In May 1948, a brutal crime at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn triggered the first mass fingerprinting operation in British history. The murder of three-year-old June Anne Devaney would transform forensic science and establish new precedents for large-scale police investigations across the United Kingdom.
The Crime at Queen's Park Hospital
June Anne Devaney, born in Blackburn in June 1944, had been admitted to Queen's Park Hospital on 5 May 1948 to recover from mild pneumonia. She was placed in Ward CH3 and was due to be discharged on the morning of 15 May.
Between 12:30 AM and 1:20 AM on that date, the child was abducted from her cot. Night nurse Gwendolyn Humphreys, who had been on duty in the ward, discovered the empty cot at 1:20 AM after feeling a draught from an open porch door. A trail of stockinged footprints, measuring 10.5 inches, was visible on the highly waxed floor. June Anne's body was discovered at 3:17 AM, 300 feet from the ward, alongside an 8-foot sandstone boundary wall within the hospital grounds.
The injuries were extensive. Her nightdress had been torn to the waist, and post-mortem examination confirmed multiple skull fractures, bludgeoning to the face, and internal injuries consistent with rape. Death had been caused by shock from the skull fractures and internal trauma.
A 1946 glass Winchester bottle, partially filled with sterile water, was found beside the cot. The bottle, which had been moved from its usual position on a trolley at the end of the ward, bore several sets of fingerprints.
Blackburn Police were called at 1:55 AM. The chief constable contacted Scotland Yard at 4:20 AM, and Detective Chief Inspector John Capstick was assigned to lead the investigation. Capstick later wrote of the scene: "I am not ashamed to say I saw it through a mist of tears. Years of detective service had hardened me to many terrible things ... but this tiny pathetic body, in its nightdress soaked in blood and mud, was something no man could see unmoved, and it haunts me to this day. I swore, standing there in the rain, that I would bring her murderer to justice."
The Mass Fingerprinting Operation
The fingerprints on the Winchester bottle provided the only concrete evidence linking the perpetrator to the crime. However, there was no suspect. DCI Capstick proposed an unprecedented solution: fingerprint every male aged 16 or over who had been in the vicinity of Blackburn between 14 and 15 May 1948.
Blackburn at that time comprised 35,000 homes with a population of 123,000 inhabitants. The operation began on 23 May 1948, led by Inspector William Barton with a taskforce of 20 officers. Special fingerprint cards were created to record identifiable left-hand prints, including the forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, and a section of the left palm. Each card also recorded the individual's name, address, National Identity Registration Number, and their movements between 11 PM on 14 May and 2 AM on 15 May.
Using the Electoral Register, officers visited more than 35,000 homes. Ex-servicemen not listed on the Electoral Register were traced through National Registration Numbers and ration books, adding over 200 additional men to the fingerprinting list.
By late July 1948, more than 40,000 sets of fingerprints had been taken. The final total reached 46,253 sets. When the match was finally confirmed on 12 August 1948, fewer than 200 sets remained unchecked.
The Arrest of Peter Griffiths
Fingerprint expert Colin Campbell was examining the 46,000th set of prints, taken from Peter Griffiths on 11 August 1948, when he identified the match. Campbell reportedly shouted: "I've got him! It's here!"
Griffiths, a 22-year-old ex-serviceman, lived at 31 Birley Street, Blackburn. He worked as a night shift packer at a local flour mill. His niece had been a patient at Queen's Park Hospital at the time of the murder.
DCI Capstick arrested Griffiths as he left his Blackburn home for work on the evening of 12 August 1948. During interrogation, Griffiths confessed. He claimed to have consumed 11 pints of bitter, two double shots of rum, and one pint of Guinness on the night of the murder. He stated that he had walked to sober up, broken into the hospital, taken the Winchester bottle as a weapon, lifted June Anne from her cot, carried her to the boundary wall, and swung her head into the wall approximately four times. He noted that the child had trustingly placed her arms around his neck as he carried her.
Physical evidence supported the confession. A suit Griffiths had pawned on 31 May 1948 bore type A bloodstains matching June Anne's blood type. Fibres from the suit matched those found on the child's body, clothing, and the window ledge used to enter the hospital. Fibres from Griffiths' red and blue socks matched the footprints found on the ward floor.
Trial and Execution
The trial began on 15 October 1948 at Lancaster Assizes before Mr Justice Oliver. Griffiths pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The defence argued early signs of schizophrenia, noting that his father had been hospitalised with the condition. The jury deliberated for 23 minutes before finding him sane.
Griffiths was convicted and sentenced to death. He was hanged at 9 AM on 19 November 1948 at HM Prison Liverpool (Walton Gaol). Albert Pierrepoint served as executioner. No appeal was lodged, and Griffiths' body was buried within the prison grounds.
A Lasting Legacy for British Policing
The mass fingerprinting operation in Blackburn represented the first time such a method had been used to investigate a murder in the United Kingdom. Previously, fingerprints had been employed primarily to identify known criminals. The Devaney case demonstrated that large-scale fingerprint comparison was feasible for solving crimes with no prior suspect, setting a precedent for future mass forensic operations in British policing.
Public cooperation during the operation was near-universal. Only very rare refusals to provide fingerprints were recorded, and senior officers successfully obtained prints in all such instances. The police had promised to destroy all fingerprint records after the case concluded, a commitment that built public trust and set a precedent for ethical mass data handling. The records were subsequently pulped at a Blackburn paper mill.
The case was commemorated by the Fingerprint Society for the 60th anniversary of the landmark identification in 2008. Queen's Park Hospital was decommissioned in July 2006, and the site is now part of the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital. June Anne Devaney is buried at Blackburn Cemetery.
The mass fingerprinting operation remains a defining moment in the history of Blackburn and British forensic science, establishing methods that would influence investigative practice across the United Kingdom for generations to come.