Vincent Murray

Vincent Murray died after being pushed into the River Kennet at Reading in September 1987.

He drowned.

A 29-year-old tramp was tried for his manslaughter but acquitted. He had also be charged with conspiracy to rob.

It was said that Vincent Murray, who was also a tramp, and the tramp had been friends but they had had a drunken brawl over money during which Vincent Murray fell into the river.

The tramp said that he had tried desperately to grab hold of Vincent Murray but could not save him.

He had said that earlier in the day that two other tramps had tried to rob Vincent Murray. He said that all four of them had gone to the riverbank near the Berkeley Avenue Bridge in Reading after a drinking session where violence suddenly flared.

At the trial he said:

He said that Vincent Murray then managed to stumble to his feet, saying:

The tramp said that they had been good friends and had planned to do burglaries together.

He noted that the fourth man with the group had earlier put a knife to Vincent Murray's throat and demanded his cash 'as a joke'. He said, 'He was laughing and said, 'Give me your money'. Vincent said, 'You'll need more than a knife to get my money'.

However, the prosecution said that the man had lied, lied and lied again to cover his tracks after he had pushed Vincent Murray into the river. The prosecution noted that the fourth man had called the tramp a murderer at the time and that the third man had claimed that it was the tramp that had pushed Vincent Murray into the river.

The prosecution said to the tramp:

However, the man replied, 'No'.