Vivian Teed
Vivian Frederick Teed was the last person to be hanged in Wales. He was charged with the murder of 73-year-old William Williams on 15 November 1957. The case was controversial at the time due to Teed's claims of mental illness, and may have hastened the abolition of capital punishment in the United Kingdom.
Background
Teed was one of nine children brought up in Swansea. During the Second World War Teed was evacuated to a country village. He had served in the Royal Air Force but was discharged for going absent without leave. At the time of his arrest, he was unemployed and had two prior convictions for violent offences. Teed was in a relationship with a woman named Beryl Doyle, who lived with him in Limeslade.Murder of William Williams
On the night of 15 November 1957, Teed broke into the Fforestfach post office, where he had previously done some construction work, with intent to rob it. He was wearing women's silk stockings over his hands to avoid leaving fingerprints. Teed was not expecting anyone to be in the building, but encountered 73-year-old postmaster William Williams, who asked him what he was doing there. Teed panicked and beat Williams 27 times with a hammer before leaving the scene empty-handed. The beating was so violent that the hammer used in the attack snapped. Williams died of the injuries inflicted during the robbery.Following his escape, Teed made his way to a nearby bar called the Cwmbwrla Inn. While there, he confessed to a man named Ronald Williams that "I’ve done that Fforestfach job. I hit the man. I couldn’t find the safe keys and he was coming to, so I left him and didn’t take anything." Teed was known as a compulsive liar and Williams did not believe his story.