Martha Giles

Martha Giles was found beaten and stabbed to death in the grounds of New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton on Thursday 12 February 1959.

A 31-year-old Indian doctor was tried for her murder but acquitted at the Stafford Assizes on Friday 17 July 1959.

It was said that Martha Giles had been stabbed to death by someone with anatomical knowledge.

Martha Giles had five children and had lived in Carlton Avenue in Wednesfield, Staffordshire and had worked at the hospital.

The Indian doctor had been a graduate of Calcutta University and had come to Britain in 1957, his first appointment being at New Cross Hospital and lasting 6 months after which he took another appointment elsewhere before returning to New Cross Hospital at the end of 1958 were he was employed in the old people's ward.

He was married to an Indian woman and had no children. At the time of the murder it was later heard that the Indian doctor had had some maritial problems around which it was claimed his attempted suicide on 5 March 1957, the day after his second interview with the police, was said to have been the cause of.

The police said that they were looking to interview anyone that had seen Martha Giles between 9.45pm and 10.15pm on the Wednesday 11 February 1959.

Martha Giles's husband was a bench hand and lived with his wife and five children at 30 Carlton Avenue in Wednesfield, a two bedroomed house. He said that they married in March 1935. He said that Martha Giles shared a bedroom with their daughter and youngest son and that for about the last ten years she had been working at New Cross Hospital, for the most part of which she had been on night duty. He noted that she would generally have one drink in the Plough Inn on her way to work and that she walked with quick short steps.

He said that on 11 February 1959 that he returned from work at about 6.30pm at which time Martha Giles was in bed. He said that she later got up at about 8.10pm and cooked a meal of eggs, chips and peas of which she had some herself and that she then left the house at about 9.10pm.

He said that she was wearing a green uniform frock, a navy blue uniform coat, a small round uniform hat and a pair of shoes. Her shoes were later recovered from the canal.

He later identified Martha Giles's body at the Bowling Green at New Cross Hospital with the police.

Martha Giles's daughter, who was a dancer, said that Martha Giles was not very tidy in her clothing and said that she sometimes held her clothing together with safety pins. She later identified the clothes that Martha Giles was found in as Martha Giles's clothes, including her brassiere, a roll on, a pair of black stockings and a black cardigan which she noted had once been her cardigan.

Martha Giles was seen by a friend that had known her for 8 years coming out of the Plough Inn on the night of 11 February 1959. The woman said that she had started working at the Plough Inn in November 1958 as a barmaid and that she saw Martha Giles there most nights except Sundays. She said that Martha Giles usually came into the pub at about 9.30pm and normally stayed for between 15 and 20 minutes. She said that on 11 February 1959 that she visited her daughters home after which she left to catch a bus, going to the bus stop opposite the Plough Inn and said that as she did so that she saw Martha Giles coming out of the Plough Inn and that she then got on a bus with her. She said that it would have been about 9.20pm at the latest and that Martha Giles got off the bus at Bushbury Road.

Another woman who lived in Bank Street, Wolverhampton said that she went to see a friend in Lawrence Avenue for a cup of tea and later left her friend's house between 9.35pm and 9.40pm and went off towards Bushbury Road where she said she bumped into a woman at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Bushbury Road. She said that the woman was wearing a navy blue rain mac and a cap and carrying a black holdall similar to Martha Giles's. She said that the woman had walked very quickly and that she was small, about 5ft 2in tall. She noted that her strides were short and quick.

A bus conductor who had been on Route No. 13 for the previous 12 months, travelling from Merry Hill or Finchfield to the Pear Tree said that he recognised Martha Giles from a photograph and recalled her boarding his bus at the Plough bus stop on the night of 11 February 1959. He said that his bus left the terminus at the Pear Tree at 9.23pm and would have reached the Plough at about 9.24pm or 9.25pm. He said that he issued her with a 3d ticket which he later identified and said that it was the second ticket that he had issued that night. He said that the bus would have reached Bushbury Road at about 9.28pm but that he was upstairs at the time.

