Patrick Power

Patrick Power was convicted of the murder of 46-year-old Sarah Ann Sykes and sentenced to death. He killed her at 8 Whit Lane, Pendleton, Manchester on 11 April 1925. Patrick Power had been an Irish labourer and had been lodging at her house. Sarah Sykes’s husband, an ice-cream vendor, said Patrick Power had lodged with them since December 1924 and that relations in the house were friendly. He said that he rose at 6.30am, lit the fire, and left for work whilst his wife was set about making ice-cream in the back kitchen. He noted that there had been no quarrel that morning. Later that day, at about 3.30pm Patrick Power walked into the Pendleton Police Office and said: xxxqxxx I wish to give myself up. I have killed my landlady. I hit her on the head with a hammer. If she is not dead now she is near it, and she deserves it. xxxqxxx He had been sober, with dark stains on his shirt and clothes. He then gave officers the key to 8 Whit Lane and the police went to investigate. The yard door and scullery were found locked and inside the front room the police found Sarah Sykes lying on the floor near the piano, bleeding heavily from the back of the head and unconscious. A hammer lay on the floor close by and a bread-knife was found on the kitchen table. The rooms were otherwise in tidy order with little sign of a struggle. A policeman said that the appearance of the room, and the implements about it, suggested that Sarah Sykes had been making ice-cream at the time of the attack. Sarah Sykes was taken to Salford Royal Hospital, where she died within minutes of admission. The post-mortem recorded a catalogue of injuries, including deep cuts to the face and ear, a fractured lower jaw, several incised wounds consistent with a knife, three scalp wounds down to the bone with a star-shaped skull fracture consistent with heavy blows from a hammer, and a crushed rib driven into the lung, suggestive of an injury caused by a kick. Her cause of death was given as shock following the injuries. A friend of Sarah Sykes told police the household had been on friendly terms and that Sarah Sykes had made no complaint about Patrick Power. However, it was later revealed that Patrick Power, who had claimed unemployment benefit had at the beginning of April borrowed £5 from Sarah Sykes and that her husband had told him on 11 April that if he didn't repay the loan that day he would be evicted, after which he left for work. At the trial it was heard that although Patrick Power had been in debt to Sarah Sykes, that his bank balance was in the black to the tune of some £40. It was heard that Sarah Sykes had been a spiritualistic medium and would hold spiritualistic meetings known as cottage meetings. When Sarah Sykes's husband was asked whether his wife had been in the habit of telling Patrick Power that she could see all sorts of figures standing behind him, he denied it. When he was asked whether Sarah Sykes had indulged in spiritualistic practices in other places than spiritualist meetings, he said not that he was aware of. It was noted that at the time Patrick Power was said to have been drinking heavily, drinking morning, noon and night. At the trial Patrick Power said that when he was left alone with Sarah Sykes that she asked him about the money owed and that if he didn't pay by Tuesday that he would have to find a new home but that he remembered nothing after that. He said: xxxqxxx I remember nothing after that until I saw Mrs Sykes's body lying on the floor and I was standing over it. xxxqxxx However, he was also alleged to have told the police that Sarah Sykes deserved what she got. He said that he had been in the army for 23 years and that whilst in India he had suffered from three attacks of Malaria and sometimes still felt the effects of it. At his trial his defence stated that Patrick Power's mind was distorted by spiritualism, and they asked for a verdict of guilty but insane, however, he was found guilty. He was tried at the Manchester Assizes and sentenced to death and later executed at Strangeways on 26 May 1925.