| Surname: | Pank |
| Initials: | A |
| Rank: | Acting Sergeant |
| Army Number: | 1186 |
| Notes: | MFP. Awarded the Victory and War Medals. 26/2/1900 he enlisted as a Pte, in the East Surrey Regiment, No. 6303 age 18 years, occupation Tinsmith, born Bermondsey, London, address: Father, 22 Grange Walk, Grange Road, Bermondsey, and 13 Marsden Road, Drummond Road, Bermondsey, London, served 10 years 2 months in East Surrey Regiment, held rank of L/Cpl, 27/4/1912 transferred to MFP served 1 year 3 months, sober, clean, intelligent, excellent worker, handles his men well. Awarded the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal Army Order IV dated 14/8/1917. Served Home 26/2/1900 to 8/11/1902, India 9/11/1901 to 26/10/1910, Home 27/10/1910 to 1/6/1915, Med Exp Force Salonika 2/6/1915 to 6/2/1919, Home 7/2/1919 to 20/9/1919. He was returning from leave to serve in Russia. Sgt Pank was tried at the Old Bailey, London for the murder of Mrs Beatrice Downes (his Sister in Law) at 15 Suffield Road, South Tottenham on 22/4/1919. He was sentenced to death later commuted to life. He was found drowned in Poole Harbour in 1927. Extract from The Scotsman, 22/5/1919. Death Sentence On A Soldier. At the Old Bailey, London, yesterday, Arthur Pank (35), soldier, was tried for the murder of Beatrice Pank, his brother's wife, at Tottenham. The prisoner was a sergeant in the Military Foot Police, and had served in the Army for 19 years. While on leave last month he visited his sister-in-law's house, and in the evening went up to a policeman and said "Will you go round with me, I have just shot a woman." The prosecution could suggest no motive for the crime, and the only question was as to the prisoner's sanity. The prison doctor stated the prisoner had told him the story of the tragedy. He said he and deceased visited his brother in the City, and he returned with her to their home. After tea, when he said he must be going, she Remarked, "Oh, there's plenty of time," took off her boots, lighted a cigarette, and going to her room called to him. She made a suggestion, and he said " If you were my wife I should d for you." She laughed and said "No man would frighten me like that, " He then pulled out his revolver, and fired at her. Realising what he had done, he turned the weapon upon himself, but it twice misfired. The doctor added that the prisoner realised the seriousness of the offence, and stated that he hand no intention of evading the penalty. Witness considered the prisoner was in an unstable mental condition, which would probably develop into insanity, and he thought the prisoner's act was the first manifest symptom of his insanity. Prisoner said he was justified in his action and thought he was defending his brother's honour. Justice Darling, summing up, asked the jury if they thought it credible in view of all the evidence that what the prisoner had described could possibly have happened, and observed that the evidence was entirely against the story. The jury found the prisoner guilty. Sentence of death was passed. Reduced to 10 years penal servitude. Shields Daily News, 10/9/27. Reprieve of Man needs official explanation. The release of Arthur Pank eight years after he had been sentenced to death for the murder of his sister in law at Tottenham and then reprieved is till unsolved. Pank was drowned at Bournemouth, and was identified in a dramatic way. The Home Office refuse to state the reason for the release. "It is not the custom of the Home Office to give their reason for advising the Crown to Exercise it's prerogative in this matter." Said a Home Officer Officer yesterday. " A glance through Hansard will show that this is invariably practice that is followed by the Home Office in such cases. The circumstances in this particular case are of such unprecedented character as to demand an official explanation in the interests of the public. It is probable that when Parliament re-assembles, a question on the subject will be put to the Home Secretary in the House of Commons. Convicted. Arthur Pank, who was a Sergeant in the Military Foot Police, was home on leave from India,when he shot his brother's wife, Beatrice Pank (Downes) in a house in Suffield Road, Tottenham, London in 1919. He was convicted of murder at the Central Criminal Court and sentenced to death by Mr Justice Darling, who said that the plea of insanity set up by the defence was not supported by the evidence for the prosecution. Just before the date fixed for his execution Pank was reprieved, and on the advice of the Home Secretary the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. The length of a "life" sentence usually means twenty years penal servitude. Mr George William Pank, brother of the dead man, called at the "Daily Express" office yesterday and explained that his brother did not stay with him after his release, but with another brother who had been married a number of years and was living happily with his wife and family. That brother was not the husband of the murdered woman. Mr G W Pank added that Arthur was not released on ticket of leave - as was the usual custom - but on "AA Special," which relieved him of the necessity of having to report to the police at all. The deputy-coroner of Poole, in which district the body was found, said that no good purpose would be served by reopening the inquest, as the identification was established before burial. |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | Mention in Despatches (London Gazette: 31152 Page: 1485 Jan. 30, 1919) |
| Citation: | Salonika Force. |