Martha Giles was seen by a male nurse that had known her for about 12 years at about 9.30pm on 11 February 1959 in Bushbury Road. The male nurse said that he had been riding his bicycle and going on duty and that Martha Giles was going in the direction of the hospital.  He said that she was on the left hand side of the road on the footpath by the Woodlands Nursery which was just past Milton Road and that she was by herself.

A nurse that lived in Penn Road, Wolverhampton and who was employed in Ward 20 at New Cross Hospital said that she had been employed there since October 1947 and that she knew Martha Giles, saying that during the time that she had been employed there Martha Giles had also been there. She said that from 1947 to 1950 she had been on permanent night duty and that Martha Giles had also been on permanent night duty during that period.

She said that she had never known Martha Giles to be punctual in reporting for duty, saying that she usually came in about 15 to 20 minutes late. She added that she had done night duty with Martha Giles since 1950 and that her last tour of night duty with Martha Giles began on 9 February 1959 and that there was no change in her punctuality, stating that she was late as ever.

The nurse said that Martha Giles had been due to report at 10pm but said that she did not report.

A night sister that lived in Lea Road, Wolverhampton and worked at the Women’s Hospital in Connaught Road, Wolverhampton said that on 11 February 1959 that she went on duty at 8.30pm and then later visited the Jesse Fowkes Ward at about 9.10pm where she visited a patient. She said that when she did she saw the Indian doctor with her. She said that she only saw him for a few moments. She said that he was wearing a dark overcoat, dark trousers and dark shoes. She said that she usually visited the ward between 9 and 10 but that on that occasion she had made her round earlier than usual. She later noted that there was a clock in the Jesse Fowkes Ward and that she noticed it when she went in and saw that the time was 9.10pm. She said that she did a round of nine or ten patients and that she was in the ward approximately five minutes.

A married woman that lived in Fourth Avenue in Low Hill, Wolverhampton said that she saw both the Indian doctor as well as Martha Giles in the same area around 9.40pm on 11 February 1959.

She said that her husband worked as a porter at New Cross Hospital and that she had worked there for the previous two and a half years as a ward orderly and that she knew Martha Giles as a result of seeing her when she would go to meet her husband when he came off duty.

She sad that on 11 February 1959 she was pregnant and that her husband was then on split duty. She said that he worked in the morning, had the afternoon off and then returned in the evening.

She said that her husband left the house to go on duty at about 5.25pm to 5.30pm and that she wen to her mother's house in Wednesfield Road. She said that she later left her mother's house at about 9.10pm and caught a trolly bus to the Poplar public house which was the second stop after the Thornley Street terminus. She said that she went onto the lower deck of the bus and saw the Indian doctor at the back of the bus. She said that she and the Indian doctor got off at the New Cross Hospital stop at about 9.15pm. She noted that she knew the Indian doctor from working at the hospital.

She said that after she got off the bus that she went up the main drive and that the Indian doctor was a little way behind her and at the side but that she didn't see what direction he went. She said that she then went to the porter's lodge, arriving at about 9.20pm, at which time there was a man there, but that she couldn't remember whether her husband was there at that time or not and that she stayed there for about 20 minutes after which she and her husband left together at 9.40pm. She said that she and her husband then started to walk down towards the main gate together, her husband pushing his bicycle and that she saw the Indian doctor outside his flat and at the same time saw Martha Giles come up the drive and go off towards the recreation grounds. She noted that she saw Martha Giles walk straight past the Indian doctor.

The woman said that she then went into the ladies toilets which were on the left of the drive going towards the hospital, leaving her husband standing outside on the corner and that when she came out some moments later that the Indian doctor was still standing outside his flat. She said that after that she and her husband went down the drive towards the main gates and then went home. She later added that she had no doubt at all that the person that she had travelled with on the trolly was the Indian doctor.

The woman's husband, the porter said that he knew both the Indian doctor and Martha Giles. He said that on 11 February 1959 that he had been on split duty, 6am to 2pm and 6pm to 10pm and that after his morning duty he had returned home.

