There
were a number of wild-goose chases (including one where McGladdery offered Mr
Fallone (Dick’s café) £1 if he would allow him to flee out the back door of his
premises to escape the police). Inside
Robert had been talking to a number of acquaintances about the missing
clothes.
Constable
Donald Keown Newry gave evidence that at 8.45 pm on February 9th he
was on duty at Hill Street
when he saw the accused (McGladdery) leave Fallone’s café with other men. McGladdery then went to the Savoy Cinema on Monaghan Street
accompanied by the men. He left the
cinema at 11.20 pm again with these men and returned to the café and left again
at 11.55 with one of the men.
He
then walked up Hill Street
to Trevor Hill and conversed with the man into the early hours of February 10th. When he parted company with the man he
started running in the direction of the Belfast Road; as he passed the Courthouse
he increased his speed. ‘I lost sight of
him in the vicinity of the Scriptural Hall and I continued on in the direction
of his home still searching for him. At
12.45 am I saw the accused walking along Damolly Lane towards his home.
Later
at 12.00 noon on the same day witness came to a septic tank in a field beside
Damolly Lane about 100 yards from where he saw McGladdery at 12.45 am.
Detective
Sergeant Samuel Jeffrey Newtownards testified that he was in a field bordering
the main Belfast-Newry Road
beside Damolly Lane
at 11 am on February 10th, when he saw a large moss-covered concrete
slab which he found to be a septic tank. There were two openings – each about two feet square – at either
end. He lifted the block from the liquid
end of the tank and commenced poking inside with a long stick. In the left hand bottom corner the stick came
in contact with a soft bulky object. Assisted by other police he removed a bag, tightly-knotted at the neck.
The
police had their evidence. McGladdery
was arrested and charged.
The
trial went ahead the following year.
Robert
McGladdery was found guilty.
He
was the last man to hang for murder in these islands.
………
end ……
History 
