‘He found the child dead and saw Dr Burke drop the revolver on the hearthrug and stagger to the side of the room, where he lay down on a seat...’ 

On a cold February night, in a Barnsley pub, an unimaginable tragedy took place. Inebriated on expensive champagne, a local doctor waved a revolver around wildly. As his terrified wife fled the room to get help, a bullet rang through the air. Its target: their 9-year-old daughter Eileen. What could explain this horrific act? How did the courts – and the community – respond in the wake of such a crime? 

In the first episode of this two-part special, Jen and David look at one of the ‘Barnsley Murders’ - two shootings that took place just weeks apart - and reflect on the impact of social class on its verdict. In part two, they’ll be turning their attention towards a shockingly similar crime with a very different outcome. 

Discover the details for yourself in the episode's Case Files - a collection of all the key newspaper reports - available to browse for free on Findmypast: www.findmypast.co.uk/wasjusticeserved 

Was justice served? Share your judgement with the WJS community: 

@wasjusticeservedpod #wasjusticeserved 

Producer - Madeleine Gilbert 

Assistant Producer - Daisy Goddard 

AV Editor - Callum Main 

Video Lead - Andrew Farrell 

Researcher - Jen Baldwin 

Voiceover - Tanya O’Sullivan 

AV Lead - Mark Asquith 

Executive Producer - Helen Kaye