He said that he left home for his evening duty at about 5.15pm on his bicycle and that later in the evening his wife came to see him at the porters lodge at the hospital at about 9.20pm. He said that there was another man there at the time and that Martha Giles and the man had a chat and that another man came into the lodge at about 9.30pm and that he made an arrangement with him to go off duty early and that the man would clock him off at the usual time which was 10pm.

He said that he left the porters lodge at about 9.40pm with his wife. He said that he was pushing his bicycle and that they both walked down the main drive towards the main gate and then later saw Martha Giles as she was turning from the main drive to go round the back of the Mass X Ray Department which was the path that led to the bowling green.

He said that he then saw the Indian doctor on the step of the Mass X Ray Department.

He said that his wife then went into the ladies lavatory behind the finance building and was in there for about two minutes during which time he saw the Indian doctor standing on the step but said that he didn't see which way he was looking, but said that he was facing outwards towards the drive.

He said that when his wife came out of the lavatory that they then proceeded down the drive, turned to the right at the main gate and went home.

The hospital porter that agreed to clock the porter out at 10pm, allowing him to go home with his wife at 9.40pm verified the porters statement to that effect.

The Indian doctor had been seen a little earlier at 9.30pm by a student nurse. The student nurse, who lived in Kitchen Lane, Ashmore Park in Wednesfield, said that on 11 February 1959 that she finished her duty at the hospital at 9pm and went to the nurses home after which she left there at about 9.20pm and went down to the main gate where she said she met the Indian doctor. She said that he was coming up from the main gate at the time and that he had just passed the Mass X Ray Department entrance on the same side of the pavement as her and that they stopped and spoke for a few minutes after which she went off to catch her bus at 9.30pm. She noted that she knew that it was 9.30pm because she had looked at her watch. She said that she didn't notice what direction the Indian doctor went.

Another student nurse that lived in Hill Street, Heath Town, Wolverhampton, said that she had been at home with her boyfriend during the day from teatime and that they left her house together at about 9.40pm and went to New Cross Hospital by bus. She said that when they got out she saw two Jamaican ladies on the drive ahead of them walking in the same direction and that she then saw the Indian doctor who she knew on the steps of the X Ray Department. She said that she believed that she said 'goodnight' to him but could not remember whether he answered her. She said that it was before 9.50pm that she saw him but said that she saw him again on the opposite side of the drive from her going in the same direction as she was towards the hospital. She said that she and her boyfriend stopped by the corner lamp by the island in the drive and that she saw the Indian doctor go off in the general direction of the hospital taking the left fork. She said that she stayed with her boyfriend for a few minutes and then they went off as far as the double doors of the Poplars on the female side and that she then said goodnight to her boyfriend and went on alone through to the nurses home.

The student nurse's boyfriend corroborated his girlfriend’s story saying that they arrived at the hospital between 9.48pm and 9.49pm. He noted that he was not allowed in the hospital grounds after 10pm and recalled looking at the clock on the clock tower to see the time. He said that they then went towards the clock tower on the right hand side of the drive noting that there were two Jamaican nurses walking in front of them towards the hospital.

He said that he knew the Indian doctor by sight but not personally and that he saw him that night by his flat.

He said that he and his girlfriend continued on up the drive towards the hospital and that the Indian doctor followed them and that when they stopped at the last lamp post on the right hand side of the drive for a couple of minutes that the Indian doctor overtook them on the other side of the drive and went off in the direction of the left hand wing of the old peoples home.

The boyfriend said that he then walked with his girlfriend towards the archway of the women's section of the Poplars Home where he wished her goodnight. He said that he watched her walk off nearly to the entrance of the nurses home, the time then being about 9.57pm and that he then went down the drive towards the main road.

He said that when he was coming back down towards the island that he heard a scraping noise by a gate near the top building but said that he didn't look as he didn't want to embarrass anyone and that he just carried on walking.

He said that when he was in the straight section of the drive, just two or three yards past the top lamp post on the left hand side that he looked back and saw the Indian doctor walking towards the straight part of the main drive coming from the direction of the male section of the Poplars. He said that as he walked on he saw the Indian doctor continue for a certain distance on the right hand side of the road coming from the hospital and then saw him cross over and go to the steps leading to the door of his flat. However, he said that the Indian doctor didn't go directly into his flat. He said that whilst he was waiting for his bus he saw the Indian doctor outside his flat for about 2 to 3 minutes and that when he saw his bus coming he crossed the road and that when he looked back towards the flat the Indian doctor was gone. He said that he then caught his bus which would have been about 10.06pm.

