The Belgian and the Barmaid from Cricklewood

This is an unusual story from 1916 in the middle of the First World War. May Pullman was a young barmaid at The Crown Hotel, the large pub in the middle of Cricklewood. François Minner aged 32, had been discharged from the Belgian Army and was one of the 250,000 Belgians who had come to England as refugees during the beginning of the War. He was working in a munitions factory and rented a room at 68 Grafton Street Fitzroy Square, near Warren Street.

The Crown Cricklewood with a horse bus outside, 1904 (Marianne Colloms)

On 18 April, May arrived for work at 5.00 pm and was walking to the side door of The Crown. She did not see François who grabbed her arm as she walked past. She pushed him away and told him to leave her alone. Suddenly, he took a razor from the pocket of his Macintosh and cut her across the throat. She staggered back holding her throat which was bleeding heavily.

Motobus outside The Crown, 1912 (Getty Images)

Minner walked away and was stopped by Fred Howard, a flower seller who worked outside the pub and had witnessed the attack. He bravely challenged Minner and snatched the bloody razor out of the coat pocket. At this point a conductor from one of the motor buses also grabbed Minner and called for help. PC Collins who was on duty nearby, ran over and while Minner was being held by the two men, he administered first aid to May and manged to stop the bleeding.

When more officers arrived, PC Collins took May to Hampstead General Hospital where she was seen by Doctor Jesse Valentine who found the cut was about half an inch deep. She put seven stitches in the wound and bandaged it. May had lost a lot of blood and it would have been fatal if the razor had cut the carotid artery.

François Minner was arrested and taken to West Hampstead Police Station which was then in West End Lane. On the way he asked PC Kenny to give him the razor and put his hand across his neck making the sign of cutting his own throat. Minner said, ‘I have been foolish, I did it, I did it’. At 9.00 pm Divisional Detective Inspector Thomas Duggan charged Minner with feloniously wounding May Pullman, and he was held on remand.

Minner appeared at the Hendon Petty Sessions on the 27 April. May Pullman with a bandage around her throat, gave evidence and said Minner had been trying to force his attentions on her since last August. He had threatened to kill her on several previous occasions. In his defence Francois said he did it to frighten her, and he did not intend to kill her. He claimed that she had taunted him and said ‘It does not matter, and you can do it if you like’. The magistrate also heard evidence from the flower seller Fred Howard who lived at 14 Lowfield Road Kilburn, Dr Jessie Valentine, and the police officers. The magistrate found there was a case to answer and referred it to the Central Criminal Court.

On 4 May, Minner was tried at the Old Bailey where he pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding May Pullman with intent to murder or maim her.

Surprisingly, he was only sentenced to three months hard labour at Wormwood Scrubs Prison, followed by deportation. The is no further information about why the sentence was so lenient, and the Home Office files at the National Archive which would give details about the case and his deportation are closed until 2047.

This was clearly not a random attack by a stranger. May had known François for at least eight months and he was waiting for her to arrive at The Crown. We do not know if he had previous mental problems and had planned to kill May, or if he acted violently from frustration and it had gone badly wrong. Oddly, for such a dramatic event, the story was only picked up in the local newspapers.

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History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

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