Green Bicycle Case
Encyclopedia
The Green Bicycle Case involved the death of a young woman named Bella Wright in Little Stretton
, near Leicester
, England
on 5 July 1919. Wright was killed by a bullet wound to the head. Earlier that evening she had been seen with a man on a green bicycle. Ronald Vivian Light was tried for her death but acquitted.
Ronald Light (34 years old at the time) was a World War I
veteran who had returned from the war with shell shock
. He did not voluntarily come forth in response to wanted posters for the man on the green bicycle who had been riding with Wright on the evening she was killed, and he made an attempt to dispose of the bicycle. Once arrested he admitted to being with her shortly before her death, but denied killing her. He was successfully defended in court by Sir Edward Marshall-Hall
KC.
The author C. Wendy East in a book entitled The Green Bicycle Murder (1993) concludes that Light did, indeed, murder Bella Wright. In an earlier book, The Green Bicycle Case (1930), author H.R. Wakefield
came to the opposite conclusion.
cottage four miles outside Leicester in Stoughton
, under what Bill Donahue describes as "essentially feudal
conditions". She attended school until the age of 12, then worked as a domestic servant before taking a factory job in Bates' Rubber Mill, about five miles from home.
At the time of her death she had been "keeping company" with Royal Navy
stoker Archie Ward, and had at least one other suitor.
Wright may have met Light prior to the night of the murder. She had told her mother of an officer who had fallen in love with her and who may well have been Light, although he denied it in court.
, at the age of 17, for "lifting a little girl's clothes over her head". The same brief states that in his 30s he "attempted to make love to a girl 15 years of age" and admitted to "improper conduct" with an 8-year-old girl. Two girls, ages 12 and 14, testified at his trial that the very day of Wright's death, Light had chased them as they rode their bicycles through the countryside.
In addition to these sexually-related accusations, Light was fired from a railway job in 1914, suspected of setting a fire in a cupboard, and of drawing indecent graffiti in a lavatory. He was also fired from a farm, accused of setting fire to haystacks. During Light's service as a second lieutenant
in the Royal Engineers
in the War, his father died, apparently a suicide. Light's mother explained that the probable suicide resulted partly from the father's worries about his son. In 1916, Light lost his commission, but later rejoined the army as a gunner
in the Honourable Artillery Company
. He returned from the Western Front shell-shocked and partially deaf.
After his trial, Light "all but vanished." By 1928 he lived in Leysdown-on-Sea
on the east side of the Isle of Sheppey
. For at least a time, he assumed the name "Leonard Estelle". He married an older woman with a daughter. Light had no children of his own. He died in 1975 at the age of 89. His stepdaughter had no notion of his trial until after his death.
to help with the loose freewheel
on her bicycle. He did not have one, but offered to accompany her, which offer she accepted. He accompanied her to her uncle George Measure's cottage in Gaulby
and waited for her outside. The uncle stated that he didn't like Light's looks. They rode away together at about 8:50 p.m. Wright's dead body was found on the Via Devana
by a farmer, around 9:20 p.m.
Police constable Alfred Hall, who came to the scene, initially found "smears of blood on the top bar of the field gate" but no footprints on either side of the gate. A doctor made a cursory once-over by candlelight, and said that Wright had died in a simple bicycle accident. Not accepting this explanation, PC Hall returned at 6 a.m. and found a .455-calibre
bullet 17 feet from Wright's body, which had not yet been removed from the scene. He washed the face of the corpse and found the entry wound.
The prosecution's reconstruction was that a mile west of Gaulby, Bella Wright had fled from Light, panicked, and headed south on an inferior road that was a possible route home, but not the shortest one. Light took an alternate route to get in front of her and lay in wait at a cattle gate, where he shot her and fled.
In court PC Hall testified that the blood on the gate came from a dead raven
that had "gorg[ed] itself on blood," making six separate journeys from the gate to the corpse. However, there are normally no ravens in the Midlands
.
, an act witnessed by Samuel Holland, a labourer.
On 23 February 1920, Enoch Whitehouse was guiding a horse-drawn boat full of coal on the River Soar. The tow-rope snagged the frame of the green bicycle. Police were called to investigate. They saw that the serial number had been filed off both the frame and the seat lug, and the brand name (BSA
) had been filed off the fork. However, a faint serial number on the fork proved sufficient to link the bike to Light.
