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Charles Lewis Bradley

Age: 52

Sex: male

Date: 26 Apr 1929

Place: Middlesbrough

Charles Lewis Bradley was found dead in his butcher's shop with a chest wound.

Charles Bradley's son said that he had left the shop on the Friday morning and had later returned 'rather fresh', and said that his stepmother complained about his absence and told him that if he did not stay in then she would go home. He said that he then left the room and a few minutes later found that Charles Bradley had been wounded. He said that his stepmother didn't say how it had occurred and nor did he ask her.

The woman that Charles Bradley's son referred to as his stepmother said that she was actually Charles Bradley's housekeep and had been there for five years but that they were not married. She said that when the son had returned she had said to him 'I want you to stay in the shop' and that he had replied 'I will do as I d----- well like', and said that she told him that she would go home.

She said that she was just putting on her coat when she heard Charles Bradley cry out 'Oh, my God!' and that when she turned she saw that he had his hands on his chest and that he was bleeding. She said that just before that Charles Bradley had been leaning on the counter on which there were butcher's knives but could offer no explanation regarding how the wound had been caused.

A doctor said that considerable force must have been used to have caused the wound and although it was possible, he discounted it being an accident.

The Coroner said that there were three possibilities, either an accident, self-infliction, or the wound having been caused by another person.

An open verdict was returned.


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see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Friday 26 April 1929