Talks in Temperance Street

A police court story last week fascinated all Britain.

For John Francis Grey Swales, existence in West Hartlepool consisted largely of a dingy room in Temperance Street, frequent turns in grey prisons. So it did not seem particularly blackhearted of the iron and timber merchant, Harold Clarke, that he should want his wife "done away with."

Swales knew something of Harold Clarke's problems: his mistress, Lily, her baby and pretty, stubborn Mrs. Clarke. When Clarke called at Swales's shabby boarding house in Temperance Street, Swales noticed his impatience and tried to listen carefully. He could do with a few shillings. Said Clarke: "I am not talking in shillings, but in pounds." Clarke then outlined a plan.

Clarke would take his wife to the cinema and walk home in the blackout by the Laytons Black Path. There Clarke would bend down to tie his shoelace. Swales was to beat Mrs. Clarke on the head.

Still uncertain, Swales asked: "How hard do you want her hit?" He understood that his blows were to "finish her off altogether," that Clarke would give him $1,000 for the job. Swales pondered the plan. Thieving as a profession had its advantages. But he had never considered murder before. How could he be sure he would do it properly? If he were caught, could he switch the blame to Harold Clarke?

Swales broke his date with Clarke, reported the plan to the police. When Clarke worked out a second plan for murder, Swales promised again to collaborate, again told the police, again stayed home in Temperance Street.

Haltingly Swales told this near-murder story last week at the West Hartlepool police court. Harold Clarke, his blonde wife and his brunette mistress were all on hand to hear it and the defense by Harold Clarke's counsel, who called the story "fabrication."

But John Francis Grey Swales, of dingy Temperance Street, would not be shaken. Said he: "That is the truth what I have said." Clarke was ordered to stand trial.

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