He noted that when he saw the Indian doctor that he had been wearing an overcoat.

A house physician at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton who lived in Melrose Road, London, said that he met a woman that he knew at about 9pm on 11 February 1959 and that he went with her to a man's flat which was in the left hand room above the Mass X Ray Unit at New Cross Hospital when one was facing from the stairs. He said that the man had lent him his key a short while earlier for that purpose and that he went there, entering via the back door, at about 9.15pm and that they later came out at about 11pm.

He said that he didn't think that the stairway up to the flats was carpeted and said that between the time that they arrived and the time that he looked at his watch that he heard someone coming up the stairs. He said that the door to the room he was in was shut but said that he heard the footsteps go into the adjacent room which was occupied by the Indian doctor. He noted that whilst he could not be certain about it, he thought that the person had entered the room about an hour before he looked at his watch.

He said that just before they left that he went into the bathroom and spoke to the Indian doctor and asked him if he would go into his room so that the nurse that he was with could leave and said that the Indian doctor told him that he had not been able to take a bath because he thought that one of them might want to use the toilet. He said that the Indian doctor then went into his room and that he and the nurse then left the flat which he thought was about 11.10pm.

He noted that when he spoke to the Indian doctor that he thought that he had been wearing a dark suit.

It was later heard that two days after the murder that the other Indian doctor had asked the Indian doctor not to say anything about the woman being in his room on the night of 11 February 1959 and that the Indian doctor had replied, 'As it is a case of murder, you should do your best to help the police and be frank with them'. The other Indian doctor also agreed that the Indian doctor had also used the words, 'It is essential to tell the truth in this matter'.

The Indian doctor whose room the couple had used said that the Indian doctor had had a room in the flat above the Mass X Ray Department opposite his and that they shared the bathroom. He said that on 11 February 1959 that he lent the keys to his room to another doctor at about 8.30pm and that the doctor later gave them back to him at about 11.30pm whilst he was in the doctor's sitting room at the hospital .

He said that he had been on duty that evening and that he had been in the doctor's sitting room in the doctors residence between 9pm and 10pm after which he said that he and another doctor did some rounds which they finished at about 10.45pm after which they went back to the doctors sitting room. He said then that whilst they were there that there was an emergency call for an appendix and that as a result he left the doctors sitting room at about 11.45pm. He noted that he did not recall seeing the Indian doctor in the sitting room between 11pm and 11.45pm.

Another doctor said that on 11 February 1959 at about 11.45pm that she received an emergency call to go to New Cross Hospital and went there by taxi, arriving at about 12.20am on 12 February 1959. She said that she was put down at the second archway and that she then went straight up to the doctors sitting room, arriving at about 12.20am. She noted that she would not have had to have gone past the kitchen in order to get into the doctors sitting room and that to the best of her recollection that the Indian doctor, who she knew, came into the doctors sitting room about five minutes after she arrived, carrying a tray of tea.

Several witnesses at the trial gave evidence regarding a call that was made at about midnight on 11/12 February 1959 to the Indian doctors flat. It was a trunk call from Upholland 112 and was calling Wolverhampton 31021 and was a five minute call and cost 2/9d. The telephonist at New Cross Hospital recalled putting a call through to the Indian doctors flat which was extension 94 and said that the first time she tried she got no answer but that when she tried again she got a reply.

An ambulance driver said that he had been on night duty on 11/12 February 1959 and made two journeys to New Cross Hospital. He said that on the second journey he arrived at about 12.15am and delivered his patient and that on his way out via the main drive he saw an Indian man coming into the hospital. He said that he had his headlights on which he had dipped and saw the Indian man stop. He said that the Indian man had on heavy rimmed spectacles, had black wavy hair, a slim build, was about 5ft 7in to 5ft 8in tall and was wearing a dark coat or Mack and that he thought that it was the Indian doctor that was tried. He noted that he knew that the Indian doctor had a moustache and that he didn't see a moustache on the man he saw in the drive. He said that it was about 12.25am on 12 February 1959 that he saw him.

