Victorian Murder Most Foul

It was described at the time as the most perfect crime ever committed and became a mystery that obsessed Victorian England. On the night of 29 June 1860 at Road Hill House in Wiltshire four-year-old Francis Kent had his throat cut and his body dumped in an outdoor privy. Twelve people had slept in the house and there were no signs of the house being broken into. There were three main suspects: Samuel Kent, the head of the household; Elizabeth Gough, the boy's nanny; and, Constance Kent, the sixteen-year-old stepsister. Top detectives from Scotland Yard were brought into the case.The public and the press changed their view of who was the guilty party with each report. There were three court cases, which all ended in confusion. Eventually Constance Kent confessed, was found guilty and sentenced to hang. After a public outcry the sentence was commuted to twenty years' penal servitude. Paul Chambers investigates what really happened in the style of Inspector Poirot, bringing in material that has only recently become available. It shows that the case replicates many of the mistakes made by more recent investigations.