Photograph of Horace Pinsent: AMAZING SCENE. A sensational tragedy took place in Leicester, as the result of which one man is lying dead and another is at the Leicester Royal Infirmary in a critical condition. It appears that a young man named Horace Pinsent, aged 19, who lived with his parents at the King’s Head public house, was walking with a girl named Ada White on the London Road. They had a quarrel about something, and it is stated that the girl expressed her intention of not walking out with him anymore. Without any warning of his intention: Pinsent pulled a revolver out of his pocket and fired point-blank at the girl from a distance of only about a yard or so. It is a marvelous thing that she was not killed; as it was, the bullet grazed her cheek, and passed through her hat. She screamed, and that, and the noise of the shot, attracted the attention of people in the vicinity, of whom there were quite a number. Mr. Herbert Hytch, a tailor, who was riding by on a bicycle, got off, but before he could do anything Pinsent shot at him, and the bullet struck him in the neck, inflicting a serious wound. Two more shots followed in rapid succession fortunately without hitting anyone else, and then Pinsent ran off in the direction of the town. He was followed, and when near Toller Road he turned the revolver on himself, and with the last cartridge in it shot himself through the head, placing the barrel in his mouth. Death must have been instantaneous as he was found within a very few seconds of the shot, his body lying with the bead against the kerbstone. Mr. Lester, who took Mr. Hytch to the Infirmary in his motorcar, said the thing all happened in a few seconds. He was just driving by the couple on London Road when he heard the first shot. He stopped the car and turned around, and the girl came running and screaming towards him to get into the car and get away from the man. While she was screaming, Mr. Hytch came up on his bicycle, and just as he had got off, and as he was holding it in front of him Pinsent shot at him, and he fell. Then the revolver was fired again, either twice or three times and Pinsent ran away. The next thing was to get the doctor, and having got him, to take the injured man down to the infirmary.
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive
Referenced
GRO0431 Tiverton: Horace Pinsent: 1893 – 1913