The Sailor Who Chose Death Over Prison

Sentence chalked off by the hangman’s rope

Sea air, sailing ships and savage murder (my own photo)

Victorian prisons were brutal places, where solitude and servitude were the orders of the day. The state got its own back on those who had flouted the law, by having them perform pointless, demeaning and physically demanding tasks. And, for those who dared rebel against the regime, there was a punishment diet of bread and water, which the prisoner would partake of in solitary confinement.

The prospect of a lengthy term behind bars was so daunting for one man, he chose to die rather than spend years under the grim conditions outlined above. But he didn’t take his own life; he got the authorities to do that for him. So let me take you back to Victorian England in 1879, which is when this sensational case began. Or did it?

Sentenced to Fifteen Years’ Imprisonment

There was nothing remarkable about the conviction at the Old Bailey of one Charles Henry Cort for robbery and attempted murder. The judge handed down a sentence of fifteen years’ imprisonment, and the prisoner was taken down. He was removed to Pentonville prison, where it was expected he would serve his time, but Cort had other ideas. He had a means of avoiding that long, miserable stretch; a dark secret that would chalk years off his sentence. His…