Strictly's Amy Dowden struggles to hide her anger as its revealed boy accused of killing her teenage relative escaped jail in Who Do You Think You Are?
'It's my family'Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden is left horrified in tonight’s Who Do You Think You Are? as she learns about the death of her teenage relative.
Amy, 35, is the latest famous face to appear on the BBC show and she turns detective after hearing rumours of a ‘murder’ in her family.
The Welsh dancer quickly discovers the truth and is shocked.
The alleged perpetrator, a 17-year-old boy, shot and killed Amy’s ancestor when she was just 14 years old.
The revelation visibly shakes her, especially when she discovers the outcome of the case.
Amy Dowden on Who Do You Think You Are?
Amy travels back home to Wales and visits her parents in tonight’s Who Do You Think You Are?, intrigued to learn about the “murder”.
She adds: “I kind of what a bit of drama but maybe that’s the theatrical side of me. I kind of want it to be interesting and to be gruesome and to have a story to tell.”
However, her excitement soon turns to horror when she finds out what really happened.
Don't miss a single story! Add us as a Preferred Source in Google for all your television news
Amy visits a distant cousin called Wynne on her maternal grandmother’s side of the family. He’s been tracing back the family history for years.
Wynne shows Amy an old photograph of her great great great grandfather, Evan Jenkins. He then hands her Evan’s very old personal copy of the bible.
Inside, her three-times great grandfather had written in Welsh: “Elinor Jenkins. November 11, 1888.”
Evan continued: “In memory of Elinor Jenkins who was shot dead by the cruel man, Offle Owen.”
Amy asks: “Why would somebody want to shoot a 14-year-old girl? He wants that man to be remembered for killing his daughter.”
She added: “I was not expecting this and not expecting a child to be killed.”
Amy turns detective
Amy realises Elinor was her great, great aunt – sister of her great great grandmother Mary. She heads off to visit a social historian and crime specialist, Dr Angela Muir, at the cottage where Elinor worked as a servant.
Dr Muir hands her a death notice. It says a man called Humphrey ‘Offle’ Owen “playfully” pointed a loaded gun at Elinor, known affectionately as Nelly. The gun went off and discharged a bullet.
“It penetrated through the left side of her mouth and emerged through her neck. She was found lying dead on the pavement outside the house,” Amy read in horror.
The house owner was at church at the time and the other servant girl was inside the house.
Amy gasped: “It doesn’t seem like an accident. Was it an accident or was it planned?
“He obviously had intention to use that gun. He would have known the gun was loaded. To me, it was planned. I don’t see this as an accident.”
Amy hears about how Elinor’s father turned up to discover his daughter dead. “There seems no remorse and no emotion. There’s no sorry,” Amy says of Offle.
‘Not convinced’
Amy heads to the courthouse where Offle Humphrey stood trial all those years ago. Prosecutors charged him with the manslaughter of Amy’s great-great-great-aunt.
“I am horrified by what I have read,” Amy said. “It’s going to take a little time to process it. Was there a punishment because I hope so? He took a life away, a young life.”
Offle pleaded not guilty. No witnesses testified, and the judge returned a verdict of not guilty. Offle was free to go, based on good character.
Amy looked angry as she said: “To me it feels like they’re giving him the benefit of the doubt and not thinking about the victim all this, and the family. Which is my family.”
It’s very clear Amy doesn’t think her family received justice for what happened to poor Elinor!
