COURT reports of a death in a Keighley workhouse were so sensational that they were too disgusting to publish.

The trial in 1858 revealed lurid details of sex, violence, adultery and suspicious infant deaths going back decades at the Exley Head premises.

The story of the alleged murder is related by history writer Wendy Rhodes in her latest book in her Bloody Yorkshire series.

Wendy outlines 13 crimes from across the county including the ‘Yorkshire Witch’ of Flamborough who murdered many people before being burned at the stake.

Bloody Yorkshire 2, out on September 1, is the seventh book by Wendy, born in Bradford but now living in Spain, who specialises in local history and historical true crime Her latest book begins with the burning in Flamborough of Mary Bateman who, following the life of trickery and murder, planned to kill her husband so she could marry another.

There are four tales of murders in Bradford, the killing of three siblings in Holmfirth, and the “sad and gruesome” tale of a woman from Sherburn-in Elmet who was savagely beaten to death by her son.

Wendy said: “One of the most interesting cases in this volume is that of Mr and Mrs Sagar who were the Master and Matron of the Exley Head workhouse.

“Although they were childhood sweethearts the couple had by all accounts a turbulent marriage and Mrs Sagar was convinced her husband was trying to kill her.”

No long afterwards, Sagar suffered a short illness and was found dead in the bedroom at the workhouse, which lay just off Oakworth Road on land above the old Oakbank School sixth form block.

Wendy said: “Speculation was rife, rumours surmised that Mrs Sagar had tortured his wife both mentally and physically for years, even chaining her to the bed in a lunatic’s bonds, on one occasion, locking her in the ‘dead house’ – the workhouse mortuary.

“The coroner insisted that the symptoms of Mrs Sagar’s death attributed to arsenic poisoning.

"Mr Sagar was arrested and stood trial for the crime.” The trial was sensational for its time, as outlined relationship between the couple, who had nine children during their 19-year marriage.

Wendy added: "Not even the press dare print the details, considering its content ‘too disgusting for publication’ when lurid stories emerged of the Sagars’ life together, which included sex, violence, adultery, illicit ménage a trois relationships and a string of suspicious infant deaths going back decades.”

Wendy moved from Bradford to Filey with her family in the mid-1990s, and her first two books depicted the growth of Filey and Scarborough from Roman times to the present day.

Wendy specialises in revealing stories of almost-forgotten true-crimes and historical episodes, portraying the victims’ stories with full historical context.

She said: “The Bloody Yorkshire trilogy features some of the most brutal, callous, and shocking crimes from the county in bygone times.

"Each book contains 13 crimes.

“The murders documented are carried out in many different ways, but what they have in common is that they leave the reader feeling as sad as they are shocked.”

Volume One describes crimes from Mirfield, Bridlington, Sheffield, Filey, Horsforth, and in Bradford seven-year-old John Gill whose murder was alleged to be by Jack the Ripper.

Also in Bradford was Humbug Billy, a sweet seller who unintentionally poisoned many Bradford people with arsenic-laced lozenges in 1858.

Wendy’s first two Bloody Yorkshire books are for sale on Amazon.