William Gardiner (1867–1941) was a Primitive Methodist preacher from Suffolk who was accused of the Peasenhall Murder and underwent two trials for murder, neither of which resulted in a verdict.
In June 1902, Rose Harsent, a servant girl, was found stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. She was unmarried but found to be six months pregnant. It was alleged that Gardiner was the father of her unborn child: local gossip had led to a hearing within his church at which he had been admonished for impropiety.
The police originally thought it was suicide, but, after investigation, Gardiner was arrested and tried twice in 1902 and 1903. The first trail was presided over by Sir William Grantham, the second by Sir John Compton Lawrance. At each trial Gardiner was defended by Henry Fielding Dickens and prosecuted by Ernest Wild. Both times the jury was unable to reach a verdict — it was said that at the first trial the jury was split eleven to one in favour of guilty, and the second eleven to one in favour of not guilty. The prosecution then issued a writ of nolle prosequi. This was distinct from the usual process of a formal acquittal. The consequence of this is that Gardiner is one of the few people in English history to have been tried for murder and to have no verdict ever returned.
Gardiner died in 1941 without having been formally acquitted.