Martha Giles's body was found the following morning by a labourer at the hospital. The labourer said that he had been on duty at the hospital and went into the foreman’s hut near the bowling green after which he left and did something and then walked up the path by the bowling green at which point he glanced towards the bowling green and saw what he first thought was a bundle of rags by the seat on the edge of the bowling green. He said that he stopped and then took one or two more paces and then saw some legs and realised that it was a body. He said that he didn't go close to the body but ran back to the hut and reported it to the head gardener and then stayed at the entrance of the bowling green until the police arrived.

The head gardener said that as a result of what the labourer said to him at about 9am on 12 February 1959 that he went to the bowling green and saw the body and that he then called the police. He noted that when he saw the body that he noticed two stones by it which had come from the wall and said that when he saw the wall a few days earlier that the stones had been in their proper place.

The Superintendent of Police and Deputy Chief Constable of the Wolverhampton Borough Police was called out to the bowling green at 9.33am on 12 February 1959. He said that he arrived at approximately 9.45am. He said that the outer clothing of Martha Giles was buttoned up and not disturbed in any way and her hat was lying nearby and her holdall was not disturbed.

Martha Giles's shoes were later found in the canal nearby. The first one was found at about 8.45am on 12 February 1959. The spot was about 30 yards down on the Wednesfield side of Strawberry Lane Bridge. The second one was found on 13 February 1959 at a similar location.

The police later dragged the canal with powerful electro-magnets and found a black-handled knife with a six-inch blade that had not been in the water for long.

On 14 February 1959 it was reported that the police were trying to trace a grey Austin A40 saloon that was seen in the drive of New Cross Hospital at about 10.10pm, which was thought to be about the time that Martha Giles was murdered.

It was also reported on 14 February 1959 that a woman, described as a 'frightened' woman, had called the police the previous day, 13 February 1959 but rang off after a few words. The police appealed for the woman to come forward saying that they thought that she might hold the key to the crime and that they were satisfied that the call had been made from a telephone box in Wolverhampton town centre and that the woman was probably local.

The Chief Constable said that he was present on 14 February 1959 and 4 March 1959 when the Indian doctor was questioned and said that after the second interview they examined the clothes he was wearing which he said he had been wearing on the night Martha Giles was murdered.

When the police examined his clothes they found that his overcoat bore traces of human blood and that other parts of his clothing also had blood stains on them.

It was also heard that there was an incident regarding the Indian doctors coat which he had left at a Wolverhampton dance hall on the night of 12 February 1959 and which he had asked a telephone operator at New Cross Hospital to later collect for him after he explained that he was going away that weekend or the following Monday. The telephone operator collected the coat on 14 February 1959.

A sheet metal worker who lived in Parkside Avenue, Willenhall said that on Thursdays and Saturdays he acted as cloakroom attendant at the Palais de Dance in Temple Street and that he had been on duty there on the night of Thursday 12 February 1959 and that he recalled the Indian doctor putting a coat into the cloakroom and giving him a ticket for it. The sheet metal worker said that he left the dance hall that evening at about 10.40pm and up until that time he said that no one had claimed the coat.

The wife of the proprietor of the Palais de Dance said that on the night of 12 February 1959 that she had been on duty in the pay box of the dance hall and that she saw the Indian doctor come in at about 8pm alone. She said that he had been wearing an overcoat but that after he paid for admission that he went down the passage into the gentleman's cloakroom and that she then saw him come away without his coat. She said that when the dance hall closed at 11pm she went to the gentleman’s cloakroom and saw the coat and said that she looked into the pockets to see if there was anything for identification and found some letters and a scarf. She said that on 14 February 1959 that the coat was collected by a girl who handed her the cloakroom ticket for it. She noted that when she examined the coat on 12 February 1959 that she noted that the lining had been all ruckled up and that it looked as if it had been washed or cleaned.

