... at the junction of the Damolly and Upper Damolly Roads, some thirty yards from her home which would (even in daylight!) be out of view behind a low rise. He would wait in a gap in the hedge, out of view of any passing car.

He stole a bicycle from outside the Orange Hall and bicycled furiously to the Drumcashellone/Damolly area.  He was in place when the young girl was dropped off.

It became obvious later that Pearl was attacked almost immediately after the car that gave her a lift had left. She was struck about the face and dragged through the gap in the hedge, where Robert could go unhindered about his evil work.

Though sexual attraction may have been the initial spur, his violent nature took over and he determined to punish her for the rejection he had suffered. She was not raped.

Despite being struck violently about the face, it was obvious later, from the scratches suffered by McGladdery, that she had put up a brave struggle. She continued to fight him. Approximately 150 yards into the field, she lost the fight. Bloddied, flattened grass marked the spot where he beat the resistance from her.

He continued to drag her semi-conscious body through the field, all the time ripping the clothes from her body. The girl sustained a broken nose, severe bruising about the cheeks and face and cuts around her lips.

He had however, come armed for his attack. McGladdery operated a small shoe-repair business from his home. Files were a normal part of his tool kit. He had with him at least one file with a star-shaped end (or possibly ‘tang’ – the part that fits into the handle). In an excited frenzy he began stabbing the girl all over the body, but especially about the breasts, with this weapon. The wounds were two inches deep. She was stabbed too about the face, on the forehead and near the right ear. One body wound punctured the heart.

Still not content, he took a scarf and strangled the dying girl.
 

….. more of this murder to come …..

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Our thoughts - and prayers - are with the families of the innocent victims of the Ipswich strangler in these dreadful times.  We hope any similarities are coincidental.  The most obvious difference is that Pearl Gamble, of course, did not work the streets.  She was simply a shop assistant on a night out at a dance! 

The similarities are in the manner of death and perhaps, the motives and modus operandi of the killers.