In this weeks Historic Crime story, we’re gonna take a look at a case of a crime that happened in the West Lothian Town of Winchburgh and the Hanging of a man from that town named Paddy Higgins. This a story not just about murder, but of Neglect, cruelty and a search for Justice that took almost a hundred years. But what happened? Why did he hang? Well, lets take a look shall we?
The Hanging of Paddy Higgins
On this day, some 113 years ago, Two young boys were found murdered and dumped in an old disused quarry just outside Winchburgh. Their father, an Ex Soldier, Paddy Higgins was subsequently found guilty of the double murder of his children and hanged by the neck in the Calton prison in Edinburgh. So, today, we are gonna take a look at this historic crime in a little more detail.
Infanticide in Winchburgh
On the morning of June the 6th, 1913, the sun was up and shining and it was another beautiful summers day ready to start when a couple of men took a walk over the fields. As they come to the old flooded quarry workings, they noticed something strange floating in the water. On further Inspection, they discovered that what they’d found was Two children bound together face to face.
THe corpses were by no means fresh and it seemed that they had been lay in this hole for some time. A forensic report of the bodies said that they “Could have been in the pond for Two Years”.
Constable James Adamson was the police officer in charge of the Investigation. He quickly got to work interviewing residents of the village and surrounding area. It was here that he heard the same name arise frequently regarding who the boys could be and who may know something about this. The name was ‘Paddy Higgins’.
Who was Paddy Higgins?
Paddy Higgins was an ex soldier and widower who had Two sons, John and William. He is said to have had a ‘Troubled Life’ and was a heavy drinker and alcoholic. His living arrangements were rather chaotic to say the least and him and the boys would often spend time staying between his sisters or else sleeping rough outside.
Due to his drinking problems, he is said to have claimed that ‘Home is too expensive’ and couldn’t afford the price of a stable roof over his head and more importantly, the heads of his children.
He was widely known to have struggled with raising the boys and often said “What am I to do with them?” on occasions when he struggled with them most.
What happened to the boys?
One day in 1912, the Boys just seemed to disappear from presence and Paddy was seen going around on his own. Without his boys. When asked what had become of the boys, Higgins concocted some fictional story about how Two ladies on the train that they were on had taken a shine to the boys. He went on to explain how these Ladies offered him 25 Shillings for them, which he accepted. He claims that upon receiving this sum of money in exchange for his sons, he alighted the train immediately at Ratho where he went straight to the pub to drink his bounty.
The Trial of Paddy Higgins
Higgins entered a plea of ‘Not Guilty’ at the Trial and his lawyer argued that Higgins was not to blame and plead diminished responsibility, due to the epileptic fits he had claimed to be suffering from at the time.
Gallows Confession
AS Higgins sat in his Jail cell awaiting execution, he had a change of heart. He summoned the priest so that he could make a last minute, Gallows confession. He said “My Conviction is Just. There was No Question of Epileptic Fits. It is through Drinking and neglect of my religion that has brought me here”
Hanged by the Neck
On the morning of October, 1913, Paddy Higgins was hanged by the neck at Edinburgh’s Calton Jail. He was the last person ever to be hanged here. His name is still well remembered in the local as the father who brutally murdered his own Two children.
The funeral of the boys was said to have been “An uneasy funeral”. But most attendees believed they were laying the bodies of the Two young victims to rest for good. What they didn’t know was that the coffins were actually empty.
At the time of the Investigation, a couple of forensic scientists who had an interest in the boys bodies for medical studies later admitted stealing the corpses of John and William Higgins. They later admitted in a book to having distracted the police in order to smuggle the bodies away to a research lab in Edinburgh University.
Home to rest
It was here that the bodies of the Two boys remained for a further 96 years. Until 2009, when the boys last living relative, after a lengthy campaign, had their bodies buried in dignity at last. In 2009, John and William Higgins were at last given a proper funeral and laid to rest in their grave.