The London Garrotting Panics

Two panics occurred in London during the mid-1800s over a perceived increase in violent street robbery. Some victims had been garrotted just enough to make them insensible and although crime at the time due to the instigation of the Metropolitan Police was falling, the popular papers laid the blame at the recent cessation of transportation to Australia as a punishment for offenders.

Within the year the popular press started reporting other matters and the panic died down until July 1862 when the garrotting of MP James Pilkington was widely covered in the press, again the penal system was criticised for its supposed softness and the police for their inefficiency.

The panic saw some Londoners wearing anti-garrotting clothing such as studded leather collars and cravats with razor blades sewn in, a move which was parodied by Punch with a person wearing an oversized crinolene dress to prevent assailants from reaching their neck.

The panic petered out by the start of 1863 with reduced press coverage as other stories took over the headlines.