10 Most Shocking Unsolved British Crime Mysteries

2. The Peasenhall Murder

Peasenhall Panorama
Wikimedia Commons

The story of the Peasenhall Murder reads like an elaborate game of Cluedo. Just before midnight on the May 31st 1902, a servant girl named Rose Harsent was stabbed to death during a thunderstorm at a country house in Peasenhall, Suffolk. Examination of Rose's body led to the sad discovery that she had been six months pregnant at the time of her death. It was alleged that the child's father was a married preacher named William Gardiner who was subsequently arrested and tried for Rose's murder.

After two inconclusive trials, Gardiner was served a writ of nolle prosequi that allowed him to walk free but didn't serve as a formal acquittal. This makes Gardiner one of only a handful of people to have been tried for murder in Britain and never receive a verdict. Nobody was ever formally charged with the murder of Rose but evidence strongly points to Gardiner. Another theory exists that it was in fact Gardiner's wife who murdered Rose in a fit of jealous rage.

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Contributor

Recent History graduate living in Newcastle. I like to travel and experience new things, my favourite place on earth has got to be the Great Barrier Reef. To date my greatest achievements include completing the National Pokedex and mastering how to make cheesy nachos.