The telephone operator that collected the coat had lived at the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Market Street, Wolverhampton. She said that she knew the Indian doctor and that she had become friendly with him after he joined the hospital around April 1958, adding that she used to play table tennis with him. She said that she used to play table tennis with the Indian doctor in a building or recreation room that was marked 'Sports Pavilion', the keys for which were kept on the top of the cigarette kiosk which was just outside the pavilion, noting that she had been there once with the Indian doctor and found the keys there. She added that she had been with the Indian doctor to the pavilion as late as midnight.

She said that she sometimes did errands for the Indian doctor as a favour for him and said that on Friday 13 February 1959 he asked her to fetch his coat from the Palais de Dance and gave her a cloakroom ticket, stating that he had left it there the previous night. She said that she knew that the Palais de dance was not open on a Friday and so planned to fetch the coat on the Saturday, which she did.  However, she said that on that same night, the Friday night, 13 February 1959, that she went to a party where she met the Indian doctor and that whilst she was there that he called her outside and asked her whether she had fetched his coat, noting that he was going away that weekend on the Monday and she said that she told him that she was planning to fetch it the following day, the Saturday as the dance hall was closed on the Friday.

She said that she fetched the coat on the Saturday and took it home and when she saw the Indian doctor later that evening told him that she had his coat, stating that she thought that he told her that he would call at her home and collect it, however, she said that she later rang him in the doctors sitting room  at about 4pm to 4.30pm and asked him if she should fetch his coat and said that the Indian doctor told her that he would call in at the telephone room and pick it up and so she went home to get it, knowing that he was going away at the weekend.

A mental nursing assistant made a statement regarding an incident on Friday 6 February 1959 in which she said that the Indian doctor and Martha Giles came into Ward 20 late. She said that she had been employed at New Cross Hospital for about three years and that she did a turn of night duty every three weeks and knew Martha Giles and said that Martha Giles was in charge of Ward 20 during the night. She said that she began a turn of night duty on Tuesday 3 February 1959 and that on Friday 6 February 1959 at she began her duty at 10pm. She said that Martha Giles should have begun her duty at 11pm but she didn't arrive until 11.20pm. She said that she let Martha Giles in when she rang the doorbell and found that the Indian doctor was with her.

She said that they were wearing their outdoor clothing and that the Indian doctor asked her whether there were any enquiries for him and she told him 'No, not since I have been on at 10 o'clock'.  She said that Martha Giles then went into the office and that the Indian doctor went to the office door with her and that from there they both went to the geriatric ward which was where the chronic sick were. She said that they both walked up and down the ward, Martha Giles wearing her uniform coat and the Indian doctor wearing his outdoor clothing and that they then went down the corridor to the office.

The mental nursing assistant said that there were some keys that unlocked a door in the corridor that led to the male section and that Martha Giles took them from a table and that they then went to the door together. She noted that you could also get out to the road from that way and that afterwards Martha Giles came back alone.

She said that when she later saw the Indian doctor that night at 1am that he was wearing a white doctor's coat but said that she didn't know how long he had stayed in the block, but said that he didn't come into the ward and went into his office. She said that Martha Giles had let him in and that she had taken him to the office.

The mental nursing assistant noted that she had previously seen the Indian doctor with Martha Giles about four or five times on the main drive leading to the hospital.

An auxiliary nurse that had also been in Ward 20 on the 6 February corroborated the mental nursing assistant’s statement regarding the Indian doctor and Martha Giles both having arrived at the ward later at 11.20pm. She noted that when they walked down the centre of the observation ward that they both had on black coats and that no patients were examined.

When the police interviewed the Indian doctor again on 4 March 1959 they told him that they wanted to clear up certain points that had arisen.

Detective: 'Since we last saw you, a number of people state they saw you in the drive of the hospital on the night of the 11th, from 9.30pm and up to 10pm.

Indian Doctor: I went to visit my wife and came back afterwards.

Detective: According to your previous statement, you came back at about 10pm. This apparently is not true'.

Indian Doctor: I did not leave the hospital until 9.15pm and that is true.

Detective: Are you certain of the times? Please take your time to think before you answer.

