his trial on June 21st 1921 at Monmouth Assizes and
remarkably he made a victorious homecoming to the streets of Abertillery
where many locals themselves joined in the celebrations, unwilling it seems to believe
that one of their own was responsible for such a barbaric crime.
Just seventeen days later, the
acquittal of Jones was to have dreadful consequences. Late on the
evening of Friday July 8th, he somehow lured 11-year old Florrie Little,
who lived just three doors down, into his home. Jones
attacked the girl with almost unimaginable brutality and concealed her
body in the attic. This time though escape from justice was impossible.
With the body in the attic and his parents having returned home, he was
effectively trapped. Still, he held his nerve as he himself assisted
police in the search for the girl on the streets. However, the police
started to conduct house to house searches and when Jones's father
Phillip invited them into his home, the game was up. Jones himself left
the house as the searches progressed but when young Florrie's body was
discovered, his father went after him and apprehended him in the streets
of Abertillery
There was now pandemonium
in the town as the news spread. Jones was sent for trial, again at
Monmouth, and this time he confessed. Remarkably he also gave a second
statement, although not read in court, in which he also admitted the murder of Freda Burnell.
Jones was still under 16
by a mere two months and so escaped the hangman's noose by virtue only
of his age. He gave the reasons for the murders as a 'desire to kill'.
His incarceration removed him from the streets of Abertillery though it
is claimed by some that he was to return on several occasions in later
years.
Much of the above is based on contemporary
coverage by the South Wales Gazette, from the story "Nightmare in
Abertillery" found in South Wales Murder Casebook by Paul Harrison [Publisher: Countryside Books
(October 1995) - ISBN: 1853063673] and of course from conversations
with and information provided by Neil Milkins to whom I am grateful.
TYLERI TALES
Contents:
 THE
HORROR OF 1921 - THE HAROLD JONES MURDERS
THE
FOUNDING FATHER OF DRUG METABOLISM - the story of Professor RT
Williams, FRS
THE
BLAINA RIOTS OF 1935 - Desperation and unrest in the Ebbw Fach
valley (by Martyn Thomas)
THE
MODEST, HARD MAN - Jim Webb, Wales rugby star of the Golden era
THE
MAN WHO BOWLED W. G. GRACE FOR A DUCK - Abertillery cricket
memories of the 1890s
THE
WAR HERO WHO TESTED THE BRITISH H-BOMB - Air Vice Marshall
Wilfred Oulton
THE
MARIE STOPES CONNECTION - Britain's first-ever hospital birth
control clinic opens at Abertillery
THE
REDOUBTABLE DAGGARS - A remarkable tale of an extraordinary
Abertillery family (by David Daggar)
THE
ABERBEEG GHOST
HEROES
OF WORLD WAR ONE
THE
"LIB" CLUB - BRITAIN'S BEST SNOOKER TEAM
(by Graham Bennett)
CAMERA'S
GREATEST MAGICIAN - the humble beginnings of Angus McBean
Coming
soon:
THE
TRAGEDY OF SIX BELLS - the terrible pit disaster of 1960
A
CHARITABLE ACCIDENT - Eddie Price, founder of the Tenovus
charity
THREE
LIONS IN THE SHIRT - Pask, Morgan, and Lewis, stars of the Green
& Whites
THE
MEN WHO BECAME SAINTS
THE
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
AHEAD
OF HER TIME - The extraordinary story of Beatrice Green
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