Eastbourne Murders and Misdemeanours is a new collection of true-life crime stories by local author Kevin Gordon
This new book offers a vivid insight into the criminal side of life in Eastbourne in the past 200 years. As a former officer in the British Transport Police, Kevin Gordon is the ideal person to describe how Eastbourne’s police force developed and the crimes that it has had to deal with, including a schoolboy beaten to death by his Headmaster, a Police Inspector shot dead in South Cliff Avenue and the local GP, Dr John Bodkin Adams, whose patients often died before their time.
Policing in Eastbourne started in the 1800s with the Eastbourne Prosecution Society that was formed by local residents, but this seems to have been little more than a social club, meeting regularly at The Lamb Inn for ‘slap-up meals’. After being policed from Pevensey and by a local Watch Committee for several decades, Eastbourne had its own police force with its own Chief Constable from 1891 and that lasted until 1967 when it was subsumed into the County force.
For a supposedly genteel seaside town, Eastbourne has had more than its fair share of notorious murders, many of which hit the national headlines, and this collection of true crime stories gives us a fascinating insight into the darker side of Eastbourne’s history. Kevin tells us about a range of murders, including the tragic death of schoolboy, Reginald Cancellor, beaten to death by his Headmaster, a family murdered and their bodies burnt in a house in Enys Road and the notorious local GP, Dr John Bodkin Adams, whose malevolent and avaricious behaviour towards many of his wealthy patients led to a murder trial at the Old Bailey although, as Kevin reminds us, Bodkin Adams was found not guilty of murder and continued working as a GP in Eastbourne until his death in 1983.
The longest chapter in the book tells of a shocking, pre-meditated murder in a bungalow on the Crumbles in 1924. Patrick Mahon murdered and dismembered his victim but the case was solved by some very clever detective work. Kevin not only describes the circumstances in fascinating detail but is able to include some original photos of the murder scene that he came across because of his interest in local history.
Eastbourne Murders and Misdemeanours is extensively illustrated and Kevin has found some wonderful photos that combine with his well-researched writing to tell each story in just the right amount of detail. If you want to know who the ‘Seaford Shags’ were, why the Salvation Army riots took place on Eastbourne seafront and discover the story of not one but two ‘Crumbles murders’, then you’ll find this book fascinating.
The book is published by Amberley Books, a company that specialises in local history books written by local authors. It’s for sale at Waterstones in Eastbourne and is available online using this link: www.amberley-books.com/eastbourne-murders-and-misdemeanours.html