The Last Execution At Swansea

On Tuesday 6th May 1958, Vivian Frederick Teed had the dubious honour of being the last man hanged at Swansea Prison.
Teed was convicted of murdering William Williams, a 73 year old sub postmaster, at Fforestfach, Swansea. Williams lived alone in the Carmarthen Road Post Office which he had been master of for many years.
Having been one of the builders who carried out work at the premises earlier that year, Teed knew it well, and being now out of work he was in need of money.
Teed was living with a woman from Limeslade, but in late 1957 she was admitted to hospital and suffered a miscarriage. At around this time, Teed met a man called Ronald Williams at a cafe in Cwmbwrla and told him he had a 'job' planned at the Fforestfach Post Office.
Vivian Teed had a long criminal record for damage to property, theft and assault. He had already served two years imprisonment and during his time in the RAF had been absent without leave on many occasions. He was, it was reported, impulsively aggressive and was at various times, abusive, sentimental, jealous and indifferent.
The night of 15th November was chosen to rob the Post Office. Teed knocked the side door, not really expecting an answer. He had seen no lights from inside but thought he had better check, just in case. To his suprise Mr Williams answered the knock. The South Wales Evening Post report:

Pushing his way in he struck Mr Williams....In an alleged statement Teed had said that he had used a hammer which was in his pocket. This was of significance as there were no less than 27 seperate wounds on Williams's head. Some of these had been inflicted with such violence that the bones of the skull had been forced into the brain and the shaft of the hammer had broken.

Alas the money from the Post Office was locked in the safe and Teed left empty handed. Later that evening he admitted to Ronald Williams that he had 'done the job' and had hit the postmaster. Adding that he had probably left his fingerprints all over the place and had left the hammer at the scene of the crime.
When the police questioned him, Teed at first denied ever being near the Post Office. Later however he admitted to the break-in and the resulting assault. There was some considerable debate about the killer's psychological state, with the defence arguing that the murder took place when Teed was suffering from an 'abnormality of the mind which impaired his mental responsibilty'.
The jury returned to the court room three times, being unable to reach a verdict, only to be directed to retire each time to reconsider the evidence. Finally, the guilty verdict was returned.

Teed was executed on 6th May 1958, following the failure of an appeal to the Home Sectretary. Under the new rule, no notices were pinned to the main gate of Swansea Prison to announce that the execution had taken place.
It was raining on the morning, and at the appointed hour only a handful of people waited outside the gates. But residents of nearby streets were seen standing in their doorways, waiting for the final grim moment.

The chaplain of Swansea Prison, Reverend Leslie Norman, later attempted to apologise for Teed:

'He wasn't a murderer - he killed a man. If you told him that he was going to murder someone, he would have been shocked. He was caught in the act. They fought and one died. He had no intention of murdering him.'

Nevertheless, Teed WAS a murderer and was deserving of his date with the gallows.