Light was arrested 4 March 1920 at Dean Close School
in Cheltenham, where he had just begun teaching mathematics. On 19 March an additional piece of evidence was found: an Army pistol holster and a dozen live .455-calibre bullets were dredged from the canal. They precisely matched the bullet found at the death scene.
Light was tried at Leicester Castle
. Judge Thomas Gardner Horridge
presided and the Attorney General
, Gordon Hewart
led the prosecution. Light was calm and well-spoken in court. His prior offences went unreported by the newspapers of the time, which were generally sympathetic to the "engineer, teacher, and ex-Army officer" who stood accused of the murder of a "factory girl".
On the advice of his barrister, Sir Edward Marshall-Hall, Light admitted essentially everything but the killing. He even admitted that the holster was his, and that he had owned a revolver. Marshall-Hall restricted his cross-examination
largely to technical matters. He questioned prosecution ballistics expert Henry Clarke, who said that the bullet could as easily have come from a rifle as a revolver. Marshall-Hall then made the case that the fatal shot could have been an accidental shot from a distance. He argued that this alternative scenario was likely, because a shot at close range would probably have done more damage to the victim's face. This theory and Light's demeanour were apparently enough to convince the jury to acquit.
, but its current whereabouts are unknown. An anonymous collector purchased the recovered bullets and holsters for $6,000 in a Christie's
auction in 1987.
At least two books have been written about the case: The Green Bicycle Case (1930) by H.R. Wakefield (a defence of Light) and The Green Bicycle Murder (1993) by C. Wendy East (which concludes that Light was guilty as charged). Numerous other writers have put forth other views, including the possibility that Light killed Wright accidentally (showing her a gun that accidentally went off) or that she was killed by someone else entirely. The accidental killing theory is backed by a note supposedly written by Levi Bowley, Leicester superintendent of police, three days after Light's acquittal. Bowley's note claims that Light, while in prison awaiting trial, confessed the accidental death scenario to him. The authenticity of the note has been questioned and even if it is authentic, Bowley could have been lying, or Light could have lied to Bowley.
Little Stretton, Leicestershire
Little Stretton is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire.Within the parish, to the west of Little Stretton village, lies a deserted medieval village called Stretton Magna ....
, near Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 5 July 1919. Wright was killed by a bullet wound to the head. Earlier that evening she had been seen with a man on a green bicycle. Ronald Vivian Light was tried for her death but acquitted.
Ronald Light (34 years old at the time) was a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran who had returned from the war with shell shock
Shell Shock
Shell Shock, also known as 82nd Marines Attack was a 1964 film by B-movie director John Hayes. The film takes place in Italy during World War II, and tells the story of a sergeant with his group of soldiers....
. He did not voluntarily come forth in response to wanted posters for the man on the green bicycle who had been riding with Wright on the evening she was killed, and he made an attempt to dispose of the bicycle. Once arrested he admitted to being with her shortly before her death, but denied killing her. He was successfully defended in court by Sir Edward Marshall-Hall
Edward Marshall-Hall
Sir Edward Marshall Hall, KC, was an English barrister who had a formidable reputation as an orator...
KC.
The author C. Wendy East in a book entitled The Green Bicycle Murder (1993) concludes that Light did, indeed, murder Bella Wright. In an earlier book, The Green Bicycle Case (1930), author H.R. Wakefield
H. Russell Wakefield
Herbert Russell Wakefield was an English short story writer, novelist, publisher, and civil servant chiefly remembered today for his ghost stories.-Life:...
came to the opposite conclusion.
Bella Wright
Bella Wright was the oldest of seven children of an illiterate cow herder and his wife. She grew up in a thatchedThatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
cottage four miles outside Leicester in Stoughton
Stoughton, Leicestershire
Stoughton is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire.It is just east of Leicester, and sits in countryside between two protusions of the Leicester urban area . The closest part of the city of Leicester is Evington...
, under what Bill Donahue describes as "essentially feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
conditions". She attended school until the age of 12, then worked as a domestic servant before taking a factory job in Bates' Rubber Mill, about five miles from home.
