ONE hundred and twenty years ago this week, a Bury man was executed for the brutal murder of his grandson.

Joseph Holden, 57, drowned eight-year-old John in a quarry at Limefield, Bury, September 5, 1900.

After throwing him into the quarry, Holden drowned little John in six feet of water, where his body was later found.

Holden had suffered from alcohol problems and was struggling with mental health problems at the time of the crime.

Thus, his only real defence was insanity - something that often struggles to hold up.

Just days after Holden was hanged at Strangeways, Bolton MP George Harwood asked Home Secretary Charles Ritchie if he had read the evidence and information regarding the case.

Mr Ritchie replied that he had indeed, and had appointed "two gentlemen of great experience in criminal lunacy to hold an inquiry" into Holden's mental condition.

According to Mr Ritchie, the two men concluded that Holden was sane and responsible for his actions at the time of the examination and when the crime was committed.

The Home Secretary added: "The murder was a peculiarly brutal one, and after careful consideration of all the circumstances I did not feel justified in advising interference with the due course of law."

However, Mr Harwood pressed Mr Ritchie on the issue, asking if he knew that Holden had been confined in a lunatic asylum and yet the judge accepted his guilty plea.

The Home Secretary said all information and circumstances regarding the matter had been laid before him.

In what can only be assumed to have been in a interrogative manner, Mid Lanarkshire MP James Caldwell then asked: "Do you accept a plea of guilty in the case of a lunatic?"

The Speaker brought an end to the discussion with a call of order.

Of course, Holden murdered his grandson, but the fact he had previously been in a "lunatic asylum" brings into question his ability to stand trial, submit a plea or even be rational about his horrific actions.

By modern standards, he could indeed have been severely mentally ill, in which case he would have likely ended up in a high security psychiatric hospital such as Broadmoor or Ashworth.

By 1900 standards, however, cases were measured differently.

People who had depression, stress or were otherwise struggling could have been thrown into an asylum.

The conditions were awful, abuse was regular and hope would seem like a pipe dream.

However, the strong argument in Holden's case would be that anyone who murders their grandson is certainly not of the soundest mind to begin with.

The Home Secretary would have had the power to look further into the case, as has happened many times over the years, but deemed the expert judgement of two professionals in the case.

Standards in 2020 could well have seen Holden receive a life-term in a hospital.

Moors Murderer Ian Brady and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe for example committed heinous crimes - but spent their lives in hospitals, not prisons.

The death sentence had been abolished by the time they were sentenced, so their fates may have indeed been different though.

Holden was hanged regardless however - and unlike modern times, in America for example, there were no rigorous appeal system and a lifetime on death row.

Instead, Holden was hanged at Strangeways on December 4, 1900, barely three months after his crime.