Article from the London Evening Standard, 11th November 1880

Lapse in Security at Institution

Cracks in the armour of the respected mental institution on Berry Road have started to show - if this weeks events are of any considerable evidence. Rumours continue to circulate this week over alleged sightings of escaped patients, as reported in our previous issues. The Grenholme Hospital still denies all allegations, with all of its patients signed and accounted for. Today we managed to get an interview with Grenholme's Prof. F Barnet, to make comment on these rumours.

We asked Prof. Barnet if the refuting of these allegations was part of a cover-up attempting to calm the spirited local community.

"We at this establishment have specific and strict procedures concerning escaped residents. We would never cover-up any such events; instead our strategic policy contains several points of order to communicate any such danger to the surrounding area and publications such as yourselves. We have never had need to put these plans into action as our internal tactical approach has always worked perfectly well as prevention for an escape situation. We have had 47 uneventful years at this establishment. We have never had a situation, and we don't have one now, these stories are lies."

We realise the position of the Professor, but you can’t deny the allegations made by so many people. We have registered at this office thirty two such allegations. So many people cannot be wrong, surely?

"I have read all of your reports on the subject this week. All our prisoners are safe and accounted for, and none of them resemble the descriptions that have been published. I can’t help but feel that this is some kind of trick or hoax with the aim of tainting our reputation. This man is not one of our patients, but rest assured that when he is found, he will become one."

Despite the Professor’s reassuring words, a new sighting was reported just before the printing of this publication.

A Mr. T. Welton, the proprietor of ‘Weltons’, the butchers on Craven Street, gave this description.

"I was in the back making a sausage order for Mrs. Denton, so I left young Nettie serving. I had just got washed and prepared when I heard her calling for me, normal at first, as if she had broken the scales again. So I ignored her because she does this about twenty times a day, but then she gets all hysterical like. I rush in, and there's this man trying to steal meat from my display. He's got my Bacon hanging out of his pockets, and when I walks in he's trying to take one of the big carcasses from the window. Well, it was a total nightmare - there's Nettie screaming her head off, and I'm trying to calm her down, while this blokes nicking off with me livelihood. Well, sod this for a laugh I thought. I got one of the customers to take Nettie for me so I could sort him out. He's still tugging frantically at this side of beef when I tried to grab him off it. I grabs him by the collar when he just goes and swings round and slashes at me with one of my own meat hooks. Well, I was a little taken back by this; I'm standing there bleeding from my chest while he's standing there with one of me meat hooks in his fist. I expected to get another one there and then. ‘This is the end of me’ I thought. But then he rams the hook back into the carcass, drops to his knees and starts to lick at the blood coming off me chest. So I just wallops him one and he legs it off down the street. Mad he was. Still, hasn't done business any harm, they all come in now to hear me going on about it."

Mr. Welton is now looking for volunteers willing to form a group to catch this man, though Scotland Yard strongly condemns any such action at this time.

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