At the time of her death she had been "keeping company" with Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
stoker Archie Ward, and had at least one other suitor.
Wright may have met Light prior to the night of the murder. She had told her mother of an officer who had fallen in love with her and who may well have been Light, although he denied it in court.
Ronald Light
Ronald Vivian Light grew up the only child of a successful inventor of plumbing devices. According to a prosecution brief from his murder trial, in 1902 he was expelled from Oakham SchoolOakham School
Oakham School is a British co-educational independent school in the historic market town of Oakham in Rutland, accepting around 1,000 pupils, aged from 10 to 18, both male and female, as boarders and day pupils . The Good Schools Guide called the school "a privileged but unpretentious and...
, at the age of 17, for "lifting a little girl's clothes over her head". The same brief states that in his 30s he "attempted to make love to a girl 15 years of age" and admitted to "improper conduct" with an 8-year-old girl. Two girls, ages 12 and 14, testified at his trial that the very day of Wright's death, Light had chased them as they rode their bicycles through the countryside.
In addition to these sexually-related accusations, Light was fired from a railway job in 1914, suspected of setting a fire in a cupboard, and of drawing indecent graffiti in a lavatory. He was also fired from a farm, accused of setting fire to haystacks. During Light's service as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
in the War, his father died, apparently a suicide. Light's mother explained that the probable suicide resulted partly from the father's worries about his son. In 1916, Light lost his commission, but later rejoined the army as a gunner
Gunner (rank)
Gunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....
in the Honourable Artillery Company
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
. He returned from the Western Front shell-shocked and partially deaf.
After his trial, Light "all but vanished." By 1928 he lived in Leysdown-on-Sea
Leysdown-on-Sea
Leysdown-on-Sea is a coastal village on the east side of the Isle of Sheppey in the Borough of Swale in Kent, England.-History:It was noted in the Domesday book as being called Legesdun and the name is thought to be derived from the Saxon words "Leswe" and "Dun" .A very small hamlet up to late...
on the east side of the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
. For at least a time, he assumed the name "Leonard Estelle". He married an older woman with a daughter. Light had no children of his own. He died in 1975 at the age of 89. His stepdaughter had no notion of his trial until after his death.
The night of Wright's death
By all accounts, Wright and Light met on a road 5 July 1919 around 6:45 p.m. She asked him if he had a spannerSpanner
Spanner may refer to:* Spanner or wrench , a kind of hand tool* Spanner, brand of prostatic stent* Spanner , a type of screw drive that consists of two holes in the screw head and two pins on the tool...
to help with the loose freewheel
Freewheel
thumb|Freewheel mechanismIn mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft...
on her bicycle. He did not have one, but offered to accompany her, which offer she accepted. He accompanied her to her uncle George Measure's cottage in Gaulby
Gaulby
Gaulby is a village in East Leicestershire, England, 7 miles east of the city of Leicester. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 131....
and waited for her outside. The uncle stated that he didn't like Light's looks. They rode away together at about 8:50 p.m. Wright's dead body was found on the Via Devana
Via Devana
The Via Devana was a Roman Road in England that ran from Colchester in the south-east to Chester in the north-west. Both were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that the main reason the road was constructed was military rather than civilian. The Latin name for Chester is Deva...
by a farmer, around 9:20 p.m.
Police constable Alfred Hall, who came to the scene, initially found "smears of blood on the top bar of the field gate" but no footprints on either side of the gate. A doctor made a cursory once-over by candlelight, and said that Wright had died in a simple bicycle accident. Not accepting this explanation, PC Hall returned at 6 a.m. and found a .455-calibre
.455 Webley
.455 Webley is a British handgun cartridge, most commonly used in the Webley top break revolvers Marks I through VI.The .455 cartridge was a service revolver cartridge, featuring a rimmed cartridge firing a .45 bullet at the relatively low velocity of 650 ft/s...
bullet 17 feet from Wright's body, which had not yet been removed from the scene. He washed the face of the corpse and found the entry wound.
The prosecution's reconstruction was that a mile west of Gaulby, Bella Wright had fled from Light, panicked, and headed south on an inferior road that was a possible route home, but not the shortest one. Light took an alternate route to get in front of her and lay in wait at a cattle gate, where he shot her and fled.
