Trial of last woman to be hanged in Staffordshire recreated by group - in same court room she was found guilty

Sarah Westwood, a mother of five from Burntwood, was convicted at Stafford's Shire Hall court in December 1843 of the poisoning of her husband, John.

The Creative Arts Theatre recreated her trial over two nights at the Shire Hall.

Actors performed the roles of eight witnesses, defence and prosecution barristers, the judge and a court clerk.

Group member Ken Tillett, who played defence barrister Sergeant Yardley, said: "In the court we did the trial like it happened in 1843.

"It was done in this court and for the words we used what we managed to get from the press reports at the time.

"We used the actual words used in that trial."

Members of the audience could choose to sit as part of Westwood's jury or sit in the court's public gallery.

Westwood had been married for about 20 years to nail maker Mr Westwood.

But their relationship was said to have been marred by the influence of their lodger, Samuel Phillips, who was rumoured to have had an affair with Westwood.

On November 9, 1843, Mr Westwood returned home and ate a meal prepared by his wife.

She had laced was found to have laced it with arsenic, bought from a chemist in Walsall. Later he complained of stomach pains and was sick. He then died later that same evening.

She was hanged at Stafford Gaol on January 13, 1844 and buried there.

She maintained her innocence until she died, despite being urged to confess, and was allowed visits from her son and one of her daughters. Mr Phillips was not allowed to visit her.

The day before she was executed, she was so weak.

She was said to have needed carrying to and from the prison chapel to receive the sacrament.

The Shire Hall's courts were used as criminal courts until 1991, having first been completed in 1798.