London Monster

The attacker had a signature behaviour of piquerism, the pricking or stabbing of victims with a knife, pin or needle.

Other accounts reported that he would invite prospective victims to smell a fake nosegay and then stab them in the face with the spike hiding within the flowers.

Local pickpockets and other criminals used the panic to their advantage; they picked someone's valuables, pointed at him, shouted "Monster!

When Rhynwick Williams, a 23-year-old florist, reached his house, Coleman confronted him, accusing him of insulting a lady, and challenged him to a duel.

Magistrates charged Williams with defacing clothing[Note 1]—a crime that in the Bloody Code carried a harsher penalty than assault or attempted murder.

[citation needed] During the trial, spectators cheered the witnesses for the prosecution and insulted those for the defence.

It has also been compared to Jack the Ripper, who murdered several women in London a century later and also received similar media coverage and press sensationalism.