In court PC Hall testified that the blood on the gate came from a dead raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
that had "gorg[ed] itself on blood," making six separate journeys from the gate to the corpse. However, there are normally no ravens in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
.
Investigation and trial
For five months after Wright's death, Light hid his bike in a cupboard. He later claimed he had failed to come forward to avoid worrying his ailing mother. He eventually took the bike to the Upperton Road Bridge in Leicester, dismantled the bicycle, and threw it piece by piece into the River SoarRiver Soar
The River Soar is a tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands.-Description:It rises near Hinckley in Leicestershire and is joined by the River Sence near Enderby before flowing through Leicester , Barrow-on-Soar, beside Loughborough and Kegworth, before joining the Trent near...
, an act witnessed by Samuel Holland, a labourer.
On 23 February 1920, Enoch Whitehouse was guiding a horse-drawn boat full of coal on the River Soar. The tow-rope snagged the frame of the green bicycle. Police were called to investigate. They saw that the serial number had been filed off both the frame and the seat lug, and the brand name (BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
) had been filed off the fork. However, a faint serial number on the fork proved sufficient to link the bike to Light.
Light was arrested 4 March 1920 at Dean Close School
Dean Close School
Dean Close School is a co-educational independent school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest private land area in the town...
in Cheltenham, where he had just begun teaching mathematics. On 19 March an additional piece of evidence was found: an Army pistol holster and a dozen live .455-calibre bullets were dredged from the canal. They precisely matched the bullet found at the death scene.
Light was tried at Leicester Castle
Leicester Castle
Leicester Castle is located in the city of the same name in the English county of Leicestershire. The complex is situated in the west of the city centre, between Saint Nicholas Circle to the north and De Montfort University to the south....
. Judge Thomas Gardner Horridge
Thomas Gardner Horridge
Sir Thomas Gardner Horridge was a British High Court judge and Liberal politician.He was the only son of John Horridge, chemist, of Tonge with Haulgh, and Margaret Barlow of Bolton, Lancashire. He was educated in Barnes, Surrey before becoming a solicitor in Southport in 1879...
presided and the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Gordon Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
led the prosecution. Light was calm and well-spoken in court. His prior offences went unreported by the newspapers of the time, which were generally sympathetic to the "engineer, teacher, and ex-Army officer" who stood accused of the murder of a "factory girl".
On the advice of his barrister, Sir Edward Marshall-Hall, Light admitted essentially everything but the killing. He even admitted that the holster was his, and that he had owned a revolver. Marshall-Hall restricted his cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
largely to technical matters. He questioned prosecution ballistics expert Henry Clarke, who said that the bullet could as easily have come from a rifle as a revolver. Marshall-Hall then made the case that the fatal shot could have been an accidental shot from a distance. He argued that this alternative scenario was likely, because a shot at close range would probably have done more damage to the victim's face. This theory and Light's demeanour were apparently enough to convince the jury to acquit.
Aftermath
For decades, the green bicycle hung on the wall of a bike shop in EvingtonEvington
Evington is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred around Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer suburbs in the 1930s...
, but its current whereabouts are unknown. An anonymous collector purchased the recovered bullets and holsters for $6,000 in a Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
auction in 1987.
At least two books have been written about the case: The Green Bicycle Case (1930) by H.R. Wakefield (a defence of Light) and The Green Bicycle Murder (1993) by C. Wendy East (which concludes that Light was guilty as charged). Numerous other writers have put forth other views, including the possibility that Light killed Wright accidentally (showing her a gun that accidentally went off) or that she was killed by someone else entirely. The accidental killing theory is backed by a note supposedly written by Levi Bowley, Leicester superintendent of police, three days after Light's acquittal. Bowley's note claims that Light, while in prison awaiting trial, confessed the accidental death scenario to him. The authenticity of the note has been questioned and even if it is authentic, Bowley could have been lying, or Light could have lied to Bowley.
External links
- Retracing classic murder's tracks BBC News Friday, 21 August 2009
Further reading
- C. Wendy East, The Green Bicycle Murder, Sutton Publications, Ltd. (October 1993) ISBN 0750903724.
- H.R. Wakefield, The Green Bicycle Case, Philip Allan (1930).