Percy Hoskins
Encyclopedia
Percy Kellick Hoskins was the chief crime
reporter for British
newspaper the Daily Express
in the 1950s. He also provided stories for radio
and television
crime shows such as Whitehall 1212.
Hoskins earned a mixture of notoriety and admiration within his profession due to the stance he took regarding suspected serial killer
Dr John Bodkin Adams
. Hoskins was the only reporter with a national paper to support Adams when he was arrested in 1956, while the rest of the press
were unanimous in assuming Adams' guilt. Hoskins' stance was seen by his peers as being suicidal career-wise but in the end Adams was acquitted. Lord Beaverbrook, the paper's proprietor, phoned Hoskins after the verdict and told him "Two people were acquitted today" - meaning that Hoskins would keep his job and reputation. This quote later became the title of a book Hoskins wrote about the case. During the trial Hoskins befriended Adams, and when Adams died in 1983 he bequeathed Hoskins £1,000. Hoskins gave the money to charity.
, Dorset
, England
. He joined the Evening Standard
when he was 19 and then moved on to the Daily Express where he worked for more than five decades in the crime department, eventually becoming its chief reporter. He was famed for the friendships he cultivated with policemen, who would often act as his sources. He "kept open house for senior police officers at his flat at 55 Park Lane". Hoskins was said to know where a great many skeletons were hidden in high places: "If you were in trouble with the police, you rang Percy before your lawyer."
He avoided having his own desk at the Express so that executives could not complain at the working hours he did or did not keep. Of Hoskins' approach to work, fellow journalist Michael Bywater
recalled Hoskins' advice: "Whenever you are interviewing somebody, always have this question in the back of your mind ‘Why is this bugger
lying to me?'"
He was seen by many as "amiable [and] rotund", and boasted a long friendship with his "lookalike", Alfred Hitchcock
, with whom Hoskins once posed in Soho for a 'bookends picture'. He was also friends with J Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI.
He had a close friendship with the newspaper's proprietor, Lord Beaverbrook.
opened an investigation into the deaths of the patients of Dr John Bodkin Adams
, an Eastbourne
general practitioner. Hoskins was the only reporter with a major paper to doubt the guilt of Adams during the investigation and subsequent trial. The case attracted worldwide attention and at the height of the press hysteria, figures of 400 victims were being mentioned. Hoskins lonely stance on Adams' innocence was, he later wrote, caused by conversations he had had with Adams during the police investigation: he noted Adams' apparent lack of concern and 'naive' inability to realise how in danger his life was when faced with the death penalty, then still in effect. Others have also cited his dislike of the officer in charge of the case, Herbert Hannam
, as contributing to Hoskins's opposition to the investigation.
Hoskins' stance led Lord Beaverbrook, the owner of his paper, to question Hoskins' (and therefore the Express') take on the story, since every other paper was convinced of Adams' guilt. When Adams was acquitted of one count of murder at the Old Bailey
in 1957 (another charge was withdrawn via a nolle prosequi
) Lord Beaverbrook phoned Hoskins and told him: “Two people were acquitted today” meaning that Hoskins was to retain his job and his reputation.
After the trial Adams was whisked away to a safe house by Hoskins and interviewed for two weeks. The resulting articles appeared exclusively in the Express. Hoskins and Adams remained friends for the rest of Adams' life, and each year on the anniversary of the acquittal, Adams would phone Hoskins to thank him for another year of his life.
When Adams died in 1983 he left Hoskins £1000, which "somewhat embarrassed" Hoskins. Hoskins gave it to charity. In 1984, Hoskins published a book about the case: "Two Men Were Acquitted: The trial and acquittal of Doctor John Bodkin Adams". He reiterated his belief that Adams was innocent, but conceded that Adams had been naive in his behaviour, and too avaricious in his chase of patients' bequests.
Scotland Yard's files on the case were opened in 2003 and show that police believed that 163 of Adams patients died in suspicious circumstances. Reporter Rodney Hallworth
and historian Pamela Cullen also identify another patient, Annie Sharpe, as a possible victim not included in this number, and Cullen further identifies Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire
as a probable victim.
" with panelists Polly Bergen, Ralph Bellamy, Kitty Carlisle, and Hy Gardner.
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
reporter for British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
newspaper the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
in the 1950s. He also provided stories for radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
crime shows such as Whitehall 1212.
Hoskins earned a mixture of notoriety and admiration within his profession due to the stance he took regarding suspected serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Dr John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
. Hoskins was the only reporter with a national paper to support Adams when he was arrested in 1956, while the rest of the press
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
were unanimous in assuming Adams' guilt. Hoskins' stance was seen by his peers as being suicidal career-wise but in the end Adams was acquitted. Lord Beaverbrook, the paper's proprietor, phoned Hoskins after the verdict and told him "Two people were acquitted today" - meaning that Hoskins would keep his job and reputation. This quote later became the title of a book Hoskins wrote about the case. During the trial Hoskins befriended Adams, and when Adams died in 1983 he bequeathed Hoskins £1,000. Hoskins gave the money to charity.
Life
Hoskins was born in BridportBridport
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, 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...
. He joined the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
when he was 19 and then moved on to the Daily Express where he worked for more than five decades in the crime department, eventually becoming its chief reporter. He was famed for the friendships he cultivated with policemen, who would often act as his sources. He "kept open house for senior police officers at his flat at 55 Park Lane". Hoskins was said to know where a great many skeletons were hidden in high places: "If you were in trouble with the police, you rang Percy before your lawyer."
