The Cameo Murders

Wandering around a churchyard between Preston and Liverpool this morning trying to get a shot of the church without any road furniture in the background I came across this gravestone. The unusual inscription made me think that there must be a story here - and there is.

Inscription: "John Bernard the dear husband of Una Catteral who sacrificed his life in the heroic devotion to duty in the Cameo Cinema 19th March 1949"

On the evening of 19 March 1949, the Cameo cinema in Liverpool, England, was the scene of a brutal double murder which led to a miscarriage of justice.

The cinema manager, Leonard Thomas, was counting the day's takings assisted by his deputy, Bernard Catterall, when a masked man entered their office armed with a pistol. After demanding they hand over a bag of cash, which it appears they were reluctant to do, the man shot both of them fatally. He then made his escape from the building empty-handed after threatening other members of the cinema staff who had come to the men's aid

The Liverpool City Police launched a massive manhunt and over 9,500 houses were visited and 75,000 people were interviewed. Over 1,800 fingerprints were taken and handwriting samples were obtained from 1,841 women. The subsequent conviction of George Kelly and Charles Connolly made legal history.

The first trial was the longest trial in England and George Kelly became one of the few men to be tried twice for a capital offence. The conviction and execution of Kelly is one of the milestones which led to the eventual ending of Capital Punishment in Britain. The gross miscarriage of justice which resulted in the hanging of George Kelly forms part of the gripping account of the Cameo Murders book by Barry Shortall.

However,in George Skelly's book, The Cameo Conspiracy - The Real Story Of The Cameo Cinema Murders (Avid 1998 & Upstage 2001 editions)it is stated that in 1950 far from Kelly's Execution prompting abolition, it was in fact met with widespread public approval. And the author quotes the Daily Express editorial of 29 March 1950, which stated, "Kelly richly deserved to die. The world is better for his removal". Rather was it the hangings of Timothy Evans (1950), Derek Bentley (1953) and Ruth Ellis (1955) which precipitated abolition. Skelly's book, together with the efforts of his friend, retired businessman Luigi Santangeli who caused the case to be referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. (See Court of Appeal judgement October 2003) was responsible for the quashing of the convictions of both Kelly and his co-accused, Charles Connolly in 2003

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