Lindy Willis

Lindy Willis died from head injuries but it was not known how they had been caused.

She was a twin.

She and her family had lived in The Blue Caravan at White House Farm in Spencers Wood, Reading.

The pathologist said that Lindy Willis's death was due to intercranial haemorrhage following a contusion of the brain. He also detailed extensive bruising of her head and face, over both buttocks and along her spine. He also added that her hands and wrists were also extensively burnt but that they had been previously treated and dressed and had not contributed to her death.

The pathologist said that Lindy Willis's head must have been brought into violent contact with some hard object and that he did not think that her injuries could have been caused by a fall.

Lindy Willis's father said that Lindy Willis had been premature and that her legs were 'rather weak ‘and that she could not walk very well and that she was obviously different from the other twin.

He said that both of their children had been in the care of the Reading Corporation for a time because of accommodation difficulties but that they were returned home in October 1958 at which time he said that Lindy Willis was 'rather thin' and had a cold. He said, 'She had a lot of falls after coming back, in the caravan, and outside , and got bruised. She fell down the caravan steps three days before she died and bruised the left side of her head, the bruises lasting until she died'.

However, it was noted that he could give no explanation for the other injuries found by the pathologist, unless he said, his wife had accidently kicked Lindy Willis during the night. He said, 'She was eight months pregnant at the time and used to jump a lot in her sleep'.

It was noted that Lindy Willis's mother had previously given evidence to state that she, her husband and the other twin slept at the top of the bed whilst Lindy Willis slept at the foot of the bed.

Lindy Willis's father said that Lindy Willis's hands were burnt on 30 November 1958 while his wife was filling an oil heater and that they both dressed her burned hands.

He then said, 'On December 9 I took the child to my mother's at 25, Modbury Gardens. My wife stayed in the caravan with the other twin. I caught the 9.30pm bus from Reading and got home at 10pm. Nothing happened which might have caused bruising, but on the bus Lindy kept making grunting noises and grinding her teeth. I told my wife about it'.

He then went on to say that during the night that he heard Lindy Willis whimpering and that she stopped after a minute and that he went back to sleep. He said that he woke up at 6.30am and saw Lindy Willis in a crouching position at the bottom of the bed and that the right sleeve of her woollen jacket was hooked on a nail. He said that he unhooked her and laid her down in bed, noting that at that time she appeared to be asleep.

He said that he later got out of bed between 10am and 10.30am and began to have breakfast when his wife, who had gone to wake Lindy Willis called him. He said that when he then went into the bedroom he found that Lindy Willis was dead.

After hearing Lindy Willis's father's evidence the Coroner asked him, 'The pathologist has said there must have been considerable violence used to cause the injuries. Can you give me any explanation as to how it happened?', to which Lindy Willis's father replied, 'Only the fall down the steps on the Monday morning'.

When a juryman asked, 'Are we to believe that the severe injuries sustained by the child were caused while she was asleep?', to which the coroner said, 'Lindy Willis's father says he can give us no assistance about that'.

When the Coroner asked Lindy Willis's mother whether Lindy Willis's father had told her about the noises that Lindy Willis had been making, she said, 'He may have done'.

The pathologist added that if the injuries that Lindy Willis had received had been caused on the Monday morning, 8 December 1959, that he would have expected Lindy Willis's condition on the Tuesday evening, 9 December 1959, to have been abnormal at the least. He added that if the injuries had been inflicted on the night of 9 December 1959 that Lindy Willis might not have cried at 6.30am the next morning, but that he thought that he would have expected some disturbance of consciousness.

He added, 'I cannot accept a casual kick from a bare foot as having caused the injuries'.

When the Coroner summed up he said that how Lindy Willis's injuries were caused was a matter of considerable doubt. He noted that the pathologist, a man of considerable experience, had said that in his opinion the injuries were not caused by a fall down the caravan steps but that there was no doubt that Lindy Willis had suffered a severe and violent blow to the head that caused her death.

The Coroner then said, 'You may well be driven to the conclusion that something happened to that child, probably on December 9, but we don't know how it happened'.

He added, The parents are the persons who could tell us about that, but both have said, in effect, 'We don't know how this could have occurred'. However, suspicious you may be about what happened to this little child, you may think there is not sufficient evidence put before you here to decide that a verdict such as murder or manslaughter could be brought'.

He said that the jury would have to give anxious consideration to their verdict, stating that they could return a verdict of murder or manslaughter, but that they would have to give some evidence. However, the Coroner then said, 'I would say the evidence is not strong enough to point to any person. In these circumstances you may feel that you cannot be satisfied that the child died in an accidental way, and unless you can point to some person having caused the injury, you may well think the proper verdict should be an open one. That would not close the matter and enables further enquiries to be made, if necessary, with a view to ascertaining what did happen, by members of the police force'.

The Jury retired for 45 minutes before returning with an open verdict.