He avoided having his own desk at the Express so that executives could not complain at the working hours he did or did not keep. Of Hoskins' approach to work, fellow journalist Michael Bywater
Michael Bywater
Michael Bywater is a British writer and broadcaster.-Biography:He was educated at Nottingham High School, an independent school...
recalled Hoskins' advice: "Whenever you are interviewing somebody, always have this question in the back of your mind ‘Why is this bugger
Bugger
Bugger is a slang word used in the vernacular British English, Australian English, Canadian English, New Zealand English, South African English, Caribbean English, Sri Lankan English and occasionally also in Malaysian English and Singaporean English, and rarely American English...
lying to me?'"
He was seen by many as "amiable [and] rotund", and boasted a long friendship with his "lookalike", Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, with whom Hoskins once posed in Soho for a 'bookends picture'. He was also friends with J Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI.
He had a close friendship with the newspaper's proprietor, Lord Beaverbrook.
John Bodkin Adams case
In 1956 Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
opened an investigation into the deaths of the patients of Dr John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
, an Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
general practitioner. Hoskins was the only reporter with a major paper to doubt the guilt of Adams during the investigation and subsequent trial. The case attracted worldwide attention and at the height of the press hysteria, figures of 400 victims were being mentioned. Hoskins lonely stance on Adams' innocence was, he later wrote, caused by conversations he had had with Adams during the police investigation: he noted Adams' apparent lack of concern and 'naive' inability to realise how in danger his life was when faced with the death penalty, then still in effect. Others have also cited his dislike of the officer in charge of the case, Herbert Hannam
Herbert Hannam
Detective Superintendent Herbert Hannam was a British policeman who worked for Scotland Yard.-Career:Hannam became famous for solving the infamous Teddington Towpath Murders in 1953....
, as contributing to Hoskins's opposition to the investigation.
Hoskins' stance led Lord Beaverbrook, the owner of his paper, to question Hoskins' (and therefore the Express') take on the story, since every other paper was convinced of Adams' guilt. When Adams was acquitted of one count of murder at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
in 1957 (another charge was withdrawn via a nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "to be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "please do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges...
) Lord Beaverbrook phoned Hoskins and told him: “Two people were acquitted today” meaning that Hoskins was to retain his job and his reputation.
After the trial Adams was whisked away to a safe house by Hoskins and interviewed for two weeks. The resulting articles appeared exclusively in the Express. Hoskins and Adams remained friends for the rest of Adams' life, and each year on the anniversary of the acquittal, Adams would phone Hoskins to thank him for another year of his life.
When Adams died in 1983 he left Hoskins £1000, which "somewhat embarrassed" Hoskins. Hoskins gave it to charity. In 1984, Hoskins published a book about the case: "Two Men Were Acquitted: The trial and acquittal of Doctor John Bodkin Adams". He reiterated his belief that Adams was innocent, but conceded that Adams had been naive in his behaviour, and too avaricious in his chase of patients' bequests.
Scotland Yard's files on the case were opened in 2003 and show that police believed that 163 of Adams patients died in suspicious circumstances. Reporter Rodney Hallworth
Rodney Hallworth
-Journalism:Hallworth worked as a crime reporter for the Daily Mail. He reported on many cases but most famously on that of suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1956...
and historian Pamela Cullen also identify another patient, Annie Sharpe, as a possible victim not included in this number, and Cullen further identifies Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire
Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire
Edward William Spencer Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire, KG, MBE, TD , known as Marquess of Hartington , was the head of the Devonshire branch of the Cavendish family...
as a probable victim.
Books
- No Hiding Place ! the Full Authentic Story of Scotland Yard in Action, Daily Express, 1951
- The Sound of Murder, John Long, 1973
- Two Men Were Acquitted: The trial and acquittal of Doctor John Bodkin Adams, Secker & Warburg, 1984
Radio
- Hoskins contributed storylines and research to the radio series Whitehall 1212, about Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
's Black MuseumBlack MuseumThe Black Museum of Scotland Yard is a famed collection of criminal memorabilia kept at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. The museum came into existence sometime in 1874, although unofficially. It was housed at Scotland Yard, and grew from the collection of prisoners'...
. It was written by Wyllis CooperWyllis CooperWyllis Oswald Cooper was an American writer and producer.He is best remembered for creating and writing the old time radio programs Lights Out and Quiet, Please -Biography:...
and ran for 44 episodes in the early 1950s. - Hoskins also helped produce the crime prevention programme It's Your Money They're After for the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in conjunction with the Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan policeMetropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
though it was judged to have had little effect on crime figures.
Cinema and television writing
Hoskins provided the stories for the following programmes and films.- The Blue ParrotThe Blue ParrotThe Blue Parrot is a 1953 British crime film directed by John Harlow and starring Dermot Walsh, Jacqueline Hill, Ballard Berkeley, Richard Pearson and John Le Mesurier.British crime reporter Percy Hoskins provided the story.-Cast:...
(1953) (story "Gunman" (with John Le MesurierJohn Le MesurierJohn Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
)) - Dangerous CargoDangerous CargoDangerous Cargo is a 1954 British crime film directed by John Harlow starring Jack Watling, Susan Stephen, Richard Pearson, Terence Alexander and John Le Mesurier.British crime reporter Percy Hoskins provided the story.-Cast:...
(1954) (with John Le MesurierJohn Le MesurierJohn Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
) - Burnt EvidenceBurnt EvidenceBurnt Evidence is a 1954 British drama film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Jane Hylton, Duncan Lamont and Donald Gray. A man accidentally kills another and is hunted down by the police.-Cast:* Jane Hylton - Diana Taylor...
(1954)
Appearances
On September 17, 1957 Percy Hoskins appeared on Game 1 of the American TV Show, "To Tell the TruthTo Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
" with panelists Polly Bergen, Ralph Bellamy, Kitty Carlisle, and Hy Gardner.