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Benjamin Marsden

Age: 50

Sex: male

Date: 17 Oct 1959

Place: Graveney Street, Manchester

Benjamin Marsden was found dead in the doorway of a co-operative store at the corner of Clowes Street and Graveney Street in West Gorton, Manchester on Sunday 18 October 1959.

He had been stabbed in the back with a stiletto knife and kicked in the face.

The knife was described as having been about 9 inches long and to be double-edged, but it was never found.

Benjamin Marsden was an Electricity Board labourer and had lived in Dalkeith Street in West Gorton with his wife and four children.

It was heard that he had thought that he had just won the pools and that on the night of Saturday 17 October 1959 he had gone into the hotel where his wife worked as a barmaid and had told her, 'I've come up on the pools, twenty two points. Now we'll see about that fur coat I promised you'.

He also added that he had just heard that they had been allocated a council house for which they had been waiting for four years.

He was said to have stayed in the hotel laughing and joking until about 8.45pm after which he left and was thought to have gone to several other pubs.

However, later at 12.45am, in the early hours of the following morning screams were heard coming from the corner where Benjamin Marsden was later found.

The police appealed for anyone that had seen Benjamin Marsden between 9.15pm on the Saturday and 1am on the Sunday to come forward.

It was noted that it was the same place where a young man had been beaten up and left unconscious two weeks earlier.

A merchant seaman that lived in Bellevue Street about 50 yards away said, 'I heard a terrible scream. But I thought it was youngsters acting the goat. This is a terrible area for feuding gangs of youngsters. Local police cross the road to pass them'.

When the police found Benjamin Marsden in the shop doorway he had only two half-pennies on him and a packet of crisps in his pockets.

It was later noted that his twenty two points on the pools would have probably only won him a few shillings.

His inquest returned a verdict of murder by some person or persons unknown at Manchester on Thursday 3 December 1959.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.truecrimelibrary.com

see Daily Mirror - Monday 19 October 1959

see Leicester Evening Mail - Friday 04 December 1959

see Aberdeen Evening Express - Saturday 24 October 1959

see Aberdeen Evening Express - Monday 19 October 1959