Indian Doctor: Yes, I am sure.

Detective: It is alleged that Nurse Giles was seen to walk up the drive and pass you whilst you were standing on the steps to the entrance leading to your room.

Indian Doctor: It is not true. I never saw Nurse Giles that night.

Detective: Did you arrange to meet Nurse Giles that night?

Indian Doctor: No, why should I?

Detective: It is suggested Nurse Giles passed you at about 9.45pm and turned towards the bowling green. Please think and take your time before you answer?

Indian Doctor: I did not see Nurse Giles.

Detective: How well do you know Nurse Giles?

Indian Doctor: I have met her in the ward and occasionally in the grounds.

Detective: Have you ever met her outside New Cross?

Indian Doctor: No.

Detective: Have you ever been familiar with her?

Indian Doctor: I have only put my arms around her shoulders and kissed her twice.

Detective: Was this recently?

Indian Doctor: No I have only seen her in the grounds recently.

Detective: Have you ever had intercourse with Nurse Giles or any other employee at this hospital?

Indian Doctor: I have never had intercourse at New Cross with anybody except (and he mentioned a girl’s name).

Detective: My enquiries show that with Nurse Giles and other nurses you have attempted to fondle their breasts?

Indian Doctor: Yes I have done this to a number of nurses, but none of them have complained. I have a weakness for caressing the bosoms of women.

Detective: Are you sure that your actions have never been resented?

Indian Doctor: Nobody has complained. My wife knows of my weakness. I cannot explain why.

Detective: Did you ever go to the bowling green that night?

Indian Doctor: No not at any time that day.

Detective: You are aware that the door leading from the passage to the rear of the building is always unlocked??

Indian Doctor: Yes I sometimes come in that way.

Detective: Do you agree it would be possible to go through the door, round the back of the building, to the bowling green?

Indian Doctor: Yes it is.

Detective: Have you gone this way to the bowling green?

Indian Doctor: Yes, some time ago I went to the pavilion to play table tennis

Detective: Do you remember a few days before the murder going with Nurse Giles to Ward 20? She was late for duty, and you both had your outdoor clothes on? Please think carefully.

Indian Doctor: No I often went to Ward 20 at night time.

Detective: Nurse Giles recently has always been on night duty. Does that mean you would see her?

Indian Doctor: She was always in charge. I would see her in the office when she would tell me about the patients.

Detective: Can you explain why on the night when Nurse Giles came in late, in your company, she should show you in the report book as visiting the ward when you are not there??

Indian Doctor: No I do not know why she should do this.

Detective: Our enquiries show that on the Thursday evening, the day the woman was found, you visited a dance hall in Wolverhampton?

Indian Doctor: Yes I felt like company and wanted to dance.

Detective: You were only there half-an-hours and you left your coat behind you. Why?

Indian Doctor: I was worried.

Detective: What were you worried about?

It was noted that the Indian doctor took four minutes before he replied, but his reply is redacted under an FOI exemption S 40(2) and closed until 2059.

The detective then asked what he had to drink and when he left the party and told the detective that he had had whisky and beer and that he thought that he had left at about 1am.

The detective then continued his questions.

Detective: Are you absolutely sure that you did not see Nurse Giles on Wednesday night?

Indian Doctor: I have already told you. I remember you (2nd detective) speaking to me on the phone the same day the body was found, and I told you, if you remember, that I left the Women's Hospital at 9.15pm and got back to New Cross at 10pm.

2nd Detective: I agree I did speak to you.

The interview was then broken off at 11.15am and resumed at 1.50am. When the interview resumed the Indian doctor thanked the detective for the kind way that he was treating him.

Detective: Have you sent any clothing to be cleaned since 11 February?

Indian Doctor: No.

Detective: Where do you send your laundry?

Indian Doctor: The hospital does that.

Detective: Have you washed any clothing since 11 February?

Indian Doctor: No.

Detective: In your statement you mention writing three letters. Would you care to say where they were sent?

Indian Doctor: They were airmail letters, all to India, to my father and relations.

Detective: From our enquiries you were the last person to see this woman alive and she passed close by when you were on the steps to the entrance to your room?

Indian Doctor: I never saw Nurse Giles that evening.

Detective: You were the last person to see her. Are you responsible for her death?

Indian Doctor: I know nothing about her death. I have already told you I never saw Nurse Giles that day.

Detective: Do you wish to make a further statement about the further things we have asked you?

Indian Doctor: Yes I will tell you about my home, my wife and what I remember happened on 11th, also the other things you have mentioned.

The Indian doctor then made another statement and the police took his clothes and informed him that they had also taken other clothes from his flat as well as a carving knife.

It was heard that on 5 March 1959, the following day, that the Indian doctor apparently attempted to commit suicide by taking an overdose of tablets known as 'Oblivon' and that the dose he had taken would have been fatal without intervention and that he had been dangerously ill for 26 hours.

A doctor was called to his flat on 5 March 1959 and found him lying on a bed in a deeply comatose condition and he was then given a stomach wash. It was heard that the wash had contained bluish particles that were similar to the tablets called 'Oblivon'. It was later noted that some days before the suicide attempt that the Indian doctor had asked the doctor about the effect of Oblivon. Another doctor said that Oblivon was a hypnotic drug and that as far as he knew there was no antidote for it.

He had also written two airmail letters protesting his innocence. They were written in Marathi and were translated but were not read out in court.

However, it was heard that at the time the Indian doctor had attempted to commit suicide that he had not been as yet charged with Martha Giles's murder.

Following further investigations the Chief Constable said that they went to the hospital on 18 March 1959 at 9.40am and arrested the Indian doctor and took him to the police station where they charged him with Martha Giles's murder.

It was also heard that a knife was recovered from the Indian doctors flat that had blood on it.

However, at the trial the defence said that the case was a 'mass of theory and conjecture' and that there was not a shred of evidence that the Indian doctor had gone anywhere near the bowling green on the night of 11 February 1959. The prosecution claimed that the murderer had had anatomical knowledge based on the nature of the stab wounds but the defence said that that observation would apply to any of the doctors at the hospital.

When the matter of the blood on the Indians doctors clothes was addressed, it was heard tha the doctors normally wore overalls when treating patients, but it was agreed that it was possible for a doctor to get blood on their clothes when dealing with emergency cases and during blood transfusions.

At the trial it was heard that Martha Giles had been attacked with a stone and then left unconscious and then stabbed and then about half-an-hour later finally beaten to death with another stone. It was heard that she had a stab wound to her neck and in the right breast and that the stab wound to her breast had four separate incisions and had been the wound that had killed her and that she had been undressed when she was stabbed. It was suggested or thought that her murderer had attacked her and then come back to check whether she was dead and then attacked her again. It was also suggested that the murderer might have run away after the first attack, throwing away a weapon, and then come back later to make sure that she was dead and battered to death with the two rocks. The rocks were also described as having come from a nearby rockery.

The prosecution said 'You will ask what type of man it was who in the dark would undress his victim. How could it be that she lay still while he did it? What sort of man does not stab through clothes? What sort of man dresses his victim again after he has killed her?'

It was reported that the prosecution had suggested that the Indian doctor and Martha Giles had had an assignation based on the fact that they had been seen to pass each other without greeting. When the judge commented he said, 'You are not to draw inferences unless you think that the evidence compels you to, and you are not to reach conclusions unless you are driven to them by circumstances from which there is no way to escape'. He then described that prosecutions speech as one of 'very great ingenuity' in which he said that there was a very striking illustration of an inference on which the jury had not to draw. When he referred to the prosecutions suggestion that there had been as assignation based on the fact that they were seen to not great each other, the judge said, 'Of course, that is a ridiculous thing to say and I do not hesitate to use that rather strong language. People pass each other without greeting each other for scores of reasons. All I can do is to direct you that this is the kind of inference you have no business to draw'.

It was also reported that when summing up, the judge had said that the case depended entirely on circumstantial evidence and that the prosecution were asking the jury to draw inferences to reach a conclusion. When he detailed the inferred assignation, the judge said, 'Of course, that is a ridiculous thing to say'.