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Thomas Richard Parker

Age: 23

Sex: male

Date: 18 May 1924

Place: Bridport Place, Hoxton

Thomas Richard Parker died from a shot to his abdomen.

He was shot on the Saturday night during a fight near the Bridport Arms pub and police were looking for four men.

In his dying declaration Thomas Parker said 'I was not in the Bridport Arms. I was not quarrelling. I did not know any of the people there, and I did not see who fired the shot, and I didn't know who did it'.

A friend of his who lived on Bristow Street in Shoreditch and had known him for five or six years said that he had been with Thomas Parker on the night outside the Bridport Arms. He said that there was a fight going on which they were involved with and he heard two shots fired in the crowd but didn't see who fired them.

Another man who lived on Denmark Street in Islington said that he was one of the people engaged in the fighting outside the pub. He said he could not say how many people were involved and admitted that had owned an automatic pistol up until a week or ten days earlier but that he had sold it. He said that he didn't know who he sold it to and that he didn't get the money. At the Coroner's inquest a policeman who was in charge of the case presented a bullet and asked the man if it would have fitted into his automatic pistol but the man said that it would not have, pointing out that it was an army bullet for a revolver and that his pistol would not have fired it.

He was a single man and had lived on Scrutton Street in Shoreditch and was a labourer.

His mother said that that he had never carried firearms and as far as she knew neither did any of his friends and that he was not on bad terms with anyone.

The doctor stated that his death was due to shock from a bullet wound in the abdomen.

The Coroner said that he had 40 statements from people, but none of them threw light on the case.

Bridport Place has mostly been redeveloped, much of it now being a park.


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

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Lancashire Evening Post - Saturday 14 June 1924

see Gloucestershire Echo - Saturday 14 June 1924

see Lancashire Evening Post - Saturday 14 June 1924

see National Library of Scotland