10th August 1965
Man sentenced to hang for murder
“Anthony Oliver Lynch… was sentenced to death yesterday at a brief sitting of the Jersey full court after pleading Guilty to the murder by stabbing of Madeleine Mabel Fox, aged 26, in Stafford Lane, St Helier, on March 18,” reported The Times on 11 August 1965.
Lynch’s advocate, Terence Sowden, had entered a guilty plea on his client’s behalf on 6 August. This therefore left the court with no choice over the penalty imposed on the 27-year-old Dubliner when he appeared before it on 10 August, since the statutory punishment for murder was death.
On 3 September, the home secretary, Sir Frank Soskice, recommended that his sentence be commuted. The Queen consented, as was customary at the time.
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Other events that occured in August
The Beatles tour Jersey and Guernsey
- The Beatles played four dates at Jersey’s Springfield Ballroom in August 1963 for a fee of £1000, and popped to Guernsey for two dates.
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The first Battle of Flowers takes place
- Jersey staged its first ever Battle of Flowers in 1902, to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria.
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Jersey plane makes bomb threat detour
- Thirty passengers on their way to Jersey strapped themselves in as their aircraft performed an about turn in mid-air
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Jersey man in court accused of bigamy
- Jersey man Philip Vasse found himself in court accused of bigamy after his first wife was listed as his next of kin.
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