Longman - Criminal Wirral II

C RIMINAL

W IRRAL II

D ANIEL K. L ONGMAN

For Ryan Leeke

With special thanks to

Roger Phillips

Mark Minshall

Peter Almond

Tom Belmar

First published 2009

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

Daniel K. Longman, 2009, 2013

The right of Daniel K. Longman to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5345 0

Original typesetting by The History Press

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

A s a phone-in presenter on BBC Radio Merseyside it always amazes me that so many people ring in after suffering at the hands of some criminal or other and conclude by saying that such things never happened in their day. There were no cases of child abuse, no cries of rape, no murders, no criminal gangs (apart from the Krays), never an incident of burglary or theft and everybody could leave their house unlocked without a second thought. And on the Wirral? Well, the Vikings might have been here centuries before committing their wild acts of rape and pillaging, but in the more recent past it was quite a genteel and refined sort of place; nothing like it is now with all sorts of anti-social behaviour and the like.

Yet this book puts paid to all those myths. Dan Longman has collected together a wide range of newspaper cuttings from the past and retold them so that they really do come alive. And hes created some great chapter titles, with What the Butler Did and The Prenton Lane Maniac as two of my personal favourites, but what really makes this collection so fascinating is the way Dan has literally taken the bare bones of each story and then used his skills of research, his thorough knowledge of the period and his imaginative abilities to allow the reader to live through each tale. These true stories of crime on the Wirral help to create a genuine picture of the peninsula in days gone by and its the sheer variety of the stories that is so interesting. From the retired seaman robbed and imprisoned in his home by masked intruders (just the sort of crime youd expect to watch recreated nowadays on the BBCs Crimewatch) to the newly married couple whose row led to a potential murder charge against the groom. Then there are those stories which are just plain weird, such as the RSPCA investigation into the cruel slaughter of pigs, or the way a father personally investigated alleged impropriety by his daughters piano teacher.

All in all, this book makes you realise that nothing changes. Virtually all of the events could have taken place in this century, in this day and age. Human beings are still equally cruel, stupid, jealous, vindictive and criminal, but thank goodness such people are, and were, a minority.

Truly all of human life is in here and Dan relates it all with such wonderfully graphic detail. Its definitely the kind of book to put by your bedside and treat yourself to each evening before drifting off to sleep (but to dreams or nightmares I dare not say!).

Roger Phillips

BBC Radio Merseyside

INTRODUCTION

T he Wirral is becoming somewhat notorious for a shocking spate of murders, killings and general criminality. In the past few years our little peninsula has been host to a fair few examples of such acts which have managed to achieve local and national infamy.

On 29 March 2007 at approximately 2 a.m. David Currie, a transvestite, arrived at Steven Boyds home in Stanley Avenue, Wallasey. He had made the hour-long trip from Manchester to engage in some private business with Mr Boyd, who had been drinking and taking drugs. Just before 3.30 a.m., Mr Boyd texted a mutual friend on his mobile phone to say Mr Currie, known as Angela, had fallen unconscious, but it was a further thirty minutes before he called for an ambulance. It was soon discovered that Mr Currie had sustained serious internal injuries during the rampant sex session and had suffered a heart attack. Paramedics managed to resuscitate the man, but he died later in hospital. Before Judge Gerald Clifton, Steven Boyd denied unlawful killing but confessed to drinking and taking cannabis and cocaine. His defence was that his dog, Tosh, a great dane-bull mastiff cross was somehow to blame for the death. The story didnt wash and Boyd was sentenced to five years for manslaughter.

On 9 August 2007, elderly market stall holder Bashir Ahmed was attacked at his flat in The Woodlands by thirty-one-year-old Gerard Murphy. He had heard a rumour that the trader was in the habit of keeping his takings at home. Murphy and a fifteen-year-old accomplice broke into his property but were spotted by Mr Ahmed and a struggle broke out. Bashir was afterwards found lying in a pool of his own blood by concerned work colleagues. A subsequent medical report showed severe bruising, six loosened teeth and a complete fracture and dislocation of the spine. The sixty-three-year-old was left paralysed from the neck down, his life ruined and with injuries compared to those of a high-velocity traffic accident. Judge Clifton at Liverpool Crown Court sentenced Murphy to a minimum of eleven years in prison. The sidekick youth was given only a six-month detention and training order.

Bonfire night saw a further atrocity take place on our boroughs streets as care home runaway Jamie Smith (son of the aforementioned Gerard Murphy) committed a despicable murder. The child who was only thirteen years of age had been boozing on cider and vodka on grassland near to the YMCA on Whetstone Lane. It was the misfortune of local man Stephen Croft to fall into the hands of the youth and suffer a succession of unprovoked kickings and beatings until dead. Mr Croft had turned to alcohol after an industrial accident some years previously and on the night of his death was five times over the legal limit, totally senseless. That night his battered body was thrown onto the very bonfire he had been drunkenly watching and left to burn.

On later examination a pathologist found, as well as substantial charring, severe bruising over the right eyelid, the nose to be very swollen with the nasal septum and the right side of the nasal bone both fractured. Blood gushed out from the nose and mouth during the course of the procedure. For this display of total disregard for human life, Jamie Smith was sentenced to serve thirteen years in prison.

These cases are just a small selection of the recent unsavoury goings on in our part of the world. But despite my subtle pessimism, I believe the claim that the Wirral has become notorious to be slightly inaccurate. It is in fact no different to any other region. The whole country seems to be on the decline as the front pages have turned into nothing more than carousels of criminal newsprint. It horrifies me and Im sure you to read reports that prisoners have been released mid-sentence due to overcrowding. As a Special Constable, I believe the most obvious answer is surely to build more prisons. Releasing the nations prisoners early is not the answer.

In 1901 the average prison population was 15,900. At the time of writing, inmate figures stand at approximately 83,000. From this you would be forgiven for believing that the good old days were relatively crime-free, but I can assure you things were not