by Graham Seal
William SykesIn 1865, William Sykes and six other men set out one moonlit Yorkshire night to poach a few rabbits for their families from Silver Wood. Unfortunately for them, the owner's gamekeepers came upon the poachers and a bitter fight began in which one of the keepers was killed.  A large reward of £350 soon brought the constable to the door of William Sykes' house and, along with most of his fellow poachers, he was arrested and tried for poaching and murder.It was not clear from the trial who had actually struck the fatal blow. The only clear aspect of the proceeding was the reluctance of the jury - all local men -to convict Sykes and his companions for poaching. There was no love lost between gamekeepers and poachers. When the judge finally gave a clear direction to the jury to convict the poachers of murder, the foreman rose and asked if the jury could consider a verdict against the main witness for the prosecution, one of the poachers named Woodhouse, who seems to have become the Judas for the £350 reward. The judge angrily pointed out that Woodhouse was a Witness for the Crown and not on trial. The foreman replied that the jury was not happy with this situation and the judge was forced to exercise all his power to compel them to retire and consider their verdict. They did, quickly returning verdicts of not guilty against two of the six defendants, finding the remaining four, including William Sykes, guilty only of the lesser charge of manslaughter. The judge was outraged but was bound to abide by the jury's decision. He had his revenge on the prisoners. Two were sentenced to penal servitude for twenty years and the other two, one being William Sykes, were sentenced to penal servitude for life. In 1865 that meant transportation to Western Australia with almost no hope of ever